In my effort to read some portion of the classics, I really experienced his observation of the difference between reading in school and reading later in life.
I couldn't believe how much more I was impacted by some of these books just 10 years after reading them in high school. Many of the plights of the protagonists just didn't stir me at all when I was in school, either because I didn't understand the historical context well enough, or because I didn't yet have enough empathy to feel their pain and loss (it's always pain and loss in the classics...)
Anyway, I highly recommend reading some of these books again as an adult. Even some of the ones I remember hating in school I ended up being engrossed by.
I couldn't believe how much more I was impacted by some of these books just 10 years after reading them in high school. Many of the plights of the protagonists just didn't stir me at all when I was in school, either because I didn't understand the historical context well enough, or because I didn't yet have enough empathy to feel their pain and loss (it's always pain and loss in the classics...)
Anyway, I highly recommend reading some of these books again as an adult. Even some of the ones I remember hating in school I ended up being engrossed by.