Books are interesting things. The words are static, permanent and never changing, but the story changes with you. Your experience colors everything you read. The baggage you bring with you as a reader shapes what you take away from any story. You can read the same book at different points in your life and discover, ultimately, it’s a different story for you. I’ve had this happen a few times so far and, for the most part, it’s been a wonderful thing. There are a few books that haven’t held up in part because I’ve read so many better books in the 20-30 years in between reads.
I was an early and voracious reader, eagerly tucking into a new Nancy Drew or whatever old classic my grandmother decided I needed to read. This lasted for years. I got a very good classic literature education because of it. Shakespeare, Poe, and Longfellow interspersed with Heidi, Pollyanna, and Caddie Woodlawn. When I did get to pick my own, they were decidedly genre, Chronicles of Narnia, Wrinkle in Time, and The Hobbit. Later, I would come to horror and settle in for the long haul. My first horror book, remembered so fondly, is probably the book that’s held up the least of all the books I’ve attempted to reread. John Saul’s The Second Child was a good gateway book for an 11 year old but it doesn’t hold up for me like King or Harris.
Rereading Dune as an adult was the first time it really dawned on me how different perception could make a book. From a child’s point of view, Dune is a hell of a lesson in world building and creepy dudes. From an adult’s point of view, it is all of that but also so much more. From a parent’s point of view it’s even worse (and better for it). Ender’s Game is very different from a non-parent and parent point of view. I struggle with some of King now because I no longer identify as well with the kids but with their parents.
King is what started this post. I was young the first time I read It. I read it several times, until the cover fell apart, and then the rest of it. As a young teenager, the ending just pissed me off. It felt like a cop out because I wasn’t experienced enough to quite understand the point he was making. With the part 2 of the new movie coming out soon, I got the urge to reread it but I had to get a new copy to do so as mine really did fall apart. This reread has been very interesting. I don’t remember it being nearly as jumpy, back and forth, adults to kids and back again. King is nothing if not clever. There’s a reason he is considered a master of his craft. Everything is tied up with a pretty terrible gruesome bow and threaded like a masterpiece of a tapestry.
I struggle with horror sometimes now in ways I didn’t before I had kids. Now, I really have a hard time with reading about horrible things happening to children because instead of identifying with the children, I identify with their parents and that’s my worst nightmare. It’s most parents’ worst nightmare. I never watched the Mist because I was warned about the end. I didn’t watch the remake of Pet Sematary because I knew what was coming (even if they did mix it up). But I didn’t shy away from the remake of It when part one hit theaters. Maybe because I knew the ones who mattered to the story made it to adulthood before everything went more off the rails. Maybe because I had read it so many times as a kid. I may never know why it got a pass. I’m glad it did. I was horribly disappointed when I finally watched the original miniseries as it wasn’t actually scary but my not finding things scary is a post for another day.
Queen of my Geekdom 