The real reason To Kill A Mockingbird became so famous
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- čas přidán 12. 09. 2017
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In this episode of Overrated, Vox's Phil Edwards investigates the largely unheralded business reason behind the success of Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird."
Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird is a literary classic, but it was also a landmark book in the paperback revolution. Thanks to publishers like Penguin Books, paperbacks changed dramatically from pulp fiction and dime store novels to a a legitimate way to read great literature.
To Kill A Mockinbird's timing helped it capitalize upon that business shift and become a classic in classrooms - for business reasons as well as literary ones.
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Didn't Vox do kind of a similar video about the Mona Lisa, and how it only really became famous after it was stolen? Or am I thinking of another channel?
Yes! czcams.com/video/d2wy7Fp2fqw/video.html
Enthused Norseman I was thinking just the same,
I loved the idea and I was glad they did it again
We also did one about why people think Vikings wore horned helmets, Mr. Norseman. czcams.com/video/gTLbLeow2nQ/video.html
+Vox Vikings didn't wear horned helmets? Well, that's disappointing. I suppose that Hagar the Horrible needs to remove his headdress. I doubt that this will happen, though. And it is a cartoon, so no real harm done if the horns remain.
+Vox Why thank you. The only reason I'm using this pic is because there are unfortunately not a lot of historically accurate smiling viking images out there. :(
And I swore never to read again after 'To Kill a Mockingbird' gave me no useful advice on killing mockingbirds. It did teach me not to judge a man based on the color of his skin, but what good does that do me?
~Homer J Simpson
buru kenge Homer Simpson-one of my generations greatest philosophers
One of the greatest and wisest philosophers of ALL time. He even puts great thinkers like ACDC, who dared to asked such deep questions like "What you do for mone honey ?", to shame.
Teethgrinder 83 as a philosophy student, i agree xDD lol
It also taught you how to kill rabid dogs. That's not so bad, is it?
buru kenge
Dude, it gets worse! The sequel has NOTHING to do with watch maintenance...
Now I go to google if I want to go set a watch, man.
Its studied in schools all around the world. I'm from UK and did it in secondary school. I think the themes of injustice, prejudice, loss of childhood innocence makes it good to do in school
Not everywhere actually. I am from Russia and I had never heard of it until I occasionally found this book with a strange title in a store. The thing is, reading it I had no idea it is such a hit in other countries, so I wasn't impressed at all. But when I learned about its popularity I started to consider it
nope. I know about it because I read a lot of books in English (even though it's not my mother tongue) but most people whose native language isn't English don't know about this book, let alone read it. Anglo-Saxon countries are not the world you know. Other countries have -gasp!- their OWN literature and that's what they study in school. God the arrogance of English speakers is neverending.
300th like
Long duk dong Arabic poetry and Russian literature are terrible loool that’s funny
@@radioanna she said its studied around the world. That doesn't necessarily mean its read by everyone at every single country.
It's a classic because it tells us something about our world. It is more than just a mere piece of fiction - it was published at a time when the civil rights movement was gaining momentum and exposes the prejudices that occurred in America - written through the eyes of a child the non sensical, ridiculous notion of racism is slammed by Harper Lee. That's why it's a classic. Because it's always the books that mean something which last. Look at pride and prejudice, tess of the d'urbervilles, gatsby, great expectations to name but a few. They've all survived the test of time because they actually comment on societies attitudes. That's why I love literature - not because it's a paper back print!
Giselle Helaina for real
the entire book was just a set up for boo's reveal
R’amen, (wo)man.
@@consumemilk80055 il,,k
Amen we live in a world where we have youth that cant even read and write . These classics are Beautiful and we need to never forget them . They are timeless. We must wake up before it's to late.
I never read this book in school but I read it on my own for fun. Made me cry and question life. Great book, y'all should read it if you haven't already.
Did Boo Radley made u cry? I think that was the most intense part of the book.
I'm reading it too for fun
I enjoyed the book in 8th grade but what book made me cry was "Rolling Thunder Hear My Cry". Read that in either 8th or 9th grade.
Same,, especially during Boo's revelation
I also read it for fun in two days. I thought it was good but not necessarily GREAT. 8/10.
I don't follow the logic: To Kill A Mocking Bird is overrated because it was a paperback? Because it was published at a time when paperbacks were making its way into schools? What's the logical connection? Penguin has been publishing literary classics like the Odyssey since 1946. Why is 1961 so significant a year? TKAMB's status as a great piece of literature has nothing to do with its first being published as a paperback. It's initial sales number may have, but not its status today.
I think 1961 is significant as a year because it signaled a sea change in the way Americans regarded racism. This time was the very beginning of what we now call Political Correctness. Since then PC has gone from being a good thing, a symbol of righteousness to the odious burden that it is today. I've always enjoyed reading this book because I'm a sucker for a good story.
If you look deeply into this book you see the beginning of many things which have become commonplace today.
Anti racism, feminism (Scout is a strong girl who fights the boys), the acceptance of sexual ambiguity ( keep in mind that the character of Dil was actually Truman Capote), and the birth of the antihero. TKAM signaled many of the changes that were about to take hold of our national consciousness. Today it is an icon. Back then it was revolutionary.
Think about it!
See, from the literary point of view, it is legendary. The point he is making here is- unlike the books before 1961, the audience reading the books were less. When paperbacks came, it could be reached to a wider audience which meant more people who appreciate the idea of Harper Lee. It was a revolutionary idea then to make paperback editions thus both are to be appreciated. That was the point.
I agree, the video did not make a lot of sense to me
EXACTLY, EXACTLY, EXACTLY. Finally some sense. Couldn't agree with you more! I just made a similar comment.
@@sai-bi2rh No, he said the book is OVERRATED, implying that it's not AS good as everyone says it is. That is after all what overrated means no?
I read it once in 9th grade, and then taught it to a 9th grade English class
Same situation. Why didn't you like it I thought it was good
Monis Irfan Nice story bro
Naveed Sekender nice story bro
Monis Irfan You sounds like my freshman English teacher
I just read the cliff notes
You've described why Mockingbird was so very successful, but not why it was overrated. It wasn't overrated. It was a masterpiece.
No and i won't elaborate
@@redrum_max7345Nigeria
@@redrum_max7345 I agree. Its not a masterpiece. Its mediocre and exudes white saviourism
@@crashermanbombardment4147 I'm guessing you wanted to say the n word
@@keke835 Thank God he didn't. He just loves Nigeria I guess.
what do you get when you mix alcohol and literature? Tequila Mockingbird.
🤣 bruh
Underrated!
ceres: You also get most of histories most successful writers: as has been noted with the joke "
Q: Why are so many writers, alcoholics?' A: because so many alcoholics are writers."
When i was younger i really really thought it was Teaquila Mockingbird.
This is the right response.
I dont think this video has a compelling arguement. Paperbacks were cheap and becoming popular, but this doesn't even explain why Lee's book became famous and iconic in the wave of paperbacks that were printed. Why the book remains on university reading lists, it's numerous awards, or the continued devotion of readers to her work. The video essay completely ignores these factors.
It also completly ignores it's international appeal. Sure it's the "great american novel" but I was not forced to read it as a child and I found it deeply compelling when I read it as a teenager, and I'm not american.
Cabot Jasper I agree. There was not a strong enough connection between sales of paperback books and sales of this specific book.
I feel that this channel more and more begins to take a person's opinion and try to prove it as a fact, such as in the video about songs fading out, when the speaker at one point said the specific phrase "This was the wrong opinion" unironically.
Jesse Perkins Yeah the way Vox does it's videos has changed sinced I subscribed. It is becoming a mostly opinion piece channel. Their early stuff seemed like it took in so mamy different perspectives.
Cabot Jasper, That's what I was thinking. I heard a flimsy explanation for why Mockingbird was widely read, but nothing about why it's overrated. The writer of this piece seems to be saying that the issuance of the paperback at the onset of the mass market paperback revolution automatically downgrades its status because its popularity is artificial. Doesn't connect the dots.
This is on University reading lists? I thought this was on kids reading lists.
I love you, Vox, but what I am about to lay on you hurts me to say. But I felt I had to say it.
You are reaching here. This is very pseudo.
So this video is titled "The Real Reason To Kill A Mockingbird Became So Famous," while the video itself is an episode in a series called "Overrated," while the point of the video is book "sales." So is Mockingbird an oversold book, an overrated book, or an overly famous book? Are they all the same to you? I think your editorial confusion is showing. Do you even know what your point is?
Let's not forget, just because you happened to read a book six times because you changed schools a lot doesn't mean your teachers thought the book was six times better than the other books that you happened to read once and/or that weren't assigned to you at all. I get that this is meant to be tongue-in-cheek but that doesn't mean it isn't confused logic.
Letting alone for now the concept of "better" here cannot yield a definition able to withstand scrutiny, and letting alone 6 / 0 is undefined %, not 600%, there is something tragically wrong with this video.
Arguing that the advent of the paperback - cheaper manufacture and easier distribution - served as the invisible hand that drove Mockingbird to classrooms is the same as saying "B happened after A, so B happened because A." In other words, the economy surrounding the book is irrelevant to and dismissive of the fact that Mockingbird (by some measure) was a good book to begin with. By the way, you do mention Gatsby. Well, overrated? (I think Yes, but that's a whole 'nother posting) What about all the other paperbacks schools assigned around that time?
By the logic of the video, one could only make the case that Mockingbird received more sales than it otherwise would have. But calling a book overrated would seem to point to its quality as a piece of writing, wouldn't it? And you cannot call Mockingbird overrated unless you are willing to equate a book's sales with its literary quality. Are we ready to go down that road of, say, calling 50 Shades of Grey an amazing work of literature?
Maybe you were just clickbaiting; maybe this was a pardonable sin, justifiable in the court of CZcams productions. But you are actually selling this as investigative journalism - it pains me to say - the Vox brand.
As such this video is sloppy journalism at best and, at worst, an unwarranted attack on one of the greatest moral tales ever told. Not to mention a huge disservice to scientific inquiry.
Thank You, yes. I was watching this video and all the time I was just struggling to figure out what is it really about. The jump between a book sales being boosted by some random circumstances - interesting fact, but what of it? - to book being overrated just confused me.
Thank you for the detailed comment.
I want you as my lawyer in the Court of CZcams
I don't understand why it's confusing? It's pretty obvious they're using overrated to mean, literally, overrated - over-represented in the American consciousness compared to other books that are considered to be of similar quality.
Also, "the greatest moral tales ever told" is more than a bit of a stretch considering that without the sequel a lot of the racial subtext is stuff that we would today consider to be pretty, uh, mild commentary, and containing within it a lot of content that actually implies a pretty unnuanced understanding of race in America.
Lol you were serious really
I used to think every book considered "great" was really really good. Then I read Great Expectations by Dickens. I've never hated any piece of writing more, not even my bills.
Jocky J 🤣🤣🤣
I'm reading it right now for fun. May I get a few spoilers please? And why did you hate it? 😊
I can't stand Dickens either. The way everything is spelled out ugh.
Oliver Twist is the worst book i've ever read.Charles Dickens is overrated in general.(though Christmas Carol was actually good)
Jocky J - This was me with the Great Gatsby. Nothing happens for 90% of the book, then suddenly everything happens at once. I reread it again recently and hated it more because of the outright racism in the first chapters.
Never read it. My book in school was animal farm.
drink15 animal farm is better anyway
I got Animal Farm, Handmaid's tale and A Wizard of Earthsea
I had Romeo and Juliet
I currently have The Odyssey
You didn't miss much.
Next up in the series: iPhone X
Aakrit Patel overrated af
Throngdorr Mighty It's a great improvement but it will still have all the problems that the past, maybe 10, apple phones.
Throngdorr Mighty a noticeable upgrade... in cost...
$999
Throngdorr Mighty $1000 for dated tech
1,000 dollar emoji machine
I don't think it's overrated
Me too. Reading is pretty much how we feel about an author's work, so if other people don't like it, they have their own...reasons and maybe, different ways of perceiving the values of this book. I'm reading it, made it to chap 18 last night, and I looove it. Books in English in Vietnam are pretty much expensive so I haven't got the chance to read more, but TKAM is my favorite one so far ❤.
Read To Kill a Mockingbird in freshman year, still my favorite book
Do Kim Kardashian. How did she become such an Icon?
Anthony Cruz Watch American Crime Story
It will just be about her ass , sex tape , and hideous cry .
If they do that then they're asking to be unsubbed.
Jenna Marbles made a solid argument for this on her podcast.
Donnie Darko SEX TAPE
"What if I told you To Kill A Mockingbird was overrated?" You'd be wrong.
and you'd be white
@@britneymybeloved2979 aww look at little britney surfing the comments just to reply with "you're white", to every user who has a positive feedback for the book, but you haters don't have anything else to do either.
@@britneymybeloved2979 And you'd be racist.
To Kill A Mockingbird is one of my favourite novels ever.
I believe To Kill a Mockingbird is one of the most moving, perfect books ever written. It takes you back to this chaotic time and shows you the world through an innocent child's eyes. It deserves every accolade that has ever been given it and more.
You're white
@@britneymybeloved2979.I'm Native American, African American, and Irish. I thought it showed injustice.
@@britneymybeloved2979 So being white automatically means my perspective doesn't matter? What you are saying is racist against white people.
TKAM fans are something else man, and I thought Nickelback haters were the worst
I fully support you doing more of these. Wasn't Gatsby famous because it was one of the books the USO gave to servicemen in WW2?
flamingamo321 I like the Great Gatsby, one of my favorites
Gauge Lambeth But it's still extremely overrated, most of the characters are barely relatable except for maybe Gatsby
flamingamo321 Yeah, but I think Gatsby is a much better book to be fair. Its more like people didnt realize its significance in its time
The book's name is "the Great Gatsby"....
Gauge Lambeth great gatsbybwas also awful
Asking if it's 600% better than the other books is not a fair question. No one will try to argues that it is 600% better. Just because you read a book 6 times doesn't make it 6 times as good as every book you've never read. I don't know why you came to that conclusion in the first place.
ELECTRICBIGE I thought I was the only one who thought that.
I read it once, and that was when I was a freshman in high school.
ELECTRICBIGE Its obviously exaggeration. You're a focusing on a triviality
It was obviously a hyperbole .=.
chill, it was just a segway
Lol
I can't wait for them to do an episode on why Vox is so overrated.
SlicksGaming because they deserved to be
SlicksGaming like ur mom, jk
for sure lmao
not as overrated as an okay book that's still selling over a million copies a year
Hillarious! hahaha
In my four years of high school the only time I actually enjoyed reading a book for English class was when we were allowed to pick the book (albeit from a list).
I find that when you get to choose a book you think you'll enjoy or have been interested in reading then you tend to be more excited to analyze it.
"Adam ruins everything" VOX edition
Mitch ismyname as in they over exaggerate the issue instead of simply realizing it's a good book that has an important message for the time? Adam ruins everything does stuff like that all the time.
To Kill a Mockingbird was my favorite book that was assigned in grade school because it didn't follow the same life sucks-brief glimmer of hope-life sucks again narrative almost all the other books we read like where the red fern grows, the great Gatsby, the scarlet letter etc.
ThreadThatHas NoEnd I agree.
Well life does suck sometimes. Or for some, most of the time. That's what the books are for, to show you a darker side.
If every story was whimisical with happy endings, that would give kids a very wrong idea.
Tragedy is fine, but only tragedy is just as bad as only happy endings.
Dude the great gatsby is actually a really sad book. About a dude who gets used by manipulative guy
ThreadThatHas NoEnd the Scarlet letter is phenomenal though ....
i first read this book at 23 and i love it. one of my favorites. never read it in school and didn't even know what it was about.
"What if I told you...that Vox is overrated."
You aren't speaking to the quality of the written work.
I see how it became so popular. But why is it overrated?
Only overrated in that it gets SO much attention in comparison to others of similar caliber - it's a good book, don't get me wrong, but the sheer number of good books that are out there is staggering. Like artwork by unknown artists, many of those books, through sheer unluckiness, never reach a mass audience. A big-time critic is never going to seek out books to review that aren't already receiving buzz, so even if those books are brilliant, they don't win awards, they don't get noticed, and they slip into obscurity.
Because the book sucks and the only reason they like is because it has to do with race
Ro500501502 You obviously didn't get the message in the story. See you later kid ;)
Ro500501502 huwhite identitarian spotted lol. But... muh huwhiteness
Don't know if it's because I'm Australian, but I read it for English a while back and no one in my class really liked the story. Atticus was great, but the ending with Boo Radley suddenly appearing seemed too rushed and the we didn't really get why it was so much better then other books.
Maybe it's because we couldn't really connect to the American culture? idk
But Atticus is still amazing :)
Even as someone who has never been to the US, this entire channel (and this series in particular) helps to understand far more subtle things than the topic would first promise.
I love all these interesting videos, and your channel!! THANK YOU
but, but...Vox...you didn't say why it was overrated. You told us how it became famous in an unexpected way, but you didn't comment on the quality of the work itself. If it really was overrated, then it's popularity would be unearned. It was fascilitated by the events you outlined, but 'overrated' implies some injustice in why the thing is so popular. So yes, the book became hugely famous by something other than it's artistic merit. But if you don't complete the argument and talk about the artistic merit, the argument is only half-formed. Still a great video, though, as always.
Well put.
Totally. Very lazy journalism. Not the norm of Vox
Perfect!
Every vox video ever. All they ever deliver is cool graphics.
I don't know. It's not the best book ever written but there's a beauty to it I've always considered special. Is it over-assigned in school? Probably. But it remains a favorite of mine.
I read it for the first time in 5th grade. I was watching TV and my dad threw it in my lap and said, "read this." He never did stuff like that so I devoured it in a weekend. Still my favorite story and have read it numerous times. The worst reading was freshmen year when it was assigned. Teacher took all the life out of it. My favorite sub stories are Mrs Dubose, the church ladies, and Scout's first day of school.
My school NEVER assigned this book to us. I didn't read it until I was in my mid-twenties. I loved it but I think I would have loved it more as an impressionable teenager.
This book is no more overrated than particular examples of classic literature that are still prescribed in schools today.
Not sure that the argument of this book being so popular because of paperbacks becoming popular is compelling enough for me. I think that the book stands on its own merits of great characters, storytelling, and particularly poignant subject matter in the time it was released which honestly still resonates to this day.
Johnny Umali Lol what are other school book would you say are over rated? Cant be all of them, i dont think.
This vox guy just probably needed to make a vox video to get paid and just happend to hate on Harper lee's book.
One might try to claim that Shakespeare is overrated.
hf gddggd yeah he really is and most likely he wasn’t even a real person too
Max Durk i think the great gatsby is overrated. I thought the story was uninteresting and i can hardly see how it related to our education at the time of reading.
I'm 16 and live in England and this is not on our curriculum but I've read it twice because not only is it a literary gem but it's REAL. Black people were lynched and racially abused. This isn't a story, this is life!! That's the thing that gets me :)
White indentured workers were also abused, and slavery existed in Africa as well(was uncolonized then) so their life wasn't any worse if not better than before.
Ro500501502 whats your point?
Ro500501502 wow thanks for the subtle and unnecessary justification of slavery!
Yeah, we know people from the past had it hard. What's your point? That doesn't have to do with the topic at hand (To Kill A Mockingbird).
I'm saying that race is a very exaggerated factor of American History and people treated those of the same race badly as well.
This book taught me about seeing the world from someone else's perspective and to really think about why someone acts the way they do
What a great idea for a series. Loving it! More please....
To Kill a Mockingbird is not overrated. It's a very poignant novel about racism and the broken justice system of 20th century. It talks about seeing things in someone else's point of view and defying social norms. Also, it's about childhood and the coming of age. Blah blah blah timing.
Orson Welles I think the point may be that there were other similar quality books but this one beat them via timimg.
Erik Nielsen yeah that's what I took away from the vid too-overrated in that it's been over represented in schools to the neglect of other great novels
Orson Welles if you break down books to just genres, there's really nothing that's "original". All books and other medias are remixes of ideas present.
I never said it was original. But it was very simple and affective in its execution
What he is trying to say is the fact be the book made it to schools shouldn't surprising. It's an easier book to read so it trains younger kids to analyze books better which to book as a lot to do. And it teaches racism and unjustice with which how young these kids are reading the book it leaves a positive influence on them
I love the idea of the series!
Adit Seth me too re
Afro Fantom | Oh my BOI found me
Agreed. Please deconstruct the stuff we were forced to read in class, and assume is just "normal"
(I read TKM 6 times)
+
(I didn’t read those other book)
=
TKM is 600% better than those other books
That wasn't what he was saying at all... The schools he went to chose to assign that book 6 times. That's where the 600% came from.
Stay in school, kids! 👍
of all the MUST READ classics, this book was actually the only one i really enjoyed reading. just saying
The book was 100% better than the others. You read it six times by sheer coincidence. It cannot be 600% better because it wasn't like you read it in the same school six times
Prove that it was 100% better.
Who's this mockingbird fellow and does he have a Myspace?
Petteri Ahonen He's older than MySpace. . .He's AOL!! ;-)
What's MySpace?
He only has Twitter.
Petteri Ahonen no he's dead
Old stale meme
These videos always tell a narrative and then come to absolutely no conclusion
4 seconds in, I almost flipped the table
I mean, it's also a pretty damn good book.
All 'American classics' are overrated. That's why they're called 'American classics' and not 'Classics'. Because only Americans think they're particularly good.
That's what I was going to say. As someone who never read it in school, and only read it as an adult, I still thoroughly enjoyed 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.
How dare people like books about their own country! People like you sound like you suffer from an inferiority complex.
I'm portuguese, 32, and didn't have to read it in school. I read it maybe 5 years ago and consider it one of my favorite books of all time. It's genuinely good. Go set a watchman, its sequel, is quite underrated imo.
Liam Davis
All classics are overrated.
You read it six times because you moved and your conclusion is that it therefore must be 6 times better than any book you missed? What kind of shitty logic is that?!
Facts. It doesn't account for different school curriculums where some wants TKAM to be read earlier while some later.
Rififi50 but what he's saying is that since he read it so many times, and he read the other books never, it stands to reason that TKaM is significantly more popular than those other books.
He literally said in the video that it WASN'T the case.
Rififi50 You're focusing on small potatoes
It was an ExAGGerATIoN
1938, 1944, and 1948 penguins look like they that were ran over o_O
I WANT SO MANY MORE OF THESE.
I actually quite enjoyed this book, it had fun characters and a strong message.
I know why its so famous! It's because everyone is being forced to read this durring school...
The part when Scout started fighting with jem made me laugh loud in the middle of individual reading time in class.
I bought the book when I was 13-14, I don't really remember. Read it back then. Now I'm gonna be 22, just finished it and yeah, Scout throwing hands,or wanting to, with so many people throughout the story was hilarious.
i read it in school when i was 13 and i thought it was so powerful and had such a strong message and it honestly hit me really hard. i’d love to read it again but i’m really empathic and i feel really strong emotions and i’m scared that it might hit me too hard now that i understand it better.
Super interesting video. But I do hate the part about "is it 600% better" that is just the dumbest line ever. Everything else is on point and super cool.
"It's a sin to kill a mocking bird"
I understood your reference maybe, is that you are trying to say that the book's mockingbird here??
In eighth grade we read “Night” and it is still my favorite book I’ve read to date.
This is probably one of my only favorite book that I have ever read in sophomore year of high school.
1984 happening here folks. This is a novel that accurately describes growing up in the time period. We need that history
Samuel Picklesimer what?
Derek Jeter My point being that while full of vulgarity and racial stereotypes, this book is useful for understanding the culture of the time, and learning not to assume things based on race.
1984 was more of a futuristic dystopian society type and not really an accurate representation.
BTS GOT 7 of EXO's Jams What I mean is: In that book, every historical book/document was rewritten. I see TKWM as an important time capsule.
Mass market paperbacks are dying because of ebooks. Genre readers that kept the format afloat have largely transitioned. To that point so have many, many schools. While you mention that Lee's estate cancelled the mass market edition of TKAM, you neglect the fact that one of the other mass markets you highlight, The Great Gatsby, hasn't been available in mass market in decades. Further interesting ebook fact, remember a few years ago when we had to suffer through all of those thinkpieces about the death of print and the demise of the publishing industry - they were practically identical to the ones originally written about mass market paperbacks.
Remember reading this in 11th grade. Had a substitute teacher the day we were watching the movie in class and he tried to convince us Harper Lee didn't even write the book. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but if there's one that might hold any water, it's that one.
We're currently reading this in my school and it's probably my favorite assigned reading book I think it deserves it's popularity
Ooo a new series! Me likey
Donald Trump is misunderstoond feminist
What's happening here 😂😂
Donald Trump lacked love growing up.
KenYap89 Thats why he gives it to Huricane harvey victims.
400k of love to rebuild homes, feed people, get them water etc.
Don't forget how Trump donates his presidential salary to the us treasury.
So keep being salty mr sheep,
Donald Trump is not my President; literally.
I am not an American 😂
I don't care what anyone says, I absolutely adored the novel as a child and I did again as an adult.
Same.
Im from Holland and never read it until I was a young adult, though I've seen and loved the film. But this is one of my all time favorite books, and your reasons are reaching. It's so famous because it's a masterpiece that should be read by anyone.
okay this makes a lot of sence and I love lernig stuff from these vox videos but like I still love this book like a lot
NEXT: How Despacito became so overrated.
justin bieber faetured on it. NEXT.
Precisely!
No good reason given for why it is overrated. Was it the only paperback book published that year? Nope
3:56 also popular and won pulitzer.
sure it won pulitzer because it's good.
but maybe this wants to show us another reasons that makes this book "overrated"
The reason was stated. It was one of the most popular books at the time, and teachers thought it would be good reading material for students, so it ended up being at the forefront of the "paperback revolution".
HarshDude126 +
Aaah finally! the man behind that mesmerizing voice! Oh the joy🙏
Love this new series!
It's a good book. Plain and simple.
It's not that good. That's why it's called an 'American classic' and not just a 'Classic'. Because only Americans think it's worthy of being called a classic.
Liam Davis >not that good
>likes undertale and life is strange
ill take that with a grain of salt
Liam Davis And where are you from?
It's a bad book. Plain and simple, read more than one and you'll know
Ro500501502 Great analysis on why it's bad, idiot.
I did like To Kill a Mockingbird, but honestly there are better books about racism.
I was named after Harper Lee, I’m a guy but surprisingly nobody really cares. It’s cool to read a book made by a person with your own name, my family said when I was born I felt creative, and they were right. I’m an aspiring animator.
We never read this growing up in Australia, normally other literature was chosen for English.
But as someone who reads about five books a week, I finally decided to read this in the past few days.
This is perhaps my new favourite novel Ive ever read.
I've never seen prose so beautiful.
This video is so accurate 😂 I moved a couple of times and every time I ended up reading it again, but yet never had to read other famous books.
So the only reason you dislike this book is because you kept moving schools and had to read it over and over again? Is that the book's fault?
He never said he disliked it. The message here is that the reason this book in particular won out over others is because of the precise timing of its release into cheap paperback coinciding with schools deciding to look for cheap, respectable books to add to their shelves.
He did start the video by saying, "what if I said TKAM is overrated." But he goes on to ask if the book is 600% better than other books he missed out on reading in schools, possibly because of moving, which is a false premise. If he had stayed in one place, he probably wouldn't have had to read it more than once, and doubt that he would have made a video asking, "Should I ever have read this book at all?"
Like, why bring up the fact that he had to read it so many times if it doesn't affect his argument?
He did say he read the book "for fun".
Taariq Hassim A famous English king had his wife's killed when they couldn't produce a male heir. Don't underestimate people, they will always deliver a good show of stupidity somehow.
He brought up how many times he had to read it to show how popular it still is on reading lists in public schools across the country.
The movie was actually filmed in my hometown, Maycomb,Alabama. Now i live in mobile,Alabama
Maycomb, Alabama is a fake place based off of Monroeville. You cannot have lived in Maycomb as it simply doesn't exist
Leni's favorite book.💗
Basically every book that millions of American middle schoolers/high schoolers are forced to read/analyze every year is "overrated"...
Mayson except Fahrenheit 451
Wow, was I not expecting to see that book being mentioned here.
Mayson I
Mayson
Maybe to you, but not to me.
+Mayson If I was forced to read a book, I hated it by default. During my sophomore year of high school, which was 2000-2001, I was forced to read To Kill a Mockingbird. I vividly remember all the busy work my English teacher gave us. Like we had to underline every word in To Kill a Mockingbird we didn't know, and write down the definition. It was a waste of time and I learned nothing. That's why I hate this book.
Can you do a video on the Rohinga people of Myanmar?
Matthew S A video about Rohinga people? Duh
They made even the Buddhists angrier that shows something about them.
Corbin Cavitt well, i hope you too get what you deserve.
Hobbes ikr
Overate suffering people ? just kidding
I read this for the 9th grade. I personally loved it because my English teacher taught it well. She would go through every chapter thoroughly and make us draw and write how we interpreted it.
This review reminds me so much of when Malcolm Gladwell talks about how success arises out of predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities.
Do Apple next.
I'm actually reading this book in school rn.
I found a really old tattered copy of this book somewhere and read it cause I had just started to discover that I loved reading - I had no idea it was such a famous book or that it won a Pulitzer or had been made into a movie. It's still one of the few books that really moved me.
TKAM is sooooo not overrated!!! I love the messages sent through it, and how realistic it truly was. My grandma grew up in a town just like Maycomb, and is also obsessed with TKAM. Also agreed Atticus is amazing!
So the paperback revolution is why this book is overrated?
So it's so famous bc of paperbacks???!
Looking forward to the series. But this book will always be my favourite. I learned a lot from it. Most importantly, it taught me to be kind.
I love this series ! Over rated 💜
I’m going to read it now
TKAM was super boring. The only reason I think people liked it was because of the chapters with Atticus in court.
Uncle Squiddz yea, I started to really enjoyed when the trial started.
We used it to learn about court
For some reason I liked it all the way through.
We just finished reading it in my English class, we took notes on allusions and the historical significance. This book was published in the 1960s, but the book took place in the 1930s, which makes sense now. The Great Depression etc blah blah. There are many Allusions in TKAM, over 40, and each student in my class did projects on 2 allusions. I could explain the process but hats not the point. Anyways, to really understand TKAM, you've got to search deep into the meanings. Most of the motifs are racism, prejudice, and other similar topics. "To kill a mockingbird" pretty much symbolizes the evolution of an innocent child (like scout and jem) The book makes sense if you search deep into it like I said. And yea, the trial was cool
Honestly, I read it and that's super true. Atticus in court was probably the most interesting chapters.
I've read this book four times for fun and once for school. I love it so much and it's easily my favorite book of all time. I don't think it's overrated, I think it's magnificent.
Yes and I had to read it 9 times & analyse it at length at yr 11 depth in yr 9.
Although it has depth/literary credit, the situation mentioned in the video and its context really allowed it to gain the reputation it has today
What a coincidence. I write exam on To kill a mocking bird in 1 day x)
SAME
You know what else is overrated? The Great Gatsby. and I had to read and analyze it THREE times in school.
The school wanted you to read the part about jerking off.
it was about the great depression and flapper culture and the roaring 20's
I hate teachers that try to find meaning in everything but I also hate people that literally don't see any meaning aside from the literal. Hamlet was about " poor wealthy white people with problems", the color purple was about " poor not-wealthy black people with problems", uncle tom's cabin was about "poor not-wealthy black people with problems", the animal farm was about "poor wealthy vegan and animal with problems".
Every book is pointless in someone's eye but they don't realize how it changed the world we live in. The Jungle was about "poor immigrant with problems" that changed how we viewed food and factiories.
Nova Fawks everyone read gatsby but me. I think we read of mice and men instead. But yeah like 3 times I read something else hahaha
I liked Gatsby because I thought it was a rags to riches story. I don't even know how I made it in school.
So basically you just like books that show struggles of the weak? which is fine. everyone has a preference. its when you start saying one particular book is pointless where the problem starts. F 451 has main protagonist thats is not struggling to ends meat but the book is important wether or not you like it.
Great Gatsby shows Gatsby being not able to marry someone he loves because he is poor. he builds his rich to gain his love but it never works out, his wealth, his love, his life never worked out. It was more than rich people's drama, it was about how being rich doesn't mean you'll get what you didnt get as a poor person.
Speak was about a rich girl struggling to open up about her rape and rapist, was that pointless because of her money? Heck even in tv shows like breaking bad, was Walter's story "poor people struggle" in season 1 and "rich people drama" in season 2-4 because he made millions off meth? no, it was always Walters struggle. "Your take on Animal Farm is wrong, its about animals trying to form a government." it seems like the poor animals are trying to make a more capitalistic wealth driven society of governmnet, eh?
This is my favourite book, I find it hard to see how you can call it overrated. I find this quote sums up why its so great:
“The best books… are those that tell you what you know already.” - George Orwell
That’s a good quote I think better of best book has a book that shows the true meaning of life and how you can incorporate and how it works best for you
Your video doesn't explain why it is still famous today. To kill a mocking bird is a novel which has a very profound meaning and I think it deserves its popularity.