My friends and I were having a discussion about our favourite books and we talked about “being too late” to appreciate a book. I kind of get the sentiment and was wondering if others agree. So one of my favourite books of all time is Perks of Being a Wallflower and read it when I was 17 and I remember just thinking about it for a long time and always going back to it. It just cut so deep unlike anything else. I wondered if I had read it now at 29 if it would have nearly the same impact.
Also, I read Looking For Alaska for the first time this year and while I enjoyed it, I found myself wondering how blown away I would have been reading it as a teenager. I just know I would have appreciated it so much more and while I still love John Green I don’t know if his books will ever hit me the same again.
On the other hand, I’m sure there are books that I didn’t appreciate before that I certainly would now!
Perks didn’t cut deep enough for me as a home school kid, but I read it again later and now that I teach high school it hits hard.
The Awakening saved me from a bad marriage when I read it again at 27.
The one that I’m always sad about is The Great Gatsby. I teach it to my juniors but they just aren’t old enough to really “get it.” They haven’t had enough life experiences to understand the deeper themes.