Titles Revisited

Something amazing happens when you reread books. They're so familiar and yet so different. The words haven't changed, the book hasn't changed, but you have. You approach it with a different outlook on life and more life experience under your belt. Books that you once thought were the bee's knees may actually be kind of lame. Yet other old favorites are even richer the second time around. They're old, dear friends who welcome you into their home without any pretensions and don't care if you help yourself to their tea stash or fall asleep on the couch. They just fetch the milk and sugar and throw a blanket over you.

I just finished reading Brideshead Revisited, and I just know it's going to be one of those books that begs for a second go. I'm so glad I didn't read it till now. I've learned a lot in the past year and a half about reading critically and I found a lot of meaning in it, but I can just sense with my reader spidey senses that there is even more to unpack. Rereading Brideshead promises to be a totally different experience from rereading The Chronicles of Narnia or Princess Academy. For those books, the story-world just comes rushing back and it feels like I've returned home. I don't think I'd call Brideshead "home" -- it has a magic of a different sort about it -- but I would call it a keeper. I'm still making sense of the last page. I read it aloud to myself a second time, trying to fully understand it, but there's so much... May I just say that Charles Ryder is the English version of Nick Carraway? I'll admit there are numerous differences between the two, but there were some parts of the book that screamed Gatsby to me. Also, I am going to buy myself a teddy bear and name it Aloysius. Oh, and future husband take note: The English knew how to dress. Looking over screenshots from the two film adaptations, I'm practically drooling over the tweed. Oh yes. Tweed jackets and amazing waistcoats are most definitely in order.

Love the quirkiness of this cover. Mine is still very pretty, though.

I've written a review on Goodreads, which I would encourage you to check out. Spoiler free, I promise!

I'm planning to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn next, if I can find enough time before school. Hopefully this summer I will be able to reread some favorite titles. Persuasion and Peter Pan are at the top of my list. I am also hoping to get biographies on Jane Austen and J.M. Barrie. Not only do I love their books, but they interest me as individuals and I gobble up every bit of trivia on the two I can find.

* Note: Brideshead does have more mature themes. The content isn't overly explicit and everything contributed to the larger whole, but younger readers take note.

images: one