I called the 'read the book twice' method a waste of time until my club picked 'Blood Meridian'

My book club chose 'Blood Meridian' last fall, and I was ready to just power through it once for our talk. A few members kept saying you had to read it a second time to get it, which I thought was just people trying to sound smart. After my first read, I was honestly lost. The language was thick and the violence felt pointless. I gave in and read it again over a slow weekend. The second pass was a different book. I caught the patterns in the judge's speeches and saw how the landscape descriptions mirrored the moral decay. It went from a confusing slog to a clear, brutal masterpiece. That second read changed my whole view on how to approach difficult books. Has anyone else had a book that only made sense after you went through it again?

2 comments

2 Comments

kai60222d ago

You said the second read made it a "clear, brutal masterpiece." But is it ever really clear? I still find new confusing bits every time.

hernandez.miles22d ago

That reminds me of trying to understand my old man's war stories as a kid.