Waterstones Classic Week

Through the eyes of Scout, a feisty six-year-old tomboy, To Kill a Mockingbird carries us on an odyssey through the fires of prejudice and injustice in 1932 Alabama. Presenting her tale first as a sweetly lulling reminiscence of events from her childhood, the narrator draws us near with stories of daring neighborhood exploits by she, her brother Jem, and their friend Dill.

Peopled with a cast of eccentrics, Maycomb finds itself the venue of the trial of Tom Robinson, a young black man falsely accused of raping an ignorant white woman. Atticus Finch, Scout and Jem’s widowed father and a deeply principled man, is appointed to defend Tom

for whom a guilty verdict from an all-white jury is a foregone conclusion. Juxtaposed against the story of the trial is the children’s hit and run relationship with Boo Radley, a shut-in who the children and Dill’s Aunt Rachel suspect of insanity and who no one has seen in recent history. Cigar-box treasures, found in the knot hole of a tree near the ramshackle Radley house, temper the children’s judgment of Boo. “You never know someone” Atticus tells Scout, “until you step inside their skin and walk around a little.” But fear keeps them at a distance until the children confront an evil born of ignorance and blind hatred and must somehow find their way home.

WWII German superspy, the Needle, who gravitates towards murder using his trusty switchblade, discovers vital evidence about the Allies D-Day invasion. He makes for the Scottish coast to escape on a U-Boat when his small boat is shipwrecked before being picked up and the Needle is washed ashore. He is saved by a man destined to never enter the war and his wife and child. The Needle quickly falls in love with the woman and both must decide between their love or country.

In 1984, Winston Smith lives in London which is part of the country Oceania. The world is divided into three countries that include the entire globe: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia.

Oceania, and both of the others, is a totalitarian society led

by Big Brother, which censors everyone’s behavior, even their thoughts. Winston is disgusted with his oppressed life and secretly longs to join the fabled Brotherhood, a supposed group of underground rebels intent on overthrowing the government. Winston meets Julia and they secretly fall in love and have an affair, something which is considered a crime.

One day, while walking home, Winston encounters O’Brian, an inner party member, who gives Winston his address.

Winston had exchanged glances with O’Brian before and had dreams about him giving him the impression that O’Brian was a member of the Brotherhood. Since Julia hated the party as much as Winston did, they went to O’Brian’s house together where they were introduced into the Brotherhood. O’Brian is actually a faithful member of the Inner-Party and this is actually a trap for Winston, a trap that O’Brian has been cleverly setting for seven years. Winston and Julia are sent to the Ministry of Love which is a sort of rehabilitation center for criminals accused of thought crime. There, Winston was separated from Julia, and tortured until his beliefs coincided with those of the Party. Winston denounces everything he believed him, even his love for Julia, and was released back into the public where he wastes his days at the Chestnut Tree drinking gin.

This classic story by Herman Melville revolves around Captain Ahab and his obsession with a huge whale, Moby Dick. The whale caused the loss of Ahab’s leg years before, leaving Ahab to stomp the boards of his ship on a peg leg. Ahab is so crazed by his desire to kill the whale, that he is prepared to sacrifice everything, including his life, the lives of his crew members, and even his ship to find and destroy his nemesis, Moby Dick.

The narrator suffers from a lack of sleep. He tries different ways to cure this, but he does not succeed. He does get some sleep, but his conditions rebounds back into it’s original state when he meets a lovely young woman, whose name is Marla. He finds out that she and he both have a lot in common and they spend a lot of time together. While touring, he meets an enigmatic young man named Tyler and after a short conversation both become fast friends. Both like to relieve their inner tensions by hitting each other. Soon word gets around about their fights, and lots of young people also get interested. Then a club is formed, which the narrator and Tyler call ‘Fight Club’. Both start spending a lot of time and both also make lots of money.

For one week only, Waterstone’s is dusting off all the classic novels on the shelf. From Moby Dick to Eye of the Needle; To Kill a Mockingbird to 1984, we are hoping to showcase these wonderful novels to a whole new audience, as well as rekindling some great memories to their current audience.

All novels featured will be available at a special price for the duration of the week as well as e-book versions available to download from the Waterstone’s online store.