On books

[hils]

I've been thinking about the conversation I had with woman_of_ on Sunday about books that had an impact on me when I was a teenager. Do you ever go back and read books that you loved or that influenced you only to find that as you've got older they don't fit into your life the way they once did? I don't often read a book more than once because there's so much new stuff out there for me to enjoy, but I've been thinking of going back to some of the books we discussed and now I'm worried I'm somehow going to ruin my teenage memories. What if these books aren't what I remember?

Am I being silly? Should I read the books again or leave them in the past?

*sighs*

Clearly I am watching too much Frasier and it's making me over-analyse everything. LOL. Quick, someone find somethig shallow and meaningless for me to think about ;)

Comments

[spikewriter]

My number one comfort food in books? The hardback two volume of set of Winnie-the-Pooh/House at Pooh Corner and When We Were Very Young/Now We Are Six that my parents gave me for my sixth birthday. Yup, I've had these for over forty years.

There are only a few keeper books -- many that I really enjoyed when I was a teenager I found I haven't enjoyed that much when I re-read them. Most of the long-term keepers are children's books.

Btw, great moments in theatre -- seeing Patrick Stewart do his one-man show Uneasy Lies the Head and watch him do a selection from King John followed by A.A. Milne's poem about King John and the red India rubber ball.

[hils.livejournal.com]

Hee! That sounds brilliant!

Were you disappointed when the books you read as a teenager weren't as good as you remembered?

[spikewriter]

Quite -- I find I re-read less as I get older, though there are a few keepers (those are mostly odd things, not your standard teen fare).

I think part of it is that when we're in our teens, we're bubbling cauldrons of emotions and hormones and we feel everything as if it's the end of the world. Most of the time it isn't, of course, but we're convinced no one has ever felt this way before or ever will again. A lot of books that are aimed at teens play on that dynamic, and I found myself saying "Oh, this is so profound. This Speaks Truth." Then I re-read it ten years later and realized that the characters were a bit overly emo and angsty and you can't live your life at that pitch all the time.

I've often wanted to smack the characters I enjoyed when I was a teenager because I wanted them to wake up and look at the rest of the world. Of course, I wasn't any different than those characters at that time. Maybe that's why the children's books still appeal to me -- they aren't about OMG-life-changing-experiences-that-no-one-but-me-understands-and-why-is-the-world-so-cruel, but about wonder and exploring and learning new things, stuff that it's good to remind ourselves of no matter our age.

I think I need a Pooh icon. :)

[hils.livejournal.com]

That's a wonderful sentiment and so true as well :)