Required Reading Assignments You Should Revisit

Oh, Ms. Welch. Why did you let me read Les Mis as a sophomore? And Tess of the d’Urbervilles too? Seriously? Did you think that any of us were really going to understand it?

I doubt 15-year-old me or my classmates really grasped the concepts and themes that Hugo and Hardy were trying to get across in their classic works.

Earlier this week, Huffington Post Books took a look at what required reading assignments we should revisit now that we’re not self-absorbed teenagers trying to read three chapters a night, write a chemistry lab, finish our trigonometry homework and study for that AP History exam.

Topping the list, of course, is the Bard himself: William Shakespeare. While I would recommend Hamlet as the top play to re-read as an adult, HuffPo Books suggests Romeo & Juliet. It’s an interesting, but predictable choice, seeing as R&J is remade as a movie often and is always popular. I would say, if you’re going to tackle Shakespeare again, you must go with Hamlet. That one has all sorts of murder, intrigue and craziness to keep you occupied for awhile. Plus, it’s got the “To be or not to be” speech.

Others on the HuffPo list:

• The Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
• The Odyssey – Homer
• A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
• Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston (yes! yes! yes!)
• The Tell-Tale Heart – Edgar Allen Poe

I would add a few more to this list:

Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Like I said above, I just didn’t get this novel as a kid. But as an adult… Well, you just get so much more out of it. You may have hated ole d’Urberville as a teen. Well, adult you will hate him and Angel Clare. Really.

W.W. Jacob’s The Monkey’s Paw – This story makes Poe seem like child’s play. Truly creepy, this story will freak. you. out. It’s like freaky awesome, though.

Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five – Satire, war and soldiers. Trust me. You didn’t get all of it as a kid. Try it again now.

But one required reading assignment you shouldn’t revisit? Billy Budd. Sorry, Melville and Ms. Welch. I still can’t stand that book.

What books have you re-read since high school? Let me know in the comments!

This post also appeared on my personal blog: DanielleMastersonBooks.com.