I was talking to a friend about comedic / farcical literature the other day, and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller came up. That made me remember - I first read this book when I was about 15 years old. Or rather I read about 80% of it, didn’t quite finish it that time. I forced myself through it because I had heard it was subversive and intelligent and challenging, and I got nothing out of it. I didn’t see the humor, I didn’t get any political commentary, it was just a series of absurd things happening to absurd characters with no rhyme or reason.
I reread that book two years ago and damn near pissed myself laughing on every other page, but then the ending rolled around and it hit so hard. That sudden switch from absurdist comedy to heavy, bleak, depressing, and then he gives you just this glimmer of hope at the end anyway. I found it absolutely brilliant, and yet I kept thinking back to how none of this connected with me when I first read it.
Do you have books like that? Books that just plain went over your head, that you didn’t have the maturity to appreciate, that were too difficult in style or subject matter, and that you’ve come to appreciate years later?
I’m telling you, those Grimdark books “satanic music” and years on my back filtered my positive side away, what left is shrivelled husk that LoL so hard when Glokta interrogates poor fellow and bit by bit cuts off his fingers with a meat cleaver :-P ( The First Law is a masterpiece). To be true I read The Hobbit to my 8 year old daughter now and she likes it I will read her Lotr too. She doesn’t have to know I’m dead inside just yet tho ;-) When she’s closer to adulthood I tell her about Berserk, Song of ice and fire, We are the dead, TFL and she’ll join me in being a husk ( I feel like I should add evil laugh here)