My friends and I are doing a book club where we reread books we remember loving in high school / college (we’re in our mid-30s now). We’re doing Bel Canto by Ann Patchett now, which I haven’t read since I was 18. I remember it as a swooney romance, and while there is some of that in it, what struck me this time was how funny it is. So it got me wondering:
What’s a book you’ve reread that struck you completely differently the second time around?
by sylviaplathological
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1. The scarlet letter- I was 14 when I first read it. And the secret shame/guilt and underlying suppression of feelings and the Psychological torture of hiding the truth was lost on me.
2. Jane Eyre- the 15 yr old who read this didn’t understand how revolutionary it was that a woman in the 1800s could think that she was a independent human being with her own will, and that she must respect herself. That that means more than a man’s love. The 30 yr old appreciated it more.
3. The blue castle- by LM Montgomery, I was reread this book so many times since I first read it at 16. It’s my favorite Montgomery. At 16, I didn’t understand why valancy didn’t just stand up to her family. I couldn’t understand being suppressed and condescended to, your whole life, and what that would do to one’s self esteem/identity.