III form book report : Lee, Harris

III form Junior Certificate have a long book report to complete, which is then counted towards their examination mark. Albert Kyd-Rebenburg wrote about two very different novels, Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and Robert Harris's dystopia Fatherland. He writes:-

The beginnings of Fatherland and To Kill a Mockingbird were very different. In Fatherland the beginning starts off with action: a dead body. The person died in strange circumstances, and one soon finds out that it was murder. On the other hand at the start of To Kill a Mockingbird one is immediately plunged into Scout's thoughts and at her funny way of looking at things.

When I think about it Fatherland’s beginning is slightly more catching because there is a lot more going on, and you immediately get into the quick rhythm and the race-against-time feeling. The endings are also very distinct one from another. I have to say To Kill a Mockingbird’s ending is far better than Fatherland’s end. Only at the end does the whole story come together, and that is when one can fully understand it. Fatherland’s ending is good and bad at the same time, and was easily predicted. Questions remained unanswered, and although To Kill a Mockingbird’s end didn’t have any questions left, I can still imagine Finch leading a very nice family life after the book ended.

Read Albert's full book report here.