Works you liked long after you read them

[mrodigga]

Are there any works of literature that you didn't like or just did "get" the first time you read them, only to have them vindicated by time and experience? Books you didn't like when you first read them, but either they grew on you or you gained an appreciation for them afterward?

For me, that work was James Joyce's "Araby". When it was assigned in high school, our English teacher told us very clearly to not come into class the next day and claim that "nothing happened" at the ending, which was apparently a common complaint among her students. Well, I read it, and I remember that I managed to follow it without difficulty right up to the end. This got me excited, for I thought I would be that one student who understood it and wouldn't go into class thinking nothing happened. Then the story ended, and my approximate reaction was, "Why did it end there? The story wasn't done."

When I went into class, our teacher explained that the final line, and the story in general, was about the vanity of unrequited love, and though I wasn't convinced of the story's worth back then, time has made me understand what Joyce was going for. Since reading the story, I have known the experience of coming up with schemes to make my affection for a person known, only to realize that the entire enterprise was in vain and quite absurd. The last line especially has meant a lot to me more times than I care to recall.

"Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger."

Well, let's hope others' stories are a bit more uplifting than this one.

[brosephargh]

Their Eyes Were Watching God. Zora Neale Hurston.

While I was reading I was so put off by the dialect! It was very difficult to get used to, and the novel was the first true frame story I had ever read. So, naturally, I was confused by the non-linear plot as well as struggling to understand the dialogue. Later though, after I had finished and absorbed the novel's meanings and symbolism - as well as discussed it in class - I began to appreciate it much more, and now I love it!

[Katherine]

I was that way with The Catcher in the Rye, when I first read it I thought it was ok, but pointless. But after reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, and studying it for an English class, it just clicked for me. I think it's because of the similarities between some of the Outsiders characters and Holden, and I had some time to mull over the book by then.

Now Catcher is one of my favourite books

[alyoshka]

The Great Gatsby, definitely.

[cyanea]

Dracula, by Bram Stoker.

The first time I read it, I was 12. I didn't "get" it. I thought it would be something more...action-oriented. It was only later, after I learned more about the Victorian era and the what Dracula represented that I went back and read it again and saw it as a conflict between the hidebound, superstitious, and aristocratic old order versus the modern, scientific, and democratic that I really enjoyed it.

It's still not high on my list of favorites. Reading Van Helsing tell Mina how super-keen-special she is makes me gag, and the dialects. Ugh. But I can appreciate it now for what it is versus what I expected when I was a kid.

[sophi]

I read The Great Gatsby in high school and was mostly ambivalent about it, but then I re-read it last October (it came up in conversation/my thoughts three separate times in one week, so I took that as a sign from the universe) and absolutely fell in love it. There's wasn't a single thing in that book that resonated with me at age 16, but eight years apparently makes a big difference.

[callmeishmael]

Of Mice and Men. Reading it in high school it was just another novel we had to read.
Looking back it completely established my respect for Steinbeck, and I thoroughly enjoy the story. Even though I haven't read it since when it was assigned, I just feel as if I'm a fan of it now.

[Marina]

I really like The Iliad. I mean, yeah, some parts were boring back it was awesome overall!

Oh, and The Count of Monte Cristo, love, love it!

[nerdphd]

I read Heart of Darkness for my Freshman English class in college & while I can't say I LIKE it now, I do appreciate it a lot more after discussing it with our teacher. It's not fun to read, but even the worst, most bogged-down-ish (I can't believe I'm using made-up terms on an English majors' forum) passages have a point. The whole "was Conrad racist"/"is 19th century racism the same as 21st century racism and should we care" discussion is fun too.

[beasty]

Paradise Lost

I started out going, "I cannot read this shit. This is so boring and so dry and blah blah blah." However, I had a fantastic professor and started having an open mind. By the end of it, I was in love. His imagery, his motifs, his careful manipulation of language and characters... lovelovelove.

[onlyaworkingtitle]

In another thread, I mentioned (which reminded me to mention here) that I first read Sula for a 10th grade English class and had an incredibly "meh" reaction. A year later, in a summer writing program at Bryn Mawr, we read it again and I had an epiphany: there is a point to this book! I don't remember what it is, as my memory is not so wonderful (and even then I never loved the book enough to spend much energy on the epiphany), but it was a definite shift in a new direction.

[meh]

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.

I still don't really LIKE the book and storyline itself, but the writing is beautiful.

[Eternal Lobster]

I could just not get into Wuthering Heights the first time I read it. It was not what I had expected and seemed extremely boring. I don't think that I even finished it. The second time, a few years later, I read it all in one day. I couldn't stop. I think it all depends on where you are in life and what sort of mood you are in. Right now I can't seem to get into Cat's Cradle, despite encouragement from everyone who loves Vonnegut. Maybe if I put it down and read it a few years from now I will like it.

[devilishlybookish]

When I first tried to pick up Anne Rice's Interview With A Vampire I was still in middle school. Needless to say, it kind of went over my head at the time. I picked up the series again recently and adored it.

[Marina]

Jun 5, 2011 3:21:20 GMT -5 devilishlybookish said:

When I first tried to pick up Anne Rice's Interview With A Vampire I was still in middle school. Needless to say, it kind of went over my head at the time. I picked up the series again recently and adored it.

Really? Maybe I should give it a second go too then. The first time I read it I was so Extremely disappointed because so many people build up Ann Rice to like a vampire goddess writer. I was bored to death with it, I don't even know how I finished it. Too bad the girl I gave it to never returned it.