Harper Lee

I was in second year high school in Manila when my young Bulakena English teacher came to class one morning announcing she has a list of '100 Books You Must Read Or You'll Miss One Half of Your Life,' or something of that sort. She began by saying she has enjoyed reading all these books and that she hopes we would be interested in reading them as well before finally listing down the books in the deep green blackboard right before us.

The list includes Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, true-life novel on psychosis 'I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,' Louisa May Alcott's 'Little Women' and 'Little Men,' and plenty of other novels I can't recall right now. I think still have a copy of my list somewhere in my pile of old notebooks back home and it is one of my most treasured old notes.



Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' was definitely on her list. How could it not find it's way there? That book is my old-time favorite, with Les Miserables coming in second. According to Wikipedia, the novel was voted the 'Best Novel of the 20th Century' by readers of the Library Journal in 1999. Not surpringsingly, The Book-of-the-Month Club and the Library of Congress' Center for the Book both found out through a survey conducted in 1991 that the novel was second only to the Bible.

Friendship, courage, and coming of age - these are the timeless themes that made me cry when I first read Harper Lee's Pulitzer-prize winning novel. How I wish I could write one novel that could move people this way, I thought to myself decades ago when I first read it. How could she write about prejudice, injustice and friendship all at the same time with such wit, depth and beauty?

I have re-read it a few times more and I still get this fresh, tingling feeling of reading it as if for the first time. I would still have goosebumps when I read that part of Boo Radley coming out of his house for the first time, when Atticus had to kill that rabid dog and the symbolism the whole scenario evoked, and the trial at the courthouse with Atticus delivering his deeply moving statements. I relished reading every page of this book, the characters almost speaking to me in their authentic, honest dialogues.

The book's author, Harper Lee, now 80 years old and living in Alabama, was honored yesterday for her contribution to American literature. Pres. Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the US' 'highest civilian award, to recognize contributions in science, the arts, literature and the cause of freedom.' It's an award that she so rightly deserves.

I was 30 when I read a self-help book that advised readers to write down their dreams in life, no matter how odd these may seem. It can be 'Learn to tap dance' or maybe even 'Fly to the moon.' I drew up my own list and it certainly included 'Meet Harper Lee in person.' I don't know if it will ever happen so I am blogging about her and her outstanding novel and quietly hope that she comes across this obscure blog for some random reason. That to me, is as good as meeting her in person.

Ms. Lee, you have broadened my perspective of people and relationships and I'm eternally grateful for that:-)

But nothing really is impossible if you put your heart into what you do, I guess. After all, Atticus Finch in the novel defined courage as '...When you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.'

Photo credit: University of Alabama