You should never kill a mockingbird 'cos it doesn't harm you but instead it always sings for you ...It's been some time since I sat in on a book discussion session and the Society for Reading and Literacy, Singapore (SRL) WordWrights Meeting was a pleasant reminder of how stimulating & heartwarming such a session can be!
The discussion was held on Wednesday 15 Jun, 6.30 pm at the Queenstown Community Library (QUCL) - the regular meeting place for this group - who get together every month to share tips and hone their writing skills.
As part of the Read! Singapore effort, these wordsmiths converted their regular sessions to discuss the various books on the list. Serene started reading excerpts from an Internet review that provided an overview of the story.
I gathered that Mockingbird spoke about the value of every human being regardless of race; of respect, trust , love and personal growth; the need to stand up for what one believes in and also value systems that are individual yet universal at the same time.
NLB Call No.: LEE
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I saw through the group's eyes their delight in the character of Scout who often spoke with her fists, but who just as readily let go of a grudge! Among other things, they described how Scout would always curl up in her father's lap at the end of the day, no matter how angry or upset she might be with him.
This led to Heather sharing how her principle was to never go to bed with anger between family members as for her, it could make her quite physically ill.
On this note Serene then shared that she was going to try to teach her group of sunday school children not to keep grudges/hatred in them and the experiment that she was going to
have them do. I do hope it works out for her!
Many, many interesting snippets were shared during the hour long session that certainly made the book and its characters come alive.
We took de-tours and explored various issues - the lack of a reading interest here and the possible causes; the use of libraries as creches, the notice that we take when we see adults and children treating each other with respect etc.
Even the blog phenomena sneaked in! It left all scratching their heads as to why people could bare their souls over the net but found it hard to talk face-to-face! Safety in anonymity? Maybe a reflection of our consumer society in a way - exhibitors on one side and voyeurs on the other?
By the end of the session I was so infected by their obvious enjoyment of this book, that I made a mental note to pick it up for myself. I'll probably enjoy it a lot more since I don't have to study it for an exam!
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