There are some books that you really have to read at the
right time in life. Take Catcher in the Rye.
When I read it at 17, it was genius. I got it. I got Holden. It was good...not
as good as The Bell Jar, but good. I
tried to read it as a twenty-something and rather than being some sort of
tragic hero in search of beauty in a fucked up world, Holden Caulfield was just
a whiney-ass teenager who couldn't get his shit together. It just doesn't feel
like the same book if you're not going through that particular phase of your
life.
Like so many other teenagers, I was assigned to read Catcher in the Rye in high school. It
was the perfect time to read that book, but I was assigned quite a few
monumental works as well. I despised some of them (Last of the Mohicans, I'm looking at you), but as I get older, I
wonder if the opposite is true of some them.
Maybe I was just too young to appreciate what they had to offer. Maybe I
needed the depth of experience that only age can bring to really get them, and
as I teenager, I certainly didn't have the wherewithal to do so. Because of
that, some of them didn't quite make a definite impression. My memories of
plots and themes are fuzzy. Despite that, though, here are a few I think I
should come back to:
1. Invisible Man by
Ralph Ellison. I remember not quite
getting this book. I got some of it; I remember being struck with the idea that
race could be so powerful as to render someone invisible to all attention but
negative attention. I remember being told that this was an important book. I
remember my classmates being as bewildered as I was reading it. But since I
left high school, Invisible Man has
made appearances throughout my cultural consciousness, at parties, late night
book discussions, articles on race, randomly. Recently I heard it described as
one of the most powerful books ever written. It may be time to revisit it and
see what I can make of it now.
2. A Portrait of the
Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.
This was another high school reading assignment and one that was as
bewildering as Invisible Man on many
levels. The moo-cow chapter made a particularly strong impression on my naive
teenage brain. "What the hell is this?!!" I thought, as I read. By
the end of the novel, I had sort of figured it out (emphasis on the sort of).
Now that I understand a little more about James Joyce and stream of
consciousness, I wonder if it would be a more interesting read.
3. The Hunchback of
Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. I decided when I was 11 that I was going to read
Classical Literature and I was going to understand it and everyone would be
very impressed. I had managed to make my way through Pride and Prejudice and totally understood everything, so I figured
I would try some other Great19th Century Literature. Why I chose The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I have no
idea (though some awful Disney film may have had something to do with it), but
I did. I still, to this day, have no idea what the greater theme of that book
was. Maybe something about power and corruption? Physical strength and
political strength and poverty and redemption? My guesses now are as feeble as
my understanding was then. I may not re-read this one, as my attempts at Les Miserables in my early twenties were
similarly befuddled (Victor Hugo is probably difficult at any age...right?),
but if I do, I know I'll do better than I did at 11.
4. Heart of Darkness
by Joseph Conrad. I still don't really know what's going on in this book. The
first time around was in high school (of course) and the narrative structure
was confusing (who was narrating? What?) and the language was confusing (what
sort of crazy 19th century boat slang is this??) and the plot was confusing
(WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!). I got the larger message about wilderness stripping
away the veneer of civilization, but the specifics were lost on me. Many years
later, a co-worker praised Heart of
Darkness to the skies (along with Conrad's other works), so I tried again.
Nope, still confusing. I will wait a few more years and try again, but this one
may just always be beyond me. The horror! The horror!
5. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.
Those of you who know me well will wonder what the hell its doing on this list,
but it belongs here, no doubt. The first time I attempted the defining work of modern
fantasy was in high school (though I picked it up myself, rather than have it
assigned) and I thought it was slow, boring, and confusing. Why couldn't
Tolkien just stick to one name? How was I supposed to keep all the characters
straight? And the history behind the plot? Forget about it. Unlike the others
on this list, I came back to LOTR later in college and fell in love. It was so
engrossing this time around! What had been confusion before was intriguing now!
The language! The mythology! The depth of creation! The appendices were a
wealth and font of knowledge that had been hitherto unknown! So fascinating!
And maybe, if I gave these others a second chance, now that
I'm older and (hopefully) a little wiser, I'll have that same experience.
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