Last week I posted a discussion question about whether or not being a book bloggers helps us choose better books and I am AMAZED at the response I have received! It was so great that I’ve decided to try out another discussion question that has been on my mind since I joined the Classics Club.
I know I am not the only adult who has reread some of the classics that I read in high school simply because I wanted to know what all of the fuss was about. I enjoyed Pride & Prejudice and As I Lay Dying a heck of a lot more when I wasn’t required to look for all of the symbolism and alliteration (I still remember being shocked the row of bushes scene). But even though I reread a lot of them after high school, I did so before I started really submersing myself in a bookish culture.
Now that I’m a more well-read adult, I am better able to understand the deeper layers of a book. I don’t mean looking for all of the stuff that we were required to write essays about in school, but I understand the deeper implications of story lines a lot better than I did before.
For example, I had to read The Great Gatsby in school. I loved it because I was supposed to (I’m related to Fitzgerald somewhere on my family tree) and because it was good. I thought I got it, but when I reread it at 22 I realized I hadn’t. At 22, I really thought I got it. But, then I reread it at 27 and really got it. So I thought – At 30 I started book blogging and I reread the book once again and I got the book in a way that was like a slap in the face. I had no idea how much I had missed before. For the first time I fully appreciated the book, even though I would have told you at 16 that I got it.
And then I joined the Classics Club. I’m reading a lot of new classics now (which is the point of the club, after all) but I find myself adding more and more rereads to the list. I should point out that with the exception of two or three books, I am NOT a rereader. But, the more I blog, the more I learn about my reading style and the more I am able to dissect the story line in an ‘educated’ way. I also follow other Classics Club reviews and read about things that I completely missed when I read them, which makes me want to reread them. Some of them are so obvious that I feel like a complete idiot for not having seen it the first time around.