Ooshie Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 Oh I'm SOOOO glad it wasn't just me then!! I do this all the time. I'm ashamed to say that I even missed the message behind Stephen King's Tommyknockers, the first time I read it. In my defense, I was only about 18! I also suspect that I've taken a message from some books that simply weren't there! That's Ok though - If I get a positive message from something I've read, it's all good There was a message behind Tommyknockers? Even now you have told me that, I still can't guess what it is!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinay87 Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Hmmm I was shocked to find that The Chronicles Of Narnia is filled with messages/references to Christianity. Besides that, I think I just missed the entire message of Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie West Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 I almost always miss the massage of books that schools make me read. I think it is because I am not really paying attention to them because school books don't tend to catch me but I have to read them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadya Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Yes, I sometimes missed messages and even funny references in books I read when I was a child, only to reread them many years later and then discover what else the text was actually saying. But it even happens now at my current age. It's not just missing a message sometimes, it's also having a different interpretation. I often read the reviews of other people after finishing a book and writing my own thoughts about it in my reading journal. Reviews aren't just fun because it's interesting to find out how other people feel about the same book, but they also tell me if I have missed something or they give a different view which is worth considering too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Faversham Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I am a slow reader (busy life and just read in small snatches, excuses, excuses) but I like to absorb what a book is all about and yet still I miss the message most of the time. Writers are supposed to have some kind of theme in mind when they write such as 'good conquers evil' (a very simple one!) and I think I come away happy that this has happened but I have probably missed many signposts. Like Sadya, I sometimes read the reviews afterwards and am quite surprised to see what others have found within the book. This is a good thread; from now on I shall try and stand back and get an overall picture/message from books I read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirandashell Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I was horrified when someone mentioned to me that my absolute favourite childhood books (the Narnia series) had a Christian message! I am a Christian, but if I had realised there was that message then it would have completely ruined the stories for me! I do tend just to read stories as they are, so I am sure there will be many, many more whose message of whatever sort has just gone totally over my head. I was the same! Except I'm not and never have been a Christian so I kind of excused it with that....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolf woolf Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 (edited) I was brought up as a catholic and, curiously enough, Arslan was the first fictional character to show me how frail and stubborn are most barriers people raise between themselves. I'd like to be able to say it was what took me away from religion, but as good as it sounds it isn't true. I usually read a bit about the author's life and where he was at the time he wrote the book, therefore I can put myself in his/her place and it gives me a different perspective. There's still much that escapes me, though. Edited September 12, 2015 by woolf woolf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 I think it was only on my third or fourth re-read of Lord of the Rings that I realised that the whole book is a huge christian allegory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Faversham Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 I think it was only on my third or fourth re-read of Lord of the Rings that I realised that the whole book is a huge christian allegory. Do you think the fact that messages are missed is mostly the fault of the writer? Should there be some sort of flag waving at the end or in the blurb? Or is it because readers are not looking for a message? Or keen to skim through to tick another book off their tbr list? Or just enjoying the story and not needing to find more than that in a book? Or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Do you think the fact that messages are missed is mostly the fault of the writer? Should there be some sort of flag waving at the end or in the blurb? Or is it because readers are not looking for a message? Or keen to skim through to tick another book off their tbr list? Or just enjoying the story and not needing to find more than that in a book? Or what? Well, in my case, I think it's because I am quite literal-minded, so unless something is spelt out to me beforehand, I can miss things that are very obvious to others. Sometimes, I'm just enjoying the story too much to think about the sub-text. It used to bother me that I "didn't get it", but now I've come to the opinion that if I didn't understand the first time, It gives me a reason to re-read a book and "getting it" the next time may give me a new level of enjoyment I didn't get the first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Faversham Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Happy Anniversary, Ian! I think much the same as you do, and I have the same happening with TV programmes. Second time around I can often 'get it' much better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Interesting questions, Anna, and great response, Ian! I agree with you. I wouldn't like an author to make their message more obvious. I've seen movies (2004's Crash comes to mind) and read books (Black Beauty) that totally put me off because their messages were so blooming obvious and repetitive that I felt I was being hit over the head with them over and over again. A message is well done when it's subtle, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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