This was a big part of one class almost flunked in high school before I developed some decent study habits! I dreaded the book, and didn't read it. Then I tried to read the Cliff Notes when the midterm came, but it was too late to understand or remember anything. I still feel miserable when I remember how depressed I was about that class!
What a change in one's perspective the passing decades can bring. I would really enjoy reading and hopefully understanding it now. Maybe I can even start making literary references like to things like the Siren Call (or was the in the Illiad?!) But just to be safe, I think I'll find a guide to the book to help me understand it in a less painful manner than "brute force" reading. I'd hate to be traumatized again!