The responses are so thoughtful and beautifully expressed. The idea that "a first reading is only a first encounter, and if a book doesn’t move me into rereading, it remains a mere acquaintance instead of a conversational partner" is so well formulated! The notion too that there is a "best window" to read a book—a time when one can have "a more emotional and aesthetic reaction"— is so true too. I read the complete poetry of Keats and Shelley (and all 10 novels of Hesse!) in my late teens, and don't think I could do either again. There was something about the naivete and energy and optimism of youth, when everything still seemed fresh, that made those readings possible in a way that I don't think they could be, at least for me, again. Thank you for a great interview!
The responses are so thoughtful and beautifully expressed. The idea that "a first reading is only a first encounter, and if a book doesn’t move me into rereading, it remains a mere acquaintance instead of a conversational partner" is so well formulated! The notion too that there is a "best window" to read a book—a time when one can have "a more emotional and aesthetic reaction"— is so true too. I read the complete poetry of Keats and Shelley (and all 10 novels of Hesse!) in my late teens, and don't think I could do either again. There was something about the naivete and energy and optimism of youth, when everything still seemed fresh, that made those readings possible in a way that I don't think they could be, at least for me, again. Thank you for a great interview!