When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.

This is the beginning sentence of the life-changing deep book I read, To Kill a Mockingbird. You may be wondering why I chose to include the first sentence of this book in my review. It is because of how deep and so seemingly shallow it is. Seemingly shallow meaning that when you look at it, it doesn’t look like much. Sure, it hooks you and makes you want to read more, but it’s nothing special. You learn the main character has a brother, and that brother broke his arm. The brother’s name is Jem. That’s all.

At least, you think that is all. But it really isn’t. Once you finish the book as I have, you will realise how bottomless the deepness of it really is. The only reason, however, that it is deep is because the book is deep. This doesn’t make any sense, you may be thinking. The only reason it doesn’t make sense is because I haven’t explained myself. So I should probably get explaining.

This sentence is deep because it is really the ending. Past the ending, actually. It is deep because it is the ending of one of the deepest books I have read. This short 323-page book written by author Harper Lee is one of my favorite books now. Not one of my favorite deep books. One of my favorite books. Period.

The first half of the book does in no way predict the second half. While reading the first half of To Kill a Mockingbird I was surprised. People had said this was an amazing deep book, world and life changing. So why was I reading a simple fiction novel, about a girl named Scout and her brother Jem? Then I got to the second half. The book started transforming into the thing it was meant to be: The best life changing deep book I have ever read. It is the best simply because of the ingenuity of the author. Because Harper Lee wrote it the way I described with the different halves, To Kill a Mockingbird really built up to be something great. Something the reader could appreciate.

One of my favorite quotes from this book is:

“There’s something in this world that makes men lose their heads-they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are the facts of life.”
Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird

This is one of my favorite quotes, because it explains so clearly and yet so terribly the truth back in those days. The fact that Atticus said “those are the facts of life” is one of the most horrible and powerful things I have ever read. This is because he genuinely thought, even though he didn’t like it, that this terrible discrimination was a fact of life, and would continue on forever. This quote sort of explains to you how messed up life was way back in the early 1930s in the United States. A “Fact of Life” was white people were above any other skin color, especially black. How silly is that? They would judge someone based on what color their skin was. At the end of the trial, after Atticus had proved Tom’s innocence, Tom was still convicted. Probably being put to death, because of the color of his skin.

Another quote I found motivational and deep:

“I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”
Scout Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird

I liked this quote because it is so true. Scout was so much wiser than hundreds and thousands of grown-ups in her time. She knows that there is only one kind of person, and that is a person. Some may look different, and yes, some may have a different skin tone, but you are all still human. One isn’t superior to the other. I found it sort of amusing that Scout had this wisdom. She was so young, yet she got it. She knew precisely what many others did not. She knew that all humans are equal, and subject to equal treatment.

To Kill a Mockingbird has had a huge impact on the world, selling over forty million copies and still changing lives today. This book has sparked protests and has brought the horrors of racism and discrimination to light in many people’s lives. It helped me, at least, realize how bad it can get, the sin of judging another because of something so petty like the color of their skin. I was changed in a way I will hopefully never forget, changed in a way a book has never changed me before. I now feel proud to be able to say,”I have read the book To Kill a Mockingbird.” I would recommend this crazy good deep book to everyone, for it is important to at least read once in your life. If it changes you like it changed me, you will then know the extent of the power of this book.

Some major questions raised by the main characters were:
Is this fair? Why is this happening? What is right? Who has the right to make these decisions? Why can’t everyone be the same? What is the right way to live? What can we do about these injustices?

Some other questions I pondered and asked after reading To Kill a Mockingbird were:
What is more important: Equal treatment and fairness, or love? Who has the power to decide when to take human life? What can I do about racism and abuse of authority?

Though I would recommend this book to everyone, due to the deepness and writing style, I would specifically recommend this book to people interested in law. People like Sarah and Nikita, who are getting their apprenticeships in the law industry. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is interested in injustices and what they can do about them. This book will truly teach you, as I have said, about the US’s real discrimination crisis in the 1930s.

Harper Lee’s style was incredible. Like I said a while ago, the way To Kill a Mockingbird was divided up was great. Plus, the book flowed and everything made sense. Even if something happening seemed totally random, it usually all came together at the end of the chapter or something and was concluded. Speaking of making sense, Lee’s voice was superb. The way she put lengthy and shortened sentences together was immensely helpful for me as a reader and helped with the overall flow of the story. Making sure to balance showing and telling skills, Harper Lee totally crushed out any of the other deep books I have read (even Fahrenheit 451). If you are even just thinking of maybe reading this stunning book that is To Kill a Mockingbird, I highly recommend you do so. Though I may have written a long stretched out review, I still cannot account for the insane deepness of this book. Seriously. Read it.