Jane Austen. When I was a teenager I found Pride and Prejudice extremely boring and felt like nothing at all happened in that book.
Turns out I just hadn’t developed my critical reading skills very well and knew absolutely nothing about the society Austen lived in, wrote about, and critiqued.
Now I understand more about it, and enjoy her books a lot more as a result.
rory_twee on
Audrey Lorde, for some reason I had it in my head that she was some kind of humourless polemicist, then read Zami: A New Spelling of My Name and realised how wrong I was.
Queenofhackenwack on
i thought ken follett was a bible thumper…. but my cousin convinced me to read pillars of the earth…i was reluctant because of the building a cathedral thing….BUT, i am just about to finish book four of the “kingsbridge” series…. looking for a used copy of book five…….
aesir23 on
Being forced to read The Old Man and the Sea in high-school, when I hadn’t yet experienced real loss, disappointment, or regret was a waste of time.
Then, in later life, I bought into the hype that Hemingway was some toxicly masculine tough guy–that’s what he wanted you to think, but his fiction betrays a sensitivity and vulnerability his reputation won’t prepare you for.
rentiertrashpanda on
NK Jemisin. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms didn’t do much for me, but the Broken Earth trilogy is one of the most incredible and ambitious series I’ve ever read
bardianofyore on
Stephen King. I’d read a couple short stories of his and the start of several of his more popular novels (It, for example), and it seemed like his writing style just really didn’t click with me. I’d see glimpses of something I enjoyed and then it would be gone too quickly to compel me forward.
Then I picked up 11/22/63. At the time I read it, 11/22/63 was the first book I’d opened in *months* that absorbed me from page one and never stopped.
It is a masterpiece, truly. Now on par with some of my top favorites of all time. I spent most of high school making fun of his other books with my friends (particularly *In the Tall Grass*, which we watched as a movie no less than six times, and which we read aloud together in semi-staged productions whenever inspired).
Mr King, I owe you an apology. I really wasn’t familiar with your game.
fragments_shored on
Hilary Mantel. I thought Wolf Hall was such a slog at first and then suddenly the ending was a revelation. Loved the subsequent two books.
NikiBubbles on
Ursula Le Guin. Tried Earthsea when I was a teen, found it dull and boring, and now (in my 30s) I adore all her stuff, and she was a pretty badass lady herself, imo.
8 Comments
Jane Austen. When I was a teenager I found Pride and Prejudice extremely boring and felt like nothing at all happened in that book.
Turns out I just hadn’t developed my critical reading skills very well and knew absolutely nothing about the society Austen lived in, wrote about, and critiqued.
Now I understand more about it, and enjoy her books a lot more as a result.
Audrey Lorde, for some reason I had it in my head that she was some kind of humourless polemicist, then read Zami: A New Spelling of My Name and realised how wrong I was.
i thought ken follett was a bible thumper…. but my cousin convinced me to read pillars of the earth…i was reluctant because of the building a cathedral thing….BUT, i am just about to finish book four of the “kingsbridge” series…. looking for a used copy of book five…….
Being forced to read The Old Man and the Sea in high-school, when I hadn’t yet experienced real loss, disappointment, or regret was a waste of time.
Then, in later life, I bought into the hype that Hemingway was some toxicly masculine tough guy–that’s what he wanted you to think, but his fiction betrays a sensitivity and vulnerability his reputation won’t prepare you for.
NK Jemisin. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms didn’t do much for me, but the Broken Earth trilogy is one of the most incredible and ambitious series I’ve ever read
Stephen King. I’d read a couple short stories of his and the start of several of his more popular novels (It, for example), and it seemed like his writing style just really didn’t click with me. I’d see glimpses of something I enjoyed and then it would be gone too quickly to compel me forward.
Then I picked up 11/22/63. At the time I read it, 11/22/63 was the first book I’d opened in *months* that absorbed me from page one and never stopped.
It is a masterpiece, truly. Now on par with some of my top favorites of all time. I spent most of high school making fun of his other books with my friends (particularly *In the Tall Grass*, which we watched as a movie no less than six times, and which we read aloud together in semi-staged productions whenever inspired).
Mr King, I owe you an apology. I really wasn’t familiar with your game.
Hilary Mantel. I thought Wolf Hall was such a slog at first and then suddenly the ending was a revelation. Loved the subsequent two books.
Ursula Le Guin. Tried Earthsea when I was a teen, found it dull and boring, and now (in my 30s) I adore all her stuff, and she was a pretty badass lady herself, imo.