I'll sin 'til I blow up!

We got To Kill a Mockingbird from the video shop this weekend. I was worried that my wife would want something lighter but as we watched it, I remembered how light it actually is. That sounds like a criticism but it is not. What I mean is that the Children are not protected from the horrors of bigotry which actually results in a man's death and yet are kept safe in hands of a right-thinking man. The children are precocious and live in a sort of treacly, happy world. The whole thing rises to an optimistic ending despite the travesty of a conviction of Tom Robinson. This is an ending which forsees a better world, a world which even in 1962 when the film was made was not certain. You may not be convinced that we have yet reached this world. The Jury is definitely still out.

I am inspired to read the book which passed my year by as a set text at school. We did have a copy at home, a battered Orange penguin but I am ashamed to say I never read it. It was next door to my parents copy of "The ABZ of love" which unfortunately I did read - well I looked at the pictures - line engravings of a particularly dim type which probably had some deep-seated affect on me. You can still get it on Amazon. Wow! Eat your heart out Alex Comfort.