I tend not to think around corners very well. I usually just read a book and take it for face value. Then afterwards I’ll read how others felt about it and go “oh cool.” And that’s that.

Let the book just happen, don't force it or challenge it. That's my humble advice.

I see it as a litterary investigation. A book is a game between the writer and the reader, both wanting to own the ending. Symbolism can help for "clues", but if that's not your thing you can also let the writer guide you.

I wouldn't say that I'm actively looking for symbolism, but I do notice it, at least sometimes. I think if you've spent time learning about it, as you have, then you'll just notice it. Maybe not every time, but maybe people who are very actively looking for it are inventing it themselves sometimes too. With some authors, it's very obvious there's some symbolism going on - Murakami, Salman Rushdie, or J G Ballard for example.

Something that does help is to think about the purpose of everything in the writing. The author has chosen every word, and so think about why they've chosen to include each element. Is it just to set the scene and "world build"? Or does it connect to the narrative? The main character's mother has just got sick, and now we're being told about a tree they used to play on as a kid that's now lost all it's leaves? The author has made these connections deliberately.

If you're thinking about the purpose of each word, and element, just be aware that you don't need to come up with answers. Maybe it won't become clear until later, or maybe never. Just spending time thinking about why they've made the deliberate decision to include that element will be enough to build a better ability to see symbolism and metaphors in a book over time.

I analyze everything, whether it's a movie, a game, or a book. Whether it's "brain candy" or philosophical.

I read for the story and the emotion or mood. I probably miss a lot of things that are important to other people, but I don't care. Perhaps that's why my experience with a few classics earlier this year was so bad.

If I had to analyze every book I read, I'd stop reading. If there is symbolism in something I read and I pick up on it, I might say "Hmmm." That's about it. I only read for enjoyment and escapism. Anything beyond that sounds like work.

You know, there’s a lot I analyze about books but symbols aren’t one of those things!

I feel like a lot of symbols are intuitive, because they carry emotional weight in the narrative—so you know what they’re about even if you wouldn’t articulate it that way. For instance, a character often has an object that’s important to them because it symbolizes someone important in their life.

Seeking out symbols that don’t carry weight in the story isn’t a very meaningful activity for me though, so no I don’t do that. English classes focus on this overmuch methinks.

No, I don't look for it but at times I do notice it.

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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.

The "classics" are not a monolith. Some of them are more symbolic than others. In general though if you're looking to do that kind of analysis I recommend reading it more than once. The first reading should be to understand the plot and decide if the book interests you enough to even be worth scouring for symbolism in a second reading.

Honestly I’m too dumb to notice. But I can notice a random spelling error though!

I think symbolism in books are fun for the author, same as it can be in the music, and sometimes they jump at me when reading. It can also be fun to look for if you will be doing a deep dive into a single book, study an authors particular narration or things like that, but in the end the story should be engaging without the need for this at all. Good characters, good moral themes, good story world and engaging beats throughout the book.

Maynard from Tool spoke about his lyrics once, if I remember him correctly. He usually writes lyrics with a lot of metaphors, but if the music dictates another word for its sounds, he will sacrifice that word for the sound. I think that's a good attitude in both music and books - sometimes you need to sacrifice something good for a mood.

I tend to have an active mind towards it because I feel it enriches the experience. But there are a lot of kings of symbolism and some are likely to only appear upon a reread (or a scouring of secondary text).

In my opinion, what tends to make for good symbolism is some or all of the following:

> 1) Agency in the symbol

> 2) Generally established cultural connotations

> 3) Repetition

> 4) Appearance at crucial moments

> 5) Changes or recontextualization with each appearance

> 6) A symbol web

The more of those boxes are checked, the more evident the symbol(s). Kind of a basic example but say a character study marks a character's emotional development with a water symbol - an element with the capacity to nurture or overwhelm. They storm off during an argument and become dehydrated as a result of their actions. They leave a summer job at a community swimming pool for a dispiriting cubicle internship devoid of human connection. They offer to help an elderly neighbor repair their faucet and they earn a new friend. Then maybe a parent or another character will have a more fiery motif with a reoccurring symbol that emphasizes destruction as a loss of control or marks the forging of bonds when wielded responsibly. Something like that (as perhaps blunt as it may be) might reveal additional layers when they appear in more ambiguous ways or hint at relationships between characters or their environment.

I'm with you. I don't want reading to be a chore. When I come across something I like I snap a quick picture on my phone. I think it is fun knowing you might have missed something. If you read it again or you talk about the book with someone and it comes up then it adds to the experience. I think sometimes things come to you when you need them.

Stay warm and cozy

Once you get used to it, at some point you can’t help but notice symbols

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First time through I read for enjoyment only. Next time through I look for deeper meanings.

No two readers have ever experienced a book the same way.

Whether or not the author intends it, a reader will read from their own lens of worldview, experiences, and yearnings.

I am curious though, this fear of missing out on symbols, would it be fair to say that you have readers FOMO?

Take a deep breath, and remember that books are organic, and they come to life differently in every reader's hands. So sit back and enjoy what any book brings to you. You may even pick a theme or two that the author never intended; but it will be just as valid because that's how you and the book interacted.

If there's something that's mentioned repeatedly that's not really plot relevant, that's usually a flashing signal to me to stop and think, "hey, what's the deal with that?" I'm sure I miss a lot of more subtle symbols, but this rule of thumb catches some more obvious ones.

Most of the times I don’t LOOK for symbolism, it just sticks out. It usually happens when you know a lot about the context of the book, the period it was written in, the author’s system of thinking and, more than the message they were trying to convey, what kind of readers they addressed. Because one-sided symbolism is pointless, you need the reader to pick up on it.

So no, I don’t think you have to approach reading as a chore, since I assume it’s reading for your own pleasure, not for school. That being said, keep in mind that especially with non-current works you may need to have a decent base of general culture around the book, or read up on it. It’s not that hard and can actually be enjoyable. Also most classics would be orbiting Ancient Greek/Roman mythology and philosophy and the more religious would include the 2 testaments in their basic mythology and thought systems. The Romantics were quite interested in medieval myth and, maybe surprisingly, in the scientific advances of the day.

A little knowledge of literary movements can also be helpful, as they tended to turn their symbols into tropes - then the next movement would be a reaction to the previous one, so that might also help you understand more.

In any case, if all this seems overwhelming, there’s a lot of kind people on the www who explain even the more obscure writings, so I’d treat them as the great resource they are. To me personally it’s always a joy to find out new dimensions to a book I’m reading.

I don’t really care much for symbolism, but sometimes authors have very arbitrary choices and I like to think about why they made the choices they did.

Themes and overarching patterns are more interesting to me.

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No because i'm not in high school anymore.

Mostly, I'm not even picking it up conciously, but my brain will see it, for some odd reason. Of course, symbolism becomes more noticeable when you reread a book.

Sometimes I pick up elements of symbolism on my first read-through, and other times it dawns on me at a later time, upon reading it again or experiencing something that enables me to understand it more readily.

Never.

Having just finished reading 'Where The Crawdads Sing' and seeing how most people found the ending twist to be improbable and come out of nowhere, I've convinced that most people don't know how to read symbolism. It was the fireflies all along.

Meh not really

It is not wise to find symbols in everything that one sees. It makes life too full of terrors.