Meme, The Classics Club

The Classics Club – September 2013 Meme

Classics ClubFor September the hosts of The Classics Club have another member question: “Rereading a favourite classic at different stages of your life gives you different insights with each reading. Is there one classic you’ve read several times that also tells a story about you?”

I’m not sure if there is a specific classic I’ve re-read that tells me a story about me. I feel that any book I re-read more than once says a lot about who I am. I’ve probably re-read the Harry Potter series the most frequently, closely followed by Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle. When it comes to Classics I’ve re-read Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice numerous times. I commented on someone’s blog that a lot of it has to do with the physical copy of the book as well. I’ve been carrying around the same copy of Pride and Prejudice for years and although I’ve lost my first copy of Wuthering Heights I’ve replaced it with two beautiful older editions here and here.

Each time I reread any of these books I always notice something new and different no matter how many times I’ve re-read them. I’ll never forget the first time I noticed that Mrs. Figg was mentioned by Dumbledore at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire or the first time I realized how romantic Wuthering Heights actually is.

If I had to say one book gave me different insight it would be Wuthering Heights. I remember reading it fist in high school and hating it, not appreciating it, just blazing through it so I could get back to reading what I wanted to read. Now 10 years on I’ve read it at least three additional times and I fall a bit more in love with it each time. It doesn’t hurt that I lived less than 20 miles from the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth and actually took a bus out there a few times to play field hockey. I also learned to love the wild barrenness of the moors. So I guess you could say I matured with the book.

This next re-read in the next few months will also be interesting having gotten out of my first long-term relationship about a year ago. There’s no telling what aspect of the book I will most identify with this time. 

8 thoughts on “The Classics Club – September 2013 Meme”

  1. Great post! I’m not sure I feel old enough to really answer this question, like I don’t have enough “life stages.” But Harry Potter would probably be accurate for me, too; Sorcerer’s Stone is the only book I love, at 23, as much as I did when I was 9. I actually haven’t fully read any of the books in a few years (although I sometimes dip in and out of different HP books when I need comfort), but I plan on re-reading the whole series later this fall!

  2. I know I need to give Wuthering Heights another try. The first two times it didn’t work out for me, but maybe third time will be a charm.

    1. Not every book is for every person as much as it pains me to admit it, particularly with this one. I want everyone to love it as much as I do, but I know how much I hate it at first.

  3. Your post is encouraging! I disliked Wuthering Heights the first time I read it, but I’m planning to re-read it in January as part of a read-along. I’m hoping I’ll like it better this time around.

    1. January could be a good time for it. The perceived desolateness of the moors and the barrenness of winter could make you identify more than if you’ve read it previously.

  4. When I was younger, I always had a book that was the one I was constantly re-reading, sometimes for years, but right now I really don’t do any re-reading. I feel like it’s a lot harder with blogging and trying to constantly write new content and always hearing about new books to want to read! Perhaps I can make it a goal one month or next year to do some re-reading, because I definitely agree that you can get new things out of every re-read 🙂

    1. I don’t reread often and it has to be a book I really want to reread. If feel bad about the blogging aspect but when it comes down to it it’s about me and what I want to read and if that’s something I’ve read a bazillion I hope everyone can appreciate it. 😀

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