Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 18:48     Subject: Re:Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
Native Son by Richard Wright
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 18:31     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
The House of Mirth
Ethan Frome
Anna Karenina
Middlemarch
Bleak House
The Woman in White
The Overcoat
Crime and Punishment
Mansfield Park
The Heart of Darkness
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 18:21     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
Winnie the Pooh was surprisingly delightful- especially the audio.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 15:31     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
I read James. Then I went back and read Huck Finn. It's interesting to read the same story from different view points.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 15:19     Subject: Re:Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
Our Town - so sad to read it now as an adult - as a high school student I found it so ‘boring’ and I think I missed the point

Gatsby

Of Mice And Men - also super sad
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 17:47     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
Hunchback of Notre Dame

Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 17:12     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
Anonymous wrote:Another vote for Gatsby. It was so much better the second time around. Such a beautiful book!


Added bonus: F. Scott Fitzgerald is buried at a church in Rockville. You can visit his grave after finishing the book.
Anonymous
Post 02/07/2026 17:08     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
10 years later and this thread still holds up. Just finished Middlemarch and before that read all of Edith Wharton. Will hit more on this thread soon.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2015 23:56     Subject: Re:Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
To Kill a Mockingbird -- not just because of the release of "the lost novel" but because it is a beautiful book with such an important message
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2015 20:32     Subject: Re:Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
Ethan Frome. I hated it in high school, thought it was the worst book I'd ever read (until I read James Joyce's Ulysses in college). But I picked it up again a few years after college and was blown away by the evocative language. I still don't care much for the storyline but I could pity the characters instead of detesting them. And the prose evoked my college years in New England.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2015 19:01     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
Anonymous wrote:Middlemarch. Definitely wasn't ready for it when I was younger. Appreciated it so much more as a grown-up.


This!
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2015 19:00     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
House of Mirth
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2015 18:59     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
Another vote for Gatsby. It was so much better the second time around. Such a beautiful book!
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2015 18:57     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
OP here, thank you, this is great.
Anonymous
Post 02/20/2015 18:41     Subject: Classics worth reading or rereading as a 40-something
Anonymous wrote:Catcher in the Rye. Seemed pointless as a teenager(abd sexually shocking!), profound and insightful in my 30s.

Totally agree - I was actually wondering if anyone would say it, and I'm glad I'm not alone here

Not only I thought it was "profound and insightful" but also written in this incredible and genuine voice that is absolutely amazing. And it also made me LOL more than any other book in recent memory.

Afterward I reread all the other short stories by Salinger (actually some I never read before to tell the truth and enjoyed it immensely.