Reading the Same Book as a Different Person: You Can't Go Home Again
The Harry Potter books have always been a comfort to me. So why did rereading Order of the Phoenix make me anxious? Somewhere between Harry's anger, Umbridge's reign, and the loss of Sirius, I realized this wasn't just about Hogwarts changing. It was about growing older and learning that some things can never go back to the way they were.
Reading the Same Book as a Different Person: Fathers and Sons
Four sons. Four fathers. Four very different ideas of what it means to become a man. Rereading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire made me reflect on the men who shaped my own life, the examples I followed, and the paths I chose to leave behind.
Reading the Same Book as a Different Person: Tom Riddle
What would sixteen-year-old you think of the person you became? Rereading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Tom Riddle’s encounter with his own future made that question hit a little differently.
Reading the Same Book as a Different Person: Hagrid
As a kid, Hagrid was the funny giant with the dangerous pets. As an adult, I see something else: a mountain of a man who simply never stops showing up.
Reading the Same Book as a Different Person
The book hasn’t changed. I have. What happens when we return to the stories we loved years later—and discover we’re reading them as entirely different people?