alt Hacker NewsI recently bought this book for my kids. Somehow I've never read it in forty years. What's the big deal? It's gotta be the most famous book I've never read.
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Read it with or to your kids. It is an adult book just as much as it is a children’s book. Something there for all stages of life.
I don't get it neither. I have learned French in school, I have read it in French and all... it just seems quite banal. A content-personality mismatch I guess, and if that wasn't so, I might still prefer something that feels more weighty than that book.
It's one of those books that strike you with a completely different meaning when you read it as an adult, than when you read it as a child. Which probably contributes to its enduring charm across the generations. I think everyone should read it twice, but with at least 20 years between readings.
This is a sub plot in "Changing Places" by David Lodge. Hyper competitive professor of English wins dinner party game admitting major Canon work he hasn't read: gets terminated by head of department.
It's not a hard read, and probably would take most adults an hour or two. Maybe just go read it if you're curious, and if you don't like it then quit after a chapter or two.
I like it. I got a lot out of the encounter with the fox, specifically, and that helped me in how I relate to a lot of my friends and lovers.