# Books that you didn't "get" when you were younger? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2008, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507 "2008-06-27T22:37:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/21 "2008-06-28T12:36:52Z")
I ran across my mother’s university copy of _Animal Farm_ when I was in elementary school. I read it all the way through, but was puzzled along the way about how mean Napoleon was to Snowball, and how could the other animals could let him get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/22 "2008-06-28T13:40:27Z")
“Long dark tea-time of the soul” I got a hardcover version for christmas one year from my parents because I loved the ‘hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy’ books so much, and I read through parts of it, including scenes that I vividly remembered into my adulthood - the opening scene in the airport, Kate dreaming of penguins, Dirk remembering that he had a client, buying the I ching calculator and stealing Sally Mills’ coffee mostly. But I just couldn’t stick with it. I didn’t sympathize at all with Dirk’s character, a lot of the humor was probably going over my head, and I didn’t catch any of the references to the Norse mythology, which might well have hooked me in. I don’t think I got as far as the Wood’s head, and definitely not up to Thor’s big declaration. Later, after getting the hitchhiker’s books on audio through [audible.com](http://audible.com), I tried ‘dirk gently’s holistic detective agency’, which I thoroughly loved and gave me a bit of a better rapport with Dirk’s character, even though I sympathized much more with Richard MacDuff and still found Dirk annoying, but in the way you might find an old friend or your brother aggravating. 😃 Went on to ‘tea time’ on audio, and then I got a paperback copy of the first two dirk books, (since the hardcover copy has long been lost by this point.) ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/23 "2008-06-28T13:50:05Z")
I read much of the Hitchhiker’s Guide series in my young teens, and while I enjoyed it, I missed a lot of the humor. Re-reading the entire series in one go as a thirty-year-old, the whole thing made a lot more sense. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/24 "2008-06-28T16:13:54Z")
[QUOTE=NinjaChick] When I first read _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_, I was an eight year old Jewish kid who’d never read the bible and had only a minimal knowledge of Christianity. Then I reread the book (shortly before the movie came out), a bit after having read the bible for the first time. My roommate was hugely amused when I realized, about halfway through, that Aslan is in fact something of a Jesus character. (Seriously, I did not pick up on it _at all_ when I read the book as a kid). [/QUOTE] Yeah, well, I was raised Christian by a fanatically devoted C. S. Lewis fan, and I didn’t get them until college, when my Jewish boyfriend pointed it out to me. I’m just not that bright, I guess, or maybe I read them too young and too often–they got so familiar that I didn’t think about them. Yeah, that’s it. I read 1984 when I was 12–didn’t get it at all. I hate The Giving Tree too, and want to get the great t-shirt I saw: “The Giving Tree–promoting arborcide and greed since 1964” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/25 "2008-06-28T17:28:46Z")
I read _1984_ long before I learned [George Orwell](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=464060) remained a committed Socialist to the end of his too-brief life. That did not in any way alter the book’s clear messages about totalitarian state power, but it did add some poignancy. I also was able to contextualize it better after reading many of his nonfiction essays touching on the “power worship” of contemporary British leftists who sympathized with Stalin and who were able to wrap their minds around every change in Party line even if it flatly contradicted yesterday’s. He described them in one essay as, IIRC, hoping for a future “where the workers are to remain in servitude but the intellectuals are finally to get their hand on the whip.” And his accounts of the Spanish Civil War, and foreign reporting on it, point up why he was so concerned with the danger that the very possiblity of “objective truth” might be dying out in an age when the PTB could rewrite history to suit them. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/26 "2008-06-28T17:31:15Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] One that I liked as a kid and now \*dislike _as an adult_ (if I may be so bold) is _The Giving Tree_. When I was a kid, it was a beautiful story of the sacrifice of Twoo Wuv. Now it’s a painful saga of a selfish monster who allows his enabler to literally cut her limbs off for his ungrateful use. \*ETA: Although I’m not sure which time I “got” it. Maybe there are two “gets” to get. [/QUOTE] I sometimes wonder whether _The Missing Piece_ has some message other than the obvious ones – be careful what you wish for, seeking happiness is better than finding it – but to this day I can’t think what it might be. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/27 "2008-06-28T17:35:07Z")
After we finished _The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman_ my English Novel professor challenged us to re-read it every 5 years and discover a new book every time. He wasn’t kidding. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/28 "2008-06-28T17:50:46Z")
I’m 63 and **still** reading books I don’t get. I totally missed the point and the plot of _Blind Assassin_ by Margaret Atwood. Same with _Fools Die_ by Mario Puzo. Movies too – mom let me see whatever was playing on Saturday afternoons, and I was very confused by _The Man With the Golden Arm_. It’s just a normal arm! What’s the deal? I was pretty old before I picked up on the sexual undercurrents in vampire books and movies. Most metaphors slip right by me. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/29 "2008-06-28T18:04:06Z")
**Shadow of the Torturer** by Gene Wolfe. I first read it circa 1980 at age 18 while going through some very difficult personal times. I read it as a simple adventure story and promptly forgot it. Several years later in college, a young lady in one of my classes handed me a copy and said “You need to read this. It’s about you.” I re-read it, and while I’m not sure what parallels she saw between Severian and me, I did pick up more on what Wolfe had to say. I fell in love with the series and it remains my favorite series. I still pick up the books from time to time and find something new with each re-reading. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/30 "2008-06-28T18:25:47Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] I was pretty old before I picked up on the sexual undercurrents in vampire books and movies. Most metaphors slip right by me. [/QUOTE] Part of me believes that all that vampire subtext is just crap made up by the people reading/watching it because _they_ want it to be there. I remember when John Carpenter’s Vampires came out and a lot of critics talked about the misoginistic and sexual undertones to the movie (and condemned it for them). But then Roger Ebert (before he went nuts) came out and verbally bitchslapped them all by pointing out that there was no subtext as the main vampire character was a female hooker who was trying to kill the heroes and them attacking made sense because otherwise they would be dead. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/31 "2008-06-28T19:44:36Z")
Didn’t get On The Road 20 years ago (which, at 32, was rather old to be reading it for the first time, so I’m told). I didn’t get it to the point that I probably won’t try it again for another 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![lynne-42](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lynne-42/32/3138_2.png) [@lynne-42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynne-42)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/32 "2008-06-29T01:27:19Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] Most metaphors slip right by me. [/QUOTE] I have exactly the same problem. Never did see C.S. Lewis’ Aslan as Jesus, nor any Christian link to the stories. Same happens with lots of books and films, so I am constantly shocked when people calmly talk about the ‘obvious’ sub-text. Sometimes I feel so dumb! ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/33 "2008-06-29T04:00:47Z")
Heh. I was introduced to Narnia & C.S. Lewis through my church showing the old animated movie of TLTW&TW, & was explicitly told that it was a Christian allegory before I knew anything else about it. I’m struck by how much the rest of the series _isn’t._ I looked for allegory here & there, but I see instead really vividly imagined adventure stories. I got a worldview from them, don’t get me wrong. But it’s not exactly awash in parallels to Biblical tales like I was expecting. I think maybe Rilian’s enthrallment to the Emerald Witch in _The Silver Chair_ is a metaphor for addictive behavior in general, but I’m as not definite about it, nor am I convinced it’s any one addiction now. And Aslan is no more a Christ riff than a Krishna riff past the first book. Maybe that’s the real allegory? Is England closed, exclusivist Xtianity, while Narnia is something else, more syncretic & open? ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/34 "2008-06-29T04:30:55Z")
Go get the new book “Planet Narnia.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/35 "2008-06-29T05:02:06Z")
[QUOTE=dangermom] Go get the new book “Planet Narnia.” [/QUOTE] Is it Christian? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/36 "2008-06-29T05:04:21Z")
[QUOTE=foolsguinea] explicitly told that it was a Christian allegory [/QUOTE] Lewis, whose specialty was allegory, insisted that the Narnia books _were not_ allegory. Make of that what you will. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/37 "2008-06-29T05:29:48Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Is it Christian? [/QUOTE] Er. Sort of. It’s a new analysis of the Narnia books–the author believes that he has figured out a whole layer of symbolism, a unifying theme, in the books that no one noticed before. Naturally, one’s first reaction is “yeah, right” --and then you read the book. He convinced me. My mom, the Lewis fanatic, went to a lecture and got a copy hot off the presses, and she’s convinced. So: yes, the Narnia books are Christian, Aslan is Christ, but the unifying theme is the seven medieval planets. If you’ve ever read “The Discarded Image” you know how much Lewis loved the old medieval cosmology. So he wrote each book with one of the planets as a theme/atmosphere. It all goes back 'round to Christianity, but being Lewis, he uses liberal amounts of pagan themes to do it. Anyway it all makes a lot more sense now, and I’ve gained a lot of appreciation for the Narnia series. The books aren’t nearly as random as they look. And they aren’t allegories. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/38 "2008-06-29T13:34:10Z")
[QUOTE=Mister Rik] Lewis, whose specialty was allegory, insisted that the Narnia books _were not_ allegory. Make of that what you will. [/QUOTE] Yes - he said something along the lines of, if there were such a world as Narnia, and Christ came to that world, what would it be like? It wasn’t intended to be an allegory of the Incarnation in our world. Some themes get revisited, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/39 "2008-06-29T13:58:27Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Yes - he said something along the lines of, if there were such a world as Narnia, and Christ came to that world, what would it be like? It wasn’t intended to be an allegory of the Incarnation in our world. Some themes get revisited, obviously. [/QUOTE] And the Perelandra trilogy is based on the assumption that each world can go either way when Satan shows up to tempt Eve. But if that’s not allegory, what is?! ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507/40 "2008-06-29T14:29:47Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] But if that’s not allegory, what is?! [/QUOTE] Well, if you want to know–in an allegory, to a professor like Lewis (or Tolkein, for that matter), each character represents something abstract. If Narnia was an allegory, Lucy would represent Innocence, Mr. Tumnus would represent Lust, Mrs Beaver would represent Bi-Metallism, and Fenris would represent Fear of Cheese. Or something. Since there is no neat line-up of characters to abstract concepts, Lewis would say that Narnia is not an allegory. Lewis would reserve “allegory” for a fairly small set of stories, such as _Pilgrim’s Progress_. None of these stories is particularly popular any more, by the way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-that-you-didnt-get-when-you-were-younger/454507.md?page=3)