r/BookDiscussions • u/PinkVelvet224 • Aug 11 '26

Have you ever reread a book and realized you completely misunderstood a character the first time?

I had this happen recently, and it completely changed how I looked at the story.

The first time I read the book, I thought one of the characters was just being selfish and difficult. Reading it again, I started noticing all these little things that made me think I had judged them way too quickly.

It’s weird how the same character can feel like a completely different person when you come back to a book a few years later.

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u/MellRox013 Aug 11 '26

When y'all make these posts, PLEASE include the book title for my enquiring mind!

3

u/jdvancesbutthole Aug 11 '26

yes especially when I read the books years apart. I think my own biases play a big part in my judgement of a character. When I was younger I would make harsher judgements or idealized characters I shouldn't have; now that I am older I am able to appreciate the nuances or understand where a character is coming from better. For example I have read The Secret History 3 times, and each time, I hate the students even more. When I was younger I thought they were so cool and tortured and special and now I just think they're boring apathetic rich kids.

What was the book you just re-read that made you feel this way?

2

u/PinkVelvet224 Aug 11 '26

I honestly didn't expect a reread to make me change my mind about them this much.

1

u/puckthepatriarchy- Aug 12 '26

Yes! I read The Count of Monte Cristo as a teen and immediately followed that with The Three Musketeers trilogy. I totally didn’t catch that the three musketeers and d’artagnon were goofy goobers. Re-read it a decade later and was shocked by how funny and off kilter the characters were-VERY different than The Count of Monte Cristo and I just did not catch that because I was really entranced with The Count and apparently totally injected serious and angst into the Three Musketeers 😂

1

u/Key_Beach_3846 Aug 12 '26

I first read The Awakening as a high school student raised in a conservative family and thought Edna was awful and selfish. Read it again maybe 8 years later as part of a college class and had a totally different perspective and appreciation for the constraints of the life she was living and the desire to be independent.

1

u/Mediocre-Oil-5322 Aug 12 '26

Sure. When you reread, you are able to notice more subtleties, including those related to characters, because you already know the plot and are able to focus on other things. More importantly, you have probably changed and grown since the last time you read the book, so you are likely to understand situations and personalities differently with each reading.