A Lesson Before Dying (Oprah's Book Club) | Ernest J. Gaines

A Lesson Before Dying (Oprah's Book Club) | Ernest J. Gaines | Mockingbird II

books:

A Lesson Before Dy...

	A Lesson Before Dying (Oprah's Book Club) Ernest J. Gaines Vintage, 1997 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 495 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

From the author of A Gathering of Old Men and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman comes a deep and compassionate novel. A young man who returns to 1940s Cajun country to teach visits a black youth on death row for a crime he didn't commit. Together they come to understand the heroism of resisting.

A Lesson Before Dying is a lesson for us all.

This story is set in 1940s Louisiana. A young black man is with friends who plan and execute a robbery--which goes bad quickly. The young man, Jefferson, is quickly arrested and tried for murder--even though he had no weapon and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Enter Grant Wiggins, a young black teacher who is chafing at the racial inequality of the times. He'd like nothing more than to leave this racial backwater bayou and head north for a city with more equality. But Jefferson's grandma is a family friend, and she begs Grant for the things he can provide--knowledge, dignity, and the ability for her grandson to die like a man...not the "hog" the white racists have called him. Very well-written, not preacher-like, I enjoyed this novel immensely. It shows us the frailty of humanity, along with the strength of human dignity. This novel should sit on everyone's shelf of books that made them think.

for more information click here

Mockingbird II

Strong, powerful read...

So strong and so powerful that you may almost put it down in the first chapter, the language used to described a black man, a fellow human, so strong and offensive that you just want to close the book, slam it to the ground, and have nothing to do with it.

BUT, almost immediately it grows into a strong, heartwarming and ultimately inspiring story.

In the end, it touches all avenues of human character and endeavor and moves us to the core of our being.

If you liked "To Kill A Mockingbird," you'll like this one, too. Count on it!!

for more information click here