What was the book that changed your life? How old were you when you read it? Here are some classics, and the best ages at which to read them:
• The “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,” by Arthur Conan Doyle — before the age of 18. In order to learn that some mysteries, including the ones inside your own heart, really can be solved by logic and reason.
• “Ficciones,” by Jorge Luis Borges — in your 20s. In order to learn that the best mysteries can never be solved at all, even with logic and reason.
• “Beloved,” by Toni Morrison — in your 30s. In order to consider, as you begin to raise a child, the profound injustices of the world, and to learn exactly how terribly they will come to break your heart.
• “The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald — in your 40s. In order to understand, during the age of midlife crises, that reinventing yourself comes at a price.
• “The Catcher in the Rye,” by J. D. Salinger — in your 50s. To be reminded what a jerk your younger self was, and not to get all sentimental about your lost youth.
• “To the Lighthouse,” by Virginia Woolf — in your 60s. To understand that the world will go on without you, and that some of the quests you may have set in motion in this life will continue, even after you’re gone.
• The Harry Potter series, by J. K. Rowling — at any age whatsoever. Because it’s good to be reminded that the world does contain magic, and not only the kind you can do with a wand.
What was the book that changed you, and how old were you when that change transpired? If you were somehow today to meet the reader you once were, would you recognize yourself?
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