Go Set a Watchman

I'll go ahead and say it: I like it. Of course I am disappointed in Atticus; on the other hand, he is a bit more human. Of course I see that the writing creaks and groans here and there; on the other hand, it is more TKAM, and that is an unexpected delight. Of course the stories within the book aren't as riveting as those from TKAM; on the other hand, they are the scraps on the floor and could have easily been swept into the bin.

But I also dislike it. When I think about Go Set a Watchman and start feeling dismayed, I remind myself of what my dad always advised: When I was unhappy with a story, my dad told me I could always write my own ending. There you go. If I begin feeling a little sad about this sequel-prequel, I just say to myself, “And then Harper Lee woke up and told herself, ‘Whew! Just a dream! And here I thought I'd actually written that awful thing up into a real book.'”