High school reading lists are the subject of debate, outrage, and, frequently, chagrin. Everyone from teachers to preachers to parents to politicians have strong opinions on what teenagers should or should not be required to read in school. Rather than haggling about titles and content, students want to know two things:
- How long is the book?
- Is it remotely interesting?
There is the occasional dork who devours each assignment with glee. I use ‘dork’ lovingly since I fall under this description. But, for most, high school reading assignments are a teenager’s equivalent to a melatonin supplement with a few titles sprinkled in that are tolerable-to-moderately-enjoyable.
I’ve always been a book worm. Reading is my favorite pastime and, in school, English was my best subject. Yet even I struggled to stay engaged with the material I was assigned in high school.
Happily, I can report that my love for reading survived those years, and my to-be-read list continues to steadily grow (I just passed 550 on my Goodreads list). I often wonder if I’ll ever finish all the books I want to read before I die. So, you might wonder with so many unread books to get through, why would anyone want to spend time rereading a book?
We rewatch movies without a thought, yet often people respond with incredulity at the suggestion of rereading a book. I, for one, don’t see any difference. And while most people may be able to understand reading a book they like multiple times, it’s harder to get anyone onboard with the idea of rereading a book they disliked.
But, you should.
Specifically, you should go back to those books you were assigned in high school that you, like, ugh, totally hated!
My Reading Journey Back to High School
I’ve loved to read ever since I first pieced together “See Jane run.” In elementary school, I seldom came across a book I disliked. Whenever assigned reading came my way, I dove in with eagerness. In fact, it wasn’t until I was in the eighth grade that I found myself up against a book that made me want to weep from boredom.
It was The Scarlet Letter. Barely in to the nearly 50-page introduction, I was wondering how I was going to get through the entire thing when it was taking me half an hour to get through a single page because I kept having to go back and reread paragraphs after my mind started to wonder. I hoped that once I got through the introduction, the actual narrative would be easier going.
No such luck.
I hated every single word of that book.
I also hated The Great Gatsby, Frankenstein, The Time Machine, Macbeth, Animal Farm, Wuthering Heights, The Old Man and the Sea, and Their Eyes Were Watching God. My reasons ranged from “It’s boring,” to “I don’t understand the point of the story,” to “I didn’t like any of the characters.”
Valid points, maybe—except, like most high school students, my understanding of how to critically read and appreciate classic works was surface level, at best. I was not a great judge at what makes a “good” book good.
Despite this, I did have a certain level of appreciation. The classic books I loved, I loved enough to lead me to earn a BA in English with literature as my concentration.
After graduating with my undergrad degree, I decided to revisit many of the books I’d hated in high school. Now that I was an enlightened, college-educated Bachelor of Arts in English literature (did you read that in the dignified Ian McKellen voice I intended?), I wanted to go back to those books with my new insights and see how my previous opinions stacked up.
Here’s a quick rundown of my reassessments:
- Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
High School Opinion: It’s a story about a bunch of rich jerks being miserable.
Rereading Verdict: It may be the Great American Novel. Beautifully written and constructed and completely heartbreaking.
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
High School Opinion: It’s odd and disturbing.
Rereading Verdict: This book is brilliant and the social commentary is timelessly poignant.
- The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
High School Opinion: It’s dull and seems to go into cliché territories.
Rereading Verdict: While I can appreciate its innovation, it really is a pretty tedious book.
- Macbeth by Shakespeare
High School Opinion: I have no idea what anyone is saying or what is going on.
Rereading Verdict: After learning to love Shakespeare in college, I love this play!
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
High School Opinion: It’s a dumb book about conspiratorial talking animals. What?!
Rereading Verdict: I totally missed the point in high school. This book is a genius satire!
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
High School Opinion: All the characters are horrible people.
Rereading Verdict: You don’t have to like the characters to love the story. I especially love the writing style. The storytelling power of the Brontes is remarkable.
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
High School Opinion: The story isn’t interesting.
Rereading Verdict: I really had no taste in high school. Like, seriously, how could I ever hate this book?
- The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
High School Opinion: Fishing is boring and a book about fishing is really boring. I get it’s allegorical and supposed to be deep, but it’s still boring.
Rereading Verdict: I was right in high school. This book’s boring as hell.
My opinions on all but two books flipped (and, by the way, I also came to like The Scarlet Letter—though I still think the intro is way too long and boring). Part of these changes had to do with the skills and knowledge I gained through my English program; but, more than that, I had gained maturity, life experience, and changes in perspective.
College is a transformative time. I reread those books as a different person.
Why A Revisit to Previously-Reviled Books Is a Good Idea
At some level, we may all be guilty of judging art based solely on the entertainment factor and disregarding the deeper, more profound elements that go into a work. Teenagers are more apt to do this and that’s the reason behind most of my high school verdicts.
But, with age comes a deeper appreciation for most things, and revisiting books of our past can be a profoundly interesting experience bringing awareness into our own personal development.
A few of the insights we may gain are:
- Different things are meaningful to us
- Different situations are now relatable
- Different characters have become sympathetic
- A wider knowledge base makes us more aware of things we may have missed when we were younger
- New connections can be made that make the work more profound
Still, some books aren’t worth revisiting. Most of us are self-aware enough to know that no matter how we’ve changed, some books just aren’t going to do it for us. That’s why I quit less than two chapters in to my rereading of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (there’s something about boat books for me…). For some, the boredom factor is too great to go there. I get it. Don’t force yourself. If the book is too tedious, you won’t gain anything. Save your time.
What About the Books We Love?
Most of us need a push to re-experience something we hated the first time, be it a book, a movie, or a food. Few need encouragement to go back to something we enjoyed. But, rereading beloved books is equally valuable and can provide insights that are just as profound.
Jane Austen is my favorite author and I’ve read her canon twice. My opinions on these six books that I love, to varying degrees, changed from my first readings in high school, to my second readings post-college. I gained a deeper love for Persuasion and Emma while Northanger Abbey dropped in my rankings because I found myself getting annoyed with the heroine, who I’d liked much more on my first reading. And, rather than my previous affinity with Elizabeth Bennett, I came away relating much more with Elinor Dashwood than any other Austen leading lady.
Now that I’m in my 30’s, I think I’m due another trip to Austen to see what my old friends have been up to and what self-discovery they can point me to in this decade of my life.
My argument for rereading books, especially those we disliked as teenagers, is, in short, this: the deeper insight and appreciation we stand to gain is not solely reserved for the book we’re reassessing; but, rather we gain understanding of ourselves, of our personal evolution and our ever-changing perspectives. Art imitates life and our appraisals, opinions, likes and dislikes of it can perhaps tell us more about ourselves than we realize.
Happy (re)reading!
This article originally appeared as a guest feature on The Southern Siren.