literature

A Reading Experience

Deviation Actions

LiterarySerenity's avatar
Published:
729 Views

Literature Text

I have heard that

we never read

 the same story twice


Like a book of fairytales

first opened in childhood

 in which we discover dragons

  nestled within ancient castles


   mysterious beings able

    to grant wishes for

        kind souls


    and numerous transformations


 which shift more

  after each visit

    into a familiar landscape

      where characters

        we come to know  

          forever dwell


Except the text may  

remain in a single configuration

  its words and events kept

    amid a certain

      narrative performance


As such

we are the ones who

   undergo a change

  each time

    we slip between the covers


    ...with different emotions


   ...with different thoughts


  ...at different stages
             of our lives


Perhaps then

it is not so much that

 we never read

       the same story twice


   as we never read

       a story twice


          as the exact


            same individual
Inspired by essays read on Reader-Response Theory, which emphasizes reading as a life experience, but also based on various literary musings.
© 2020 - 2025 LiterarySerenity
Comments42
anonymous's avatar
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
StrangelyShiny's avatar
I can think of no better example of this for me than with Harry Potter.

Philosopher's Stone at age 9: meh, too much description and such long chapters.
Philosopher's Stone at age 25: such a fun and creative way to begin a series!

Order of the Phoenix at age 12: THIS IS AWESOME, INTENSE AND NEVER LETTING UP!
Order of the Phoenix at age 25: Man this is dreary... can the characters just get five minutes to be happy?

:giggle: