Quote:
Originally Posted by gmw
These days I do a lot of re-reading, and it highlights some things, like: memory is fallible; we change; all books have faults; sometimes the faults don't matter. All simple and obvious lessons, but nothing drives them home so well as experiencing them.
And sometimes the faults do matter. Sometimes understanding what we missed earlier is part of our own development, or as noted above, just part of understanding that we have developed; I'm not the same person I was 30 and 40 years ago, and this is a good thing. There was so much (good and bad) then that I didn't recognise back then and there was a lot that I read that I just sort of took on faith.
In these discussions we get to see books through the eyes of others, and with the help of others get a more complete historical and social background. What we learn may change us, and may change how we introduce the books to coming generations. Not that we would censor the books, but we might make extra effort to share the expanded context.
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One thing that I see very differently today than I would have in my youth is the behaviour of the teacher, Mr. Phillips, towards Prissy Andrews. With our modern sensibilities, that read like a thoroughly unhealthy relationship. It probably did at the time of the writing, but I doubt I would have picked up on it as a young reader.