Earlier today, I made a map of places to get a copy of Harper Lee’s ‘Go Set a Watchman.’ But do you WANT to?

It’s a question that many began to ponder as soon as the announcement of the book’s impending release came out. Now, with that moment looming, it is a question that has only become more fraught.

Why? Well, it’s complicated. When journalist and author Marja Mills joined Kojo last year to talk about her time living next door to Harper Lee and her sister Alice, the question of why Lee never published again came up. The answer struck me because it came down to, as Mills intuited it, a question: “Well, would you?”

It’s a good question since the success of “To Kill a Mockingbird” is hard to overstate and even imagine today: a first time author’s book takes off, is made into an equally successful film, is assigned to countless schoolchildren and beloved by many. That success brought a lot of attention and scrutiny to Lee: questions about her relationship with Truman Capote (speculation which prompted my favorite quote from Mills’ book, “Truman’s a psychopath, honey!”), a flood of tourists to her hometown of Monroeville, Pa. and expectations that would be hard to meet for a follow-up.

So it’s no wonder that, for 55 years, there wasn’t one. Which is why, when Lee’s attorney announced last fall that a manuscript for an early draft of “To Kill a Mockingbird” would be published it was met with skepticism. Harper Lee is known to have suffered at least one stroke and lives in an assisted-living facility in her hometown. Concern was so high that a state agency investigated whether there was elder-abuse afoot, concluding there was not.

Now, on the eve of “Go Set a Watchman”‘s pub date, the wariness has only increased. Last Friday, a preview of Chapter 1 – was published online with one big spoiler. Otherwise, it was pretty innocuous. My take was that grown-up Jean Louise is certainly no Scout, which would make it interesting to put on my ‘lit crit’ hat and see where this version hewed to the previous novel since descriptions of Maycomb clearly echo “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Later that day, the first reviews came rolling out and literary Twitter went ballistic. It was revealed in those reviews that Atticus, the beloved proponent of equal rights embodied by Gregory Peck in the film, is a bigot. He’s a former KKK member who, in this new novel, pushes against the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board decision and advocating for state’s rights.

Now, it’s hard to tell what to think without having read the book. The problem is, even once we do, it’s impossible to know what Lee wants us to think. A sit-down with a journalist seems exceedingly unlikely and this revelation further complicates the questions about whether she wanted this book published. What was her intention? Why now? The questions are legion.

One report notes that Lee’s own father -who was clearly beloved by her- changed his views on segregation. So maybe she was trying to reconcile her views with his as a young author is wont to do.

Maybe the reason she OK’d publication is that she wants us to realize that people are complicated and flawed, even people we hail as heroes. But as this novel is being set up in bookstores nationwide, we engage in heated debate over the future of the Confederate flag, confront the killings of young black men by people in uniform and struggle still to deal with race in all facets of our society. It doesn’t make that shift any easier to process.

While it may, ultimately, be a useful and revelatory exercise for readers to ponder why it’s so hard to process, is that what readers want from Lee?

So we arrive at the question of how to read this book. It’s both a prequel, of sorts, since it was originally written as a draft that was turned into “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and a sequel given the timeline.

My approach is going to be this: think of the Maycomb in “Go Set a Watchman” as a kind of bizarro version of the one you know.

This isn’t the same Atticus. He’s a different character, from a different book. Scout has become someone who actually answers to Jean Louise. Jem (here’s the spoiler I mentioned earlier) is dead.

Judge these characters amd this plot on their relative merits and weaknesses. Try to put what you know and love not out of your mind, but on another plane. And hope when you flip the last page, it hasn’t sullied your respect for Harper Lee and her legacy or fly in the face of her wishes.

Especially since today brought news that Lee’s lawyer has a hot tip on a third manuscript…

Want more takes? We got the ‘WAMU Morning Edition Book Club‘ band back together.

Chris Chester’s take:

For most people I know —even the especially well-read ones— their first and only interaction with “To Kill A Mockingbird” is in a middle school classroom. That is a wonderful thing for a variety of reasons, not least of which because it introduces to kids at an early age the idea that attaining social justice for everybody is something you have to actively fight for. But while everybody remembers Atticus’ fight on behalf of Tom Robinson (and that is how I will choose to remember him, whatever happens in “Go Set A Watchman”), a really important facet to Harper Lee’s literary classic is often forgotten:

“To Kill A Mockingbird” is really funny!

I went back and read it a few weeks ago and was struck by the sheer volume of laugh out loud moments. There’s Scout’s first day at school with Miss Caroline, the construction of the potentially libelous “morphodite” snowman, and this memorable passage on page 83 when Scout decides to try out cussing:

I was proceeding on the dim theory, aside from the innate attractiveness of such words, that if Atticus discovered I had picked them up at school he wouldn’t make me go.

But at supper that evening when I asked him to pass the damn ham, please, Uncle Jack pointed at me. “See me afterwards, young lady,” he said.

All it takes is a slight turn of phrase or suggestion of Scout’s girlish misunderstanding to get me to crack a smile. There’s still a lot we don’t really know about “Go Set A Watchman,” but given that it was written around the same time, my hope is that Harper Lee’s effortless grasp of comedic timing still shines through, even though early reviews of the book suggest a more disillusioned tone.

Jonathan Wilson’s take:

Can I just put voice to what most people have been thinking ever since this announcement was first made? ICK.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is one of the most beloved novels of all time, and Harper Lee one of literature’s most admired -and mysterious- figures. Most of us don’t want that to change, especially for the publication of a novel that she may or may not have ever wanted to see published.

If you need a primer on why I have my doubts, I direct you to Marja Mills’ conversation with Kojo about her memoir, “The Mockingbird Next Door” (a segment produced by our friend and spirit guide, Tayla Burney). Mills is convincing, but the controversy following the publication of her book was disturbing, to say the least. Is the aging Harper Lee practically blind and deaf, but witty and aware enough to give her blessing to this book’s publication? Or is she the victim of lawyers and agents looking to make a killing off the first draft of a novel penned by a famous but now infirm literary legend?

The dark clouds surrounding this book haven’t cleared since last year -not for me at least.  Just skim over this  write-up from The New York Times.

Curiosity will drive my colleagues to devour this book as soon as it hits their desks.  As for me, I’m going to need to read a few more reviews -and hear a little more directly from Lee herself — before the ‘ICK’ turns into an ‘OOH!’.

If you’ve made it this far, you know our thoughts. We want to hear yours! Will you be up tonight, refreshing your e-reader at 12:01 a.m.? Are you choosing not to read this novel? Do you think this whole thing is out of hand?