So much scary shit happened to me when I read that book. It was like HH Holmes’ ghost didn’t want me knowing what he did.

This sounds so cool. Will you post some pictures?

Learning stuff makes you feel dumb. Don’t give up. You have the interest and desire to do this, and that will carry you a very long way. It’s already gotten you through Paradise Lost, which most people haven’t achieved.

A different translation of Beowulf might help you. Wikipedia tells me that it’s considered difficult to translate and that there are tons of versions. If you’re serious about your ambitions, contact a professor who specializes in Old English works, tell them your story and ask for advice. Most of them would probably be thrilled to help someone interested in majoring in literature.

Christopher’s Diary and Beneath the Attic, two recent entries in the Flowers in the Attic series. Both remarkably poorly written, full of misogyny, and blatant cash grabs. Seriously save your money and time, they’re utter garbage and not in the way you want.

Christopher’s Diary and Beneath the Attic, two recent entries in the Flowers in the Attic series. Both remarkably poorly written, full of misogyny, and blatant cash grabs. Seriously save your money and time, they’re utter garbage and not in the way you want.

Dickens was writing nearly 170 years ago for a radically different society. They spoke differently, were educated differently, and responded differently to things. His plots are moving, and his character creation is unparalleled (half his characters seem to be there simply because he thought 'I love the idea of an overly tenderhearted butcher who’s poor because he’s always giving things away but also likes to chop up dead animals and I have THE BEST name for him.") It doesn’t make you dumb, and although A Christmas Carol has been adapted for kids a lot, it wasn’t written for kids.

It sounds like this is an assignment. What if you looked for an audiobook?

Some authors can’t sustain their momentum. Others may speak more to certain phases of life. It’s a little poignant when you notice it happening to you, but it doesn’t mean the books were bad or you were wrong to like them. It’s also possible that you’ll come back to them one day and enjoy them again, but differently.