I just spent a month with my family in Maine, doing all the things you do when you go back to the town where you grew up—visiting family, seeing friends, introducing my son to the things and places I used to enjoy when I was a kid. I drank Moxie* and ate lobster and Grape-Nut ice cream and whoopie pies and all the other slightly weird foods that are part of being in Maine.
(An aside for non-New Englanders: Moxie is a cola-coloured carbonated beverage, the official soft drink of Maine. It tastes vaguely of root beer mixed with ear wax, and was hailed by E.B. White as “the path to the good life”—presumably this is why it is a favoured drink of alcoholic Mainahs on the wagon.)
I also took another little nostalgia trip. I combed through the book shelves of my childhood room and picked out some of my old books to read. I’ve reread a lot of my childhood favourites, but this time I chose novels I’d enjoyed as a teenager. One fantasy novel, in particular, which I remember as having blown me away when I first read it, well over twenty years ago. It was the first book in a series, and I did read the entire series, but I loved the first the best and so that’s the only one that still survives on my shelves. It’s a nice thick one and I picked it up with a shiver of anticipation. And then I read it.
And I didn’t like it.
The style drove me crazy. The characterisations were lame. The dialogue was stilted. The villain was feeble. The heroine was two-dimensional.
And yet, I still remembered what I’d loved about it as a teenager. The concept was really good, and the hero was enjoyably flawed. The world-building was intriguing. The set-pieces were varied and imaginative. And I could remember the first time I read it, transfixed by the story and the hero, dreaming of the day that I could write novels, too, and let my imagination fly like the authors’.
I don’t actually think I’m a better reader now than I was twenty-odd years ago. I used to read a hell of a lot more back then than I have time to read now. As a teenager, I used to climb more into a book, and give myself passionately over to the story, in a way I can’t always do now. In those ways, I was probably a better reader as a teen.
But now, I’ve got an extra twenty-odd years of reading behind me, and a lot of teaching and learning about how stories work, and a lot of writing, too. I’m a more educated and discerning reader. Does that make me better? Especially when it stops me enjoying a book?
The more I read, and the more I write, the more I see books as a dialogue between text and reader. So much depends on how the book is read, when it’s read, who reads it. That’s why I always take reviews with a pinch of salt. Which review of this particular book would have been more accurate—my teenage review, or my adult one?
No, I’m just becoming grateful that the right books seem to find me at the right time. I’m glad I read that fantasy book when I did, as a teen, because it changed me in a lot of ways. Maybe it even helped change me enough so that, eventually, I didn’t like the book any more.
Have you revisited a favourite novel and found it disappointing? How did you feel about that? Or have you rediscovered and loved a book that didn’t do it for you the first time around?
Or, on a completely different topic—Moxie, huh? Isn’t it great?
No related posts.
Yep, the books I loved a decade ago would not be my fave books now. Why? Because I’m different. I’m a different reader.
For me to like them, books have to mesh with my emotions. I don’t have the emotions of a 20 year old any more. I don’t like the overly dramatic, the big statements of love, as I did then.
It isn’t good or bad. It is just different.
Thanks for your thought-provoking replies, everyone! I’m frantically revising a book for my editor so I’m sorry I’m a bit late getting in here today.
Kimber, I’m definitely a different reader than I was twenty years ago. And even five years ago. I like the idea of a person’s emotions changing, and therefore what they need out of a book changing. Good point.
I have to say that since I started writing, my reading has changed dramatically — not in what I read, or how much I read (although I only recently started reading romance because apparently that’s what I was writing). But I notice all those picky details. POV, speaker tags, overused phrases, etc.
A good story is still a good story, and if I love the characters, I forgive a lot. But it takes me longer to get lost in the book because it requires so much more “quality writing” to turn off my editor.
Writing has changed the way I read, too, Terry. Doing two English degrees changed it, but in a different way. And teaching English changed it, too, but in a different way again.
Sometimes it can take a lot for me to turn off the inner editor. I’m always delighted when that happens. I’m also delighted when I find a book that satisfies every different reader in me: the writer, the academic, the teacher, and the plain old person who wants a good story. Every now and then I find one.
Perhaps it has something to do with the angst of teenagerdom.
I was also a prolific reader. I discovered romance novels fairly early on, but my first brush with the genre was “Gone With The Wind.” (I consider it romance despite the comment on Amazon by someone who says the book is an American “War and Peace” and is art that shouldn’t be confused with something like a romance novel. )
Since I’m Southern, “Gone With The Wind” held a cultural allure – around here you still hear the phrase “damned Yankees.” I didn’t just read the book – I read it competitively. It’s over 1,000 pages, and I got into a contest with a friend to see who could read the book the most times.
I stopped after my 20th reading.
When I was a teenager, and reading the same 1,000 pages 20 times made sense, I always cheered for Ashley. Reading it as an adult made me cheer for Rhett. It also inspired me to jeer at Scarlett for her consistently poor choices of men. How could she keep choosing men who dreamed rather than did? Why didn’t she love Rhett who loved her for who she was rather than who she’d have been if she followed rules and traditions? Scarlett wasn’t a traditional gal.
My adult reading of “Gone With The Wind” didn’t live up to my teenaged adoration, but I still consider the book one of my favorites. Re-reading the book as an adult showed me how much I’ve grown.
It is a good exercise in perspective to go back and re-read a favored book from years gone by. The pages will not be any different, but how you view them today can show you how you’ve progressed on life’s journey.
There are definitely certain books that have very different dialogues with each different reader. People can argue about “Gone With the Wind” all day, and I love that sort of book. Though I have to say I was like you; I liked Ashley as a teen, and vastly prefer Rhett now.
I like the idea of books as milestones measuring a life’s journey.
And 20 times?? Wow. Did you beat your friend?
Julie – Sorry it took a while to reply–
I’m getting ready to take my oldest to college at UCF in Florida -mother’s bragging moment about my son and the wisdom of the UCF folks- Zack got a full ride {thank God, Mary, all the disciples, and every Saint I can think of}
I DIDN’T beat my friend. She had made it to 25 full reads of GWTW while we were still in high school. I’ve lost touch with her, but I’m betting she’s either at some kind of record or (hopefully – sorry Scarlett) she’s given up the chase too.
Great post, thanks!!
Oh, Moxie. LOL See, I grew up in Maine and I remembered LIKING the damn stuff… but then we moved away and I didn’t have it for years and years, not even when I went back on visits. Then when I took my husband up for the first time to visit we cracked open some Moxie…and my god it really is foul, isn’t it?
I’m lucky that I don’t feel the same way about books I remembered fondly as a child. No matter how far I grow or how much I learn, I tend to feel the same way about a book that I did the first time I read it.
I can acknowledge a book’s faults later on in life, but I never completely lose the way it made me feel, and I still enjoy it. The only real problem I have is with series that had huge gaps in years between books–if I grew up in between reading the first one and getting the latest, sometimes I can’t view that latest book through the same joyful filter.
I still like Moxie. Preferably Diet Moxie. It’s the drink of the Maine gods.
You know, I did a postgraduate degree in children’s literature and for awhile, it spoiled my favourite kid’s books for me because I just couldn’t help analysing them. Now that I’ve got a child, I appreciate them more again. It’s good you can keep them fondly in your heart.
That said, when we were in Maine we found this book I used to love as a child, about children pretending to be what they wanted to be when they grew up. The boys: Fireman, Train Engineer, Policeman, Pilot. The girls: Nurse and Mother.
I don’t really have to read too deep to figure out that’s not my favourite book any more.
I absolutely hated THE HOBBIT when I was a teenager. Someone gave me the book as a gift and I just couldn’t get through it. And I read everything at that age.
Fast forward to two years ago. My daughter found THE HOBBIT on the bookshelf (no, I never got rid of the book even though I hated it) and she had to read a book for school and do a book report so she chose that one. We actually read it together. And…I loved it. I have no idea what happened between the age of 13 and … well, my 40s, but THE HOBBIT became a wonderful story with little Bilbo Baggins a wonderful protagonist. go figure.
I love this story! So funny that it took you thirty years to appreciate The Hobbit. Excellent.
I’d love to plunge into your question and answer it — OK, I will … I constantly re-read the books I loved as a child (mostly High Fantasy, like the Dark is Rising series … that style) and they hold up.
Except for Heyer (love her, have everything) and Cartland (it was a phase LOL), I came to romance novels later.
But back to my “but”, perhaps this is just me but please don’t be coy about the title of the book. As someone who I suspect is a tad obsessive, you have doomed me to spending days trying to figure out what book it was! As for moxie, my dd goes to college in Maine and has never mentioned it: I’ll have to ask! I wonder if it’s sold out of state?
I re-read all the Dark Is Rising series recently, Janet, after absolutely adoring them as a child, and I think it stood up. It’s atmosphere with those books–absolutely unforgettable. Similarly with Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea books.
Get your daughter to find you some Moxie and bring you some home! It will be an experience you’ll never forget.
The book I didn’t like…? Well, I made a vow a while ago never to publicly disparage another author’s work. I don’t write reviews partly for that reason. So I’ll just say it’s the first book in a fantasy series, and I’d still consider myself a fan of that author because for the pleasure s/he gave me as a teenager. As I said, the book is still good; it’s just not to my taste any more.
One of the things about your blog that really struck a chord, was that you could go back and find the book that you had read as a girl. When I left home my books somehow were dumped! Yes, I am still bitter about that.
One book I did read again was A Town Like Alice, I still like the book but am shocked at some of the attitudes and language. When I read it in the fifties we were not so aware.
Thank goodness things have changed.
I recently re-read Gone With the Wind, still absolutely loved it – and same with Wuthering Herights.
Loved this blog.
Oh, Margaret, I’m so sorry about your lost books! That is sad.
I still like the book but am shocked at some of the attitudes and language. When I read it in the fifties we were not so aware.
It’s a fine line, sometimes, whether you can view a book as a historical text or something that’s outdated, isn’t it?
Wuthering Heights…now there’s a book that’s moved the other way for me. I HATED that book with a PASSION when I read it in high school. Wanted to burn it. Was extremely irritated by it. Then I had to read it again at university, and I could admit it might have some interesting things in it. Then I had to teach it to undergraduates, and I started to realise it was actually pretty good. Then I had to teach it at the high school level, and by this time I had the text practically memorised, and by God, it’s one of my favourite books ever.
Go figure.
(Whoops, just realised I publicly disparaged a book, as I said I don’t do in comment 6.1.
I think Emily Bronte can take it.)
Yes, I’ve had some disappointing re-reads. Mostly because the themes were outdated (80s/90s romances). I’ve also had the sad experience of falling out of love with favorite authors, and often feel unsatisfied as a reader in general. I’m more difficult to please these days. Especially when I just want to write instead.
Then again, I still have those “ah, great book!” moments that I truly cherish.
What’s the latest “ah, great book!” moment been for, Jill?
Lisa Kleypas’ Smooth Talking Stranger
You had me at Grape Nut ice cream. Also good: Grape Nut pie!
When the movies came out, I reread the Lord of the Rings trilogy and was surprised to find them way more enjoyable than I had as a child. Immensely satisfying!
Grape Nut pie! Mmmmmmm….I need to find a recipe for that so I can have a fix even here in England.
I also enjoyed Lord of the Rings more as an adult, Louisa. Well, the second and third books, anyway—I couldn’t possibly have enjoyed the Fellowship any more than I already did, it blew me away as a kid.
I was a Trixie Belden junkie while I was growing up–Trixie was pretty much my best bud because my dad’s job required that we move constantly, and I had little opportunity to build relationships with real people outside of my immediate family.
I had collected the entire series, but at some point, they disappeared…my mom and I still can’t figure out when or where or why. Recently, though, I ran across the first book in the series in a used book store, and bought it on impulse. When I read it that weekend, it felt like a high school reunion: Di! And Honey! and Jim…who could have thought a redheaded guy could be that hot?!
Now, I’ve started collecting them again–but not the easy way (online). Every time we go to a new town or I run across a thrift store or used book store, I have to stop to see if they have an original Trixie Belden hardback. I’m up to eleven–not very many, I know, but I’m really enjoying the journey. And now, my mom and husband have joined in the hunt, which just makes it that much more meaningful…
Blue, that is so great that your family and you are having fun reassembling the books of your childhood. And that they stand up to re-reading, too!
I read those books when I was a child, too, though I can see I’ll need to revisit Jim.
Grape nut ice cream. OMG. I’m back on the east coast of Canada and you can actually find that here. Heaven! No Moxie though…
This blog reminded me of one of the books of my fave author ever, LaVyrle Spencer. When I was in my late teens and 20’s, Morning Glory was probably one of my least favorites. Now it’s my favorite ever. As I got older, my perspective changed. And I love Will and Eleanor in a way I couldn’t when I was 22.
That being said – I don’t enjoy others of hers any less.
Who makes the Grape Nut ice cream in Canada, Donna? Is it Gifford’s? I went on a tour of their factory last month…
Excellent that you grew into a book and found a new facet of an author you already admire.
This is how I am with movies – Now that I’ve been on the other side of the screen – so to speak, I’m way pickier than I was when I was a kid.
G.
That’s interesting, Genella. I find it much easier to turn off my internal editor when I’m watching a film. Obviously it’s because I have no background knowledge.
Fess up. How was the Allen’s Coffee Brandy?
Great post! Thanks for writing it.
LOL Jessica! That’s probably the true drink of Maine…
I hated EVERYTHING I was made to read in school, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, etc. But now they are among my favourites (can’t remember what drove me to attempt a re-read once out of the education system). Think I was just too cussed even to try to like what I was being forced to read.
LOL, Jane, as a teacher I knew several students like that…it’s heartening to know that you discovered them for yourself later.