reading between the lines

[SnowQueen189]

Ok, maybe someone can help me. I have read several classic books in a variety of genres (Great Expectations, Catcher in the Rye, Frankenstein, Hamlet, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, several Greek Mythology books, etc.) and took an Advanced Literature class my senior year of high school. And while I can understand the material on a basic level with little effort, it's the deeper meaning that I seem oblivious to. (i.e. Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner" is really about masturbation) When we analyzed the books in class, it was a sort of, "oh, that makes sense" epiphany for me, but I couldn't seem to grasp it on my own. And since I'll be in several literature classes next year at college, I know this problem isn't going to be easy to avoid. So, I was wondering if anyone had any tips to help me read between the lines. Thanks!

[Cassiel240]

I know the feeling you seem to have about others seeing deeper things than you do - I suspect everyone meets pieces of literature in which the deeper meanings (there are more than one for most good works, I think) don't leap out right away. One thing that is helpful for any work, including ones you feel you grasp easily (because as I said, there'll be more than one meaning, and the secondary one will often be even less likely to jump out if you've already picked up on the primary one), is to do a close reading. This is a reading in which you select a passage, no more than a paragraph to start with if it's a long work, which you examine in detail. Check out this website:

http://theliterarylink.com/closereading.html

It was helpful to me. Often if you do a close reading of even a small passage, themes that are applicable to the entire work will leap out at you and they will lead you down paths that suggest underlying meanings. If you really spend time doing it, you'll find you come out with meanings your classmates have missed.

[aabbcc]

The only thing that is important in the relationship between you and literary work is what does it say to you and what do you see in it. Instead of analysing every piece, relying on what critics say and overall filling in yourself other people's views and opinions, just allow the work to speak to you, and what do you see in it, what in it is important to you, that will be it.

Do not bother yourself or diminish the pleasure of reading trying to grasp the "secret meaning" behind things. Most of the time it does come with time anyway, it does not have to come right away, some works need to "settle" inside of you a bit.

[Video Drone]

i.e. Lawrence's "The Rocking Horse Winner" is really about masturbationYou know, teachers keep saying this... is every book about teenagers is mainly about masturbation? I think you should make your own opinion about the work and not listen to critics too much, I heard them say the most ridiculous things sometimes. And there was an article about Fahrenheit 451 and how everybody understood it wrong.

For me, rereading and thinking about the book helps. I notice that with my favorite works, I dig deeper and deeper the more I read it and the more I think about it. The problem is, often you don't like the work that much to dig into it.

[Cassiel240]

I agree you shouldn't stress yourself out about it or diminish the pleasure of reading by sweating the idea that others are "reading more deeply" than you. At the same time, however, one of the things that's so cool about really good literature is that it IS worth spending the time to puzzle out other possible readings. While I enjoy reading Thomas Harris' works (Silence of the Lambs, for instance), I tend to plow through them and not think too much about them. They aren't on the same level as, say, Ralph Ellison. Ralph Ellison's work leaves you with the feeling that after one reading, there's no way you could do justice to all the possible nuances, details or varied meanings available in the writing. So you read it again, and you realize, "wow, I completely missed this subtle message the first time." You read it again, and you have the same experience, only this time you think, "wow, combined with that other subtle message, suddenly this book seems to mean something different than I understood with my first reading." To me, that's the beauty of really good literature. It rewards rereading; it will bear new fruit for you each time you open it. "Reading between the lines" shouldn't be a forced experience - these new meanings, at least in books you like well enough to read over again, should unfold for you without huge amounts of effort (though if you apply huge amounts of effort, sometimes you'll find something really exciting!).

[SnowQueen189]

well, i'd just like to say thank you to those of you who offered suggestions. I realize there isn't just something that is one day going to click in my head so I can magically understand the secret meaning of books (though that would be nice...) but for anyone who is having the same problem I am, I found a great book called <i>How to read Literature like a Professor</i>. I can't remember the author's last name, but I think it's Thomas Something. Anyway, thanks again!

[JediFonger]

re-reading helps you understand what the books mean to YOU, which matters more than what analyst say.