First thoughts on 'Go Set a Watchman'

(Note: Very mildly spoilerish.)

First of all, let me thank The Guardian for running the first chapter of Harper Lee's new book. And then let me shake my fist at them for all the "interactive" garbage on the page that made it slow to load and was nothing but distracting anyhow. And then let me drop my fist because, after all, they did print it.

All that said -- so far, so good. It's a little rough and unpolished in some ways (abrupt changes of verb tense, for example) and I can't help wishing they'd just gone ahead and given it a good solid edit, although I'm sure no one wanted to do that with an author who's very much alive, beloved, unpredictable, and sometimes cantankerous. Yes, she's been pretty much silent on the subject till now, but who wants to be the one that brings down her wrath? Still, the strength and vividness of her writing comes through, in good character descriptions and hilarious little sketches and pithy turns of phrase. This is going to be a really good read. Can't wait for next Wednesday!

. . . Even though I'm just as sad as everyone else about that bombshell she so casually drops in there.