Books that your appreciation of change as you age

[Damascene]

I just finished rereading Brideshead Revisited. I still have a copy with the BBC miniseries photo's on it. When I was younger, I loved the first chapters of young Sebastian, Charles and of course Aloysius. Now I read it and appreciate the later chapters of the more mature characters. Plus I read they are making a movie of it with Matthew Goode (of that Mandy Moore movie) playing Charles - I do wonder about that.

 

So I was wondering what books that have people here apprecriate differently than when they were younger.

[+ Charlie]

I read Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep" when I was thirteen, and the only thing I remembered was that it was the first book I ever read that had a homosexual character in it. I re-read it a half century later, and what struck me instead was the openness of the racism in it.

[Guest alanm]

I read Thomas Mann's THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN for a literature class and was very pleased with the 1995 translation from the German by John E. Woods.

 

The novel is full of irony and humor, much of which I missed the first time around in 1968 when I read the book in the original translation. Mann was a closet homosexual, but TMM only hints at suppressed gay crushes (between the main character, Hans Castorp, and his very military cousin, Joachim, & Castorp and the spokesman for liberalism, Lodovico Settembrini).

 

TMM takes place in a posh sanatorium in Davos, Switzerland in the seven years prior to World War One. Mann weaves the nationalities and politics that would exploded into a world war in 1914 into every page of the

novel, but always with a light, humorous touch. THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN is a thrilling book, much clearer to me in my 60s than my 20s.

 

TMM is a huge step beyond Mann's classic novella DEATH IN VENICE.

[AdamSmith]

Henry James's novellas. Excruciating bores when I had to read them in college. But now in middle age, James's minute evisceration of social mores and character types rivets me. The drawing room follies and pathos that he describes and skewers, though usually with some sympathy for even the most pathetic, I can finally recognize as the life all around us.

 

Also, at least until the last looong novels, he could be screamingly funny. All the more so because the wit is so dry it may pass completely by the first time.

[+ Tom Isern]

When I was 12 or 13 I loved Nancy Drew mystery novels—especially the parts where she got tied up. “The Mystery of Larkspur Lane”—ah, it brings back memories. (I also liked it when Batman (Adam West—yumm!) got tied up in the giant coffee pot with Robin (hated HIM)). Tying up people—kind of a life-long theme with me.

 

When I was 13 or 14 I dedicated myself to non-fiction and the building of model submarines, airplanes, and railroads. Fiction was a clear waste of time.

 

When I was 15 or 16, I read Frank Herbert’s “Dune” eight times. No one has ever had a bigger crush on Paul Atreides. When the god-boy didn’t figure critically in the second and third books of the trilogy, I wrote and told Frank Herbert how much he’d gone wrong. He wrote back, but I can’t find the letter anymore. (The person who REALLY destroyed “Dune,” however, was David Lynch and his pathetic 1984 film adaptation—the ONLY thing good about it is the man flesh sported by Sting and Kyle MacLachlan (way too nelly to play Paul). The sci-fi channel did a decent low-budget adaptation of “Dune” recently.

 

My next fictional fixation was “The Lord of the Rings.” After Paul Atreides, though, I thought I would never again be satisfied. That was because I didn’t have the imagination to picture an Orlando Bloom as Legolas. (Why did Peter Jackson NOT find a way to remove that boy’s clothes at some point? I will never forgive him.)

 

There you have my confession. I didn’t have very literary tastes when I was younger, so I doubt I’ll be returning to any of these to see how I read differently today.

[Rick Munroe]

I'd love to post a response to this thread, but I'm still trying to figure out the grammar of the title.

[+ Lucky]

RE: Books of which your appreciation changes as you age

 

Magic Mountain is one of my favorite places as well. The roller coasters alone make for a fun day, but whether one can say that it is beyond Venice is questionable. The gondola rides in Venice are quite fun, if expensive. Either place, though, can easily be seen in a day.

 

Anyway, Alan, congratulations on your 1000th post. Have your posts changed as you aged, or just your books?

[+ deej]

SciFi also produced "Children of Dune" but it wasn't quite as good as the original "Dune" they did.

 

Dune is actually worth a re-read as an adult. You notice things differently.

 

In that genre, I absolutely LOVED "Chronicles of Narnia" as a kid and re-read them in anticipation of the movie. I ended up not seeing the movie because I was pretty sure I'd be disappointed.

 

It's kinda like watching "Rocky & Bullwinkle" shows. Suddenly you get all the entendre that went over your head as a kid but was still funny for other reasons.

[Louis]

I like 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Day of the Triffids. Those three stand out, I saw the movie Day of the Triffids, and was very dissapointed, and really didn't care for the movie versions of the other books either. A good writer invokes a reader's imagination.

[Guest zipperzone]

>When I was 12 or 13 I loved Nancy Drew mystery

>novels—especially the parts where she got tied up. “The

>Mystery of Larkspur Lane”—ah, it brings back memories.

 

Me too - I loved Nancy Drew even although she was before my time - fortunately my mother had kept all her library on young teen books and I was facinated by them. I especially loved the way her father seemed to buy her a new car in almost every volume. It was always a "roadster" or "coupe" - so glamerous.

 

And let us not omit "The Hardy Boys" - bet they were little hotties!

 

Does anyone remember "Kay Starr - Girl Detective"? Not as well known as Nancy Drew but of the same ilk.

[+ Charlie]

The first noun (books) is the topic but not the grammatical subject(appreciation), so the verb needs to be singular (changes) rather than plural. The confusion is exacerbated by the structure of the title, which is a colloquial speech pattern rather than the more formal written syntax (Books of which your appreciation changes as you age).

 

My phone has been ringing off the hook (a delightfully antiquated metaphor) with requests for this explanation.

[Rick Munroe]

Thanks, Charlie. It all makes sense to me now. I also now understand my 6th grade English teacher, whose favorite saying was, "Your grammar is giving me a migraine!"

[Guest alanm]

RE: Books of which your appreciation changes as you age

 

I appreciate your comments. Really funny and made me laugh out loud.

 

Thomas Mann lived on San Remo Drive in Pacific Palisades, CA throughout the 1940s, so the irony of Venice and Magic Mountain being close by is great.

 

Mann was listed in the phone book & invited endless high school and college students (mostly male) to his house for tea (after they got up the courage to call --- usually answered by Frau Katia Mann, his wife). In retrospect, it was probably a strategy to maintain his status as the most prominent German anti-fascist (with Dietrich and Einstein).

[+ purplekow]

I read the Bridge of San Luis Rey in High School and thought little more of it. It seemed to me that some people had all the luck and some people had all the pain (thanks Rod Stewart). Last June, while meandering around a Barnes and Noble's, there was a table suggesting summer readings. I decided to re-read it. I found it raised the question of the significance of our lives and our having living and dying with the results of our choices. I was much more moved and motivated than I thought I would be. It also became clearer to me that I knew very little when I was significantly younger.