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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Guardian Books

Go Set a Watchman: discuss it with us on Twitter!

sign Harper Lee
This welcoming sign in Monroeville, Alabama (the hometown of Harper Lee) couldn’t replicate our feelings more precisely. Photograph: Jay Reeves/AP

Go to the chapter you're reading now

Jump to whichever chapter you want: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | end

Ending

Lots of readers have been wanting to discuss the book’s ending, and to reflect about the whole novel – with some sharing selfies of their facial verdict. Some of their tweets:

Some readers’ feedback after finishing the book was extremely positive:

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Chapter 18

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Chapter 17

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Chapter 16

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Chapter 15

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Chapter 14

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Chapter 13

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Chapter 12

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Chapter 11

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Chapter 10

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Chapter nine

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Chapter eight

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Chapter seven

This chapter offers insights on the title’s origins – although it isn’t the clearest of explanations.

Jean Louise made a sincere effort to listen to what Mr. Stone’s watchman saw, but in spite of her efforts to quell it, she felt amusement turning into indignant displeasure and she stared straight at Herbert Jemson throughout the service.

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Chapter six

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Chapter five

This chapter has the first flashback to Scout’s childhood:

Not all readers agree:

In this chapter, while she’s riding the car, swimming in the river and admiring the night sky with her boyfriend Hank, Scout reflects beautifully about the experience of living away from home, in a big city, and the emotions of going back to visit:

When you live in New York, you often have the feeling that New York’s not the world. I mean this: every time I come home, I feel like I’m coming back to the world, and when I leave Maycomb it’s like leaving the world. It’s silly. I can’t explain it, and what makes it sillier is that I’d go stark raving living in Maycomb.

It would indeed be hard for her:

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Chapter four

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Chapter three

Scout lives! And Aunt Alexandra is ... well, she’s still Aunt Alexandra.

Sadly, we learn that Jem is not the only character that is gone...

Although in her case, she simply is said to have “run off the place and not come back when she learned of Jem’s death.”

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Chapter two

A quieter one. Atticus appears, slightly grumpier than we know him – but stoical as ever – and there’s the first mention of “that Mississipi business” and the civil rights organisation NAACP. Great Scout:

“I don’t know anything about that bunch except that some misguided clerk sent me some NAACP Christmas seals last year, so I stuck ’em on all the cards I sent home.”

A second cousin makes an entrance too:

And we saw some great Scout-y scenes.

What was the moment you enjoyed the most in this chapter?

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Chapter one

Alright, let’s get stuck in! If by any chance you haven’t yet, you can read (or re-read) the opening chapter in our glorious interactive, where you can also listen to Reese Witherspoon’s narration:

Of course, one particular sentence has sparked most of the conversation:

Just about that time, Jean Louise’s brother dropped dead in his tracks one day, and after the nightmare of that was over, Atticus, who had always thought of leaving his practice to his son, looked around for another young man.

And just like that, we’re left heartbroken and with so many questions. We look forward to reading more about Jem in coming chapters.

For other readers, the details surrounding the book’s publication made them wonder about plot points like this one:

But just in general, what a beginning:

There are so many delightful details on this opening chapter – like the introduction of amusing Cousin Joshua, who looked like a “ratty Algernon Swinburne”:

Some heavy signalling in the paragraph below: Scout, now a New York sophisticate (she sleeps in just pyjama tops!), with romantic memories of poor black settlements back home ...

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The rules – and the fun

Rules

  • Rule number 1: you do not talk ab... Just kidding.
  • The hashtags to take part: let’s just repeat the hashtag rules. Add the number of the chapter to the hashtag #GdnWatchman. For example, to tweet about chapter 10, use the hashtag #GdnWatchman10.
  • When you reach the end: Use the hashtag #GdnWatchmanEnd and tweet your general impression. A short video review with the tweet will really reach our hearts.

Points

Everyone reads at their own rhythm and we wouldn’t want to encourage competitiveness in what is such a personal experience. But we’re going to anyway.

  • Sending at least a (valuable) tweet for each and every one of the 19 chapters will get you: 50 points
  • A selfie that reflects your state of mind or opinion at the end of a chapter: 10 points
  • A Vine that does the same: 20 points
  • A short video with a quick review at the end of the book: 30 points
  • The first reader who reaches the end after Sam (convincingly) will get: an extra 20 points

Prizes

We will be judging as best we can, unscientifically – we’re exhausted and also reading at high speed. The reader with most points at the end will get one of the following:

  • The world-renowned legendary prize of the Books desk: a Guardian mug
  • A selfie of the books team trying to replicate your selfie face or Vine
  • Our unconditional admiration in the shape of a books-themed card signed by our Books team – full of our hopefully witty comments.

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How it will work

  • Hashtag rules: add the number of the chapter to the hashtag #GdnWatchman. For example, to tweet about chapter 10, use the hashtag #GdnWatchman10. When you finish the book, use the hashtag #GdnWatchmanEnd and tweet your general impression.
  • We will be updating this page as more tweets come in. Jump to whichever chapter you’re reading now: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | end
  • Comments underneath this piece: we’d like to encourage a similar policy – state the chapter you’re about to comment on at the top of your comment. However, you’re looking at the thread at your own risk!
  • Points and prizes: we’ve added a bit of fun to this, and the more you engage – with pictures, Vines, videos, and whatever you have for us! – the higher of a score you will get. What are the prizes? Read on ...

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What this is

It has now become usual for TV shows, political debates, movies and even podcasts, to be discussed on social media – especially Twitter – as they are broadcast or streamed. We have been wanting to do the same with books with you, our readers – and what better chance than Go Set a Watchman to kick this off? Except, of course, everyone reads at their own pace – which is why we have created a set of hashtags, each for a specific chapter, to strictly avoid our number one rule: no spoilers.

This discussion will happen on Twitter, hosted by our account @guardianbooks, and it will be followed here with added commentary over the next couple of weeks.

We know some of you have been battling the temptation of reading the first chapter, which we offered here on our site on Friday. Well, now you can finally plunge into the read of the whole book – as soon as you’ve got a hold of your copy, join us in discussing it!

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