I talking about The Giver with a friend and how it was required reading at my school when I was about 12 or so. I don’t remember what my feelings were back then. Probably fairly nonplussed as I tend to remember reads that have had an impact.
Read the whole series as an adult and I devoured it. I would’ve definitely missed a lot of the subtext and the deeper meanings and themes from the book as a teen, I think.
What books have you re-read that have had a higher impact now than before?
by thelightyoushed
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Read *Siddhartha* by Hermann Hesse because it was required reading in high school as an ignorantly blissful 16 year old who never struggled with much besides general teenage hormones and a rejection or two by girls I liked over the years. Bored to tears.
Read it again as a 23 year old with no direction in life and it became the foundation of a significant positive shift in my mental health and motivation to do more with myself.
I read My Antonia in high school for a literature class where I didn’t like the teacher or assignments. Thought it was so boring and stupid. Did not care at all about turn-of-the-century farm life.
I just moved to a farmhouse built in 1890 and decided to set myself a reading challenge. I’m reading at least one book per decade since 1890 (published date). Just finished reading My Antonia and wow, it was so different this time. The contrast between city life and farm life back then. How I can picture some of the scenes happening in my very own house and yard. How it feels to grow up and move away from home, and coming back years later, growing apart from childhood friends. Loved it, cried hard in the whole last section lol