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witchycommunism OP t1_iwrerke wrote

Does anyone have any tips for finding them? I feel like at this point I’m more focused on understanding what is going on rather than any deeper meanings. I’m sure understanding it will get easier with time; I’m just really out of practice.

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unlovelyladybartleby t1_iwrfwoc wrote

Try reading it once for the story and again for the symbolism. It's easier to tease out that the rain is a symbol of loss or whatever when you know that a character is about to die. Plus, then you still get to enjoy the book without making yourself nuts

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witchycommunism OP t1_iwrgm1s wrote

Great advice thank you!!

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unlovelyladybartleby t1_iwrhukz wrote

I'm such a book nerd I usually read them a half dozen times or more. While it's fun to geek out on the symbolism and pick books apart, the first time I read one it's all about the wow

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Separate-Grocery-815 t1_iwrk8xb wrote

When I first started college, I would write small symbols or abbreviations in the margins if certain words or phrases came up more than a couple times (a heart for dialogue about love, a scale for justice, a cloud for gloom/despair/sadness, etc). Then at various points, or just at the end of the book, I would go back and see what I had marked a lot and think about why the author kept coming back to that word/phrase/idea/theme.

In my experience, it didn’t take me out of the story in the moment since it took a couple seconds to draw, but I got better at noticing repeated phrases and ideas over time.

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