Caught myself interpreting symbolism wrong for 5 straight book club meetings

Last month a retired English teacher pointed out I was taking every metaphor literally, like the tunnel in The Third Policeman wasn't a tunnel it was a death passage. How do you catch your own reading blind spots before you bring bad takes to discussion?

2 comments

2 Comments

quinn_king168h ago

Oof, that's rough. Been there, totally changes how you see a whole book.

kim_hart77h ago

Three book club members including @quinn_king16 have now told me they had the same problem with The Old Man and the Sea. They kept seeing the marlin as just a big fish when it's really about struggle and pride. The trick I've started using is reading the first and last chapters twice before discussing anything. That way you catch the framing the author set up. Also asking myself "what else could this thing mean" before I settle on a take has saved me from looking dumb a few times. Sometimes the simplest explaination is the right one but with symbolism you gotta push past the first layer.