To Kill a Mockingbird

By: Harper Lee

Narrated by: Sissy Spacek

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep south - and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred, available now for the first time as a digital audiobook.

One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the 20th century by librarians across the country. A gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father - a crusading local lawyer - risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

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©1988 Harper Lee (P)2006 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"It's good to be reminded of the power wielded by this classic of American literature. As the introductory music fades and Sissy Spacek begins her narration, we immediately enter the small town in the Deep South where all the timeless issues of kindness and cruelty, inclusion and prejudice are played out in a story told by a little girl named Scout. Instead of offering a range of accents, Spacek reads the story entirely in her own, or Scout's, voice. The choice works, for the book is written from Scout’s point of view, and Spacek has just the right level of Southern accent for easy listening. This is an unforgettable story well told. 2007 Audies Award Winner." (AudioFile magazine)

"Atticus Finch is a timeless American hero who has been played by the likes of Gregory Peck in film and Jeff Daniels on the stage. But in Sissy Spacek’s narration of To Kill a Mockingbird, it’s Harper Lee’s narrator, Scout, who becomes the listener’s moral guiding light and closest confidante. You forget you’re listening to the voice of an adult, so wholly do Spacek’s Southern rhythms embody the young tomboy as she witnesses the racial injustices of the Depression-era South unfold before her." (The New York Times Book Review)

It's all about timing and time

Listening to "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 2014, what strikes me are the three eras. Here we have a very personal book written 54 years ago about a time 30 years in the past of the author. I constantly kept thinking about 1960 and 1930 and whether the same story would be told the same way by a modern version of Harper Lee.

Lee wrote fondly but with the judgement of an adult about a white child growing up in the south in the 1930's. It's clear that the civil rights movement, though yet to really get started in 1960, was building to a boil at the time she wrote her one and only novel.

Lee tried to subtly apply her beliefs to the book and slowly separate the bigotry of the past (and her present) from the enlightenment that is even now slowly coming to our culture. Her writing is not unlike the true authors of the New Testament Gospels writing about the past decades later but writing for their time and for their audience. Lee's writing is with purpose but also knowing that if you beat the reader over the head with your message, you will lose them every time. No, you have to wrap the medicine in sweet candy and let the reader enjoy the sweet and endure the bitter.

It IS a sweet book and Atticus Finch is the kind of man we can all aspire to be. It's an important book that reminds us that there are good people and bad people everywhere and in every time. It's a great book that tells us that even though we are in many ways products of the culture we live in, right is right and wrong is wrong and we just can't let injustice stand simply because it's "acceptable" to our current society. It's an enjoyable book that takes us back to the innocence of childhood and portrays a very special set of relationships and how they appear to an 8 year old girl.

Beyond the book itself, there is also Sissy Spacek. I was concerned that her reading would not live up to the material, but I was wrong. I came to the book after watching and loving the movie. I worried that the voice of Scout I had heard from Kim Stanley (Scout as an adult) and Mary Badham (Scout as a child) in the movie would not be "right" coming from Ms. Spacek. However, all of her voices match perfectly. This is one time where the book and the movie are not in competition. The movie is as good as the book and just helps you see better than your imagination what Macom looked and felt like. Not to plug the movie here, but Lee and Horton Foote did a masterful job of taking this book and faithfully transferring it to the screen. No, not every detail from the book is in the movie, but it's still a complete telling of the story and was deserving of all of it's accolades, too.

This is not a riveting mystery or a great biography. This book is a timeless yet timely book so well crafted and with a clear message.

You need to listen to this book. Whether you are a baby boomer like me, a gen-Xer, or a millenial, it's a great experience that will stay with you.

So much talent. So much warmth and wisdom. A gift.

The positive reviewers rave about this masterpiece, and every single one of them is right. It is hard to find words to adequately describe how powerful this accomplishment is. I had seen the movie about fifty years ago, and I remember thinking that Gregory Peck was the only man who could play Atticus Finch. Well, now comes Sissy Spacek, who plays all of the characters in the book with grace, gentleness and love. We get to know Scout, Jem and Atticus so completely, so intimately: they feel like our family, only better. Atticus is without doubt the perfect father, never losing his temper even in the face of the astonishing evil that his own townspeople serve up. I spent two years in the South in the 1960s. Some of the people there still had the unimaginable prejudice against black people: one of my fraternity brothers at Vanderbilt, an otherwise fine guy, could not eat in the same room as a black person. The book evokes memories of lots of people like that. You just cannot understand them. Even the knowledge that they grew up in that environment, that they had no choices about what to think, but when they grow up and see the true evil on offer in the world? How can they not gain a little wisdom?
This book is a true American masterpiece, a work that could not have arisen out of any country other than ours. Racial prejudice is everywhere, of course, but the particular brand of it that lives in the American South is so insidious, so horrid, that the mind boggles. The kind of animal that Bob Ewell is, a man who repeatedly rapes and beats his own daughter and then blames all of his misery on the innocent Tom Robinson: this is a tragedy that chokes us up. It should not happen. Harper Lee absolutely deserved the Pulitzer and every other award she could receive. There is more wisdom in one chapter of this book than in literally dozens of novels that I have read. You must listen to it yourself, at least once. I will let a year go by, and then begin again with the joy that only this performance gives. I hope you love it too.

It's like butter!

Any additional comments?

Sissy Spacek has always been one of my favorites and To Kill A Mockingbird one of my favorite books, and this combination of reader and author is a match made in heaven. Mrs. Spacek doesn't self-indulge,or act as though she is trying to win an award. She doesn't have false voices; except for a few accent she doesn't change her voice at all. She just effortlessly slips in and out of the characters,and by being a true actress, a great actress, she takes you on a journey of life set in the 1930's and 40's in everywhere small town-America, a journey of innocence,adventure, love, hate, prejudiced and even murder, through the eyes of a preteen adolescent.The book, itself is absolutely amazing, Harper Lee is wonderful writer she is able to transport you easily and believably to another era and is able to teach lessons in a way that isn't preachy but you know in your heart what she is saying. I honestly couldn't stop listening, It felt like my Grandma was telling me a story from her childhood. Do yourself a favor and listen to this one. Just lean back, relax and enjoy. It's like butter.

Tour de Force Performance of Classic

What did you love best about To Kill a Mockingbird?

Why would anyone need to listen to the book of To Kill A Mockingbird when we have the movie to enjoy, Gregory Peck and all? Two words: Sissy Spacek! Ms. Spacek's voice is pitch perfect for Ms. Lee's narrator, our grown up little girl looking back on her childhood and its traumatic and richly educational events. As her voice began to describe the southern village of our setting I dropped into imagery and only left when I had to switch Audible off for those pesky real world problems..

What other book might you compare To Kill a Mockingbird to and why?

No comparisons but if you are looking for a great historical novel with stunning characters, plot, and dialogue go no further than Doc by Marie Doria Russell.

Which scene was your favorite?

To Kill a Mockingbird teams with ethical and legal lessons -- soft and hard -- that reminds us of the importance of making heroic and not so heroic choices based upon our ethical code. The book also peoples its world with characters quirky and pathetic reminding me to appreciate differences and practice empathy.

A Classic - Ahead of It's Time

This book has been one of my favorites for years. It's been a long time since I read it and I was thrilled when it finally became available at Audible. While the content is indicative of the times, it may be uncomfortable for many. All in all the lessons learned and love-ability of the characters make this a classic story that you will never forget. How fortunate that we all know and love Atticus Finch, who gently taught his children what it meant to see beyond outward appearances, society's standards and racial tensions. An absolute MUST READ.

PS. I have yet another reason to love Sissy Spacek. She was perfection.

one of my favorites

This was required reading in high school but, even though I really only half read it, I fell in love with the story. I was so excited to see that it's coming to life on Broadway and wanted to reread it before seeing a staged rendition.
Sissy Spacek did a great job of bringing Scout to life, capturing the innocence of a young girl as she learns some of life's hardest, but most important lessons. So glad to have been introduced to such an incredible book so many years ago, pleased to reread it, and estatic to be going to see the show.

Simply Perfect

I cannot more strongly review this book and narration. Sissy Spacek brings the characters to life. Simply perfect.

Wonderful Rendition of a Classic

This book is one of my favorites ever written and the narration is exactly what I imagined for Scout.

So well written

What a wonderful story. Very easy to listen to. Sissy Spacek does a great job.

fantastic naration for a great book

the whole family enjoyed listening to sissy spacek narate this classic. i had read this as a teen and it was a pleasure to hear it this time.