Harper Lee in the Observer.
The Observer has more on Harper Lee's recent appearance at the University of Alabama, and also looks at her connection with Truman Capote.
Lee herself is back in the spotlight now. The film Capote has been a huge hit across America, especially after the Oscar-nominated performance by actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role. It will be released in Britain later this month. A second film, Infamous, starring Sandra Bullock as Lee, released later this year, will also explore her life.
Capote is largely an exploration of the ethical morass that the writer falls into as he befriends the killers of a Kansas family in order to complete his book about the murders. Lee, played by the Hollywood actress Catherine Keener, acts as Capote's moral compass. In one pivotal moment, when the increasingly morally compromised Capote complains that he could not save the two men from the hangman's noose, Lee tells him: 'Maybe not, Truman. But the truth is you didn't want to.' The film has sparked a flood of interview requests sent by journalists to the quiet environs of Monroeville where Lee now shares a house with her 94-year-old sister Alice, who is still a practising lawyer.
However, anyone expecting Lee to emerge fully from her isolation is likely to be disappointed. Lee spoke to the New York Times only about the University of Alabama awards ceremony and jokingly complained that too much of her time was now spent in penning refusals to interview requests arriving on the back of the Capote film.
Etc.
Lee herself is back in the spotlight now. The film Capote has been a huge hit across America, especially after the Oscar-nominated performance by actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role. It will be released in Britain later this month. A second film, Infamous, starring Sandra Bullock as Lee, released later this year, will also explore her life.
Capote is largely an exploration of the ethical morass that the writer falls into as he befriends the killers of a Kansas family in order to complete his book about the murders. Lee, played by the Hollywood actress Catherine Keener, acts as Capote's moral compass. In one pivotal moment, when the increasingly morally compromised Capote complains that he could not save the two men from the hangman's noose, Lee tells him: 'Maybe not, Truman. But the truth is you didn't want to.' The film has sparked a flood of interview requests sent by journalists to the quiet environs of Monroeville where Lee now shares a house with her 94-year-old sister Alice, who is still a practising lawyer.
However, anyone expecting Lee to emerge fully from her isolation is likely to be disappointed. Lee spoke to the New York Times only about the University of Alabama awards ceremony and jokingly complained that too much of her time was now spent in penning refusals to interview requests arriving on the back of the Capote film.
Etc.