I don’t typically re-read the same book over again. If you’re a reader who enjoys many different genres then you always have a list of books to read and never enough time to read them. I occasionally will pick up an old favorite off the bookshelf and just open it and read a few pages but I almost never think about starting it all over from the beginning. Of course this begs the question of why do we even keep books once we’re finished with them ? If they’re just sitting on bookshelves or in piles around the house wouldn’t it be better if we gave them to others to enjoy and it would certainly free up space on shelves and desks for other objects. Perhaps the question of why we keep books we have no intention of reading again should be addressed on a future blog post but for now I’ll reveal the one book I’ve read more than once and surprisingly it was a book I didn’t even enjoy the first two times I read it, this book is……The Great Gatsby
I can’t remember the first time I read Gatsby…..it was probably when I was in high school, not that it was assigned to me but I remember reading it because I had heard so much about it and it was considered such a classic. I remember being enthralled by the first chapter describing that first big party thrown by the dashing, wealthy Jay Gatsby…..oh to be like him, hosting huge parties that spared no expense, but as the book dragged on I continually felt disillusioned by the characters……Gatsby desperately trying to impress an old girlfriend….really that’s it ? And all the other characters besides the narrator were just the most awful collection of self-absorbed people. I didn’t get it, I know it’s considered a classic and the definitive novel of a certain time period but I was disappointed….perhaps I myself was too immature to fully comprehend it’s genius.
Years went by before I re-read it….I tried I really did try to find the magic and see the wonder of it….but like before I didn’t find, couldn’t hear it, didn’t feel it. So there it sat on my bookshelf growing dusty, taking up space, destined to sit and be admired but not loved……until just a few years ago when I had the opportunity to listen to it on an audio book.
It’s funny how you comprehend something differently when you hear it as opposed to reading it…..at least for me there’s a deeper level of comprehension, or perhaps the narrator was particularly enthralling but I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book version of Gatsby far more than I enjoyed reading it. The words sung to me, they were lyrical and deep in ways I never picked up when I was reading it. I listened intently to each chapter even re-winding certain passages to hear them again the magic of the words dancing through my head. Yes there’s still very little redeeming qualities to most of the characters and the lack of accountability in the end is appalling and Gatsby’s futile attempt to win back Daisy is tragic ( c’mon Jay just move on ) but that’s the point…..writers know this, writers understand this…..happy endings are for movies and kids books.
So I once again re-read Gatsby….and I enjoyed it….I read it and heard the words and could see and feel the magic and I got it…..the story, the time period, the hope, the desperation and despair, the longing and the love and yes the tragedy that is life. So once again Gatsby sits on my bookshelf growing dusty occasionally opened and glanced at a page or two at a time but appreciated now for the great work it is
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Peace and Love…..
John
John's Blog 