II love audio books. Whenever I drive down to Los Angeles I always stop in Gilroy, gas up, and buy an audio book. I don’t bother with the new stuff — it seems stupid to pay over $50 for a book I can get in print for under ten bucks — so it’s been a good way for me to catch up on the classics. The Divine Comedy, The Iliad, The Art of War . . . ah, the joys of Public Domain. It’s awesome and cheap!

I kept passing over The Great Gatsby because I hated reading that book in high school. It just seemed melodramatic and stupid to me, like Jane Eyre with automobiles and booze. But the selection can wear thin, and last time I finally made myself pick it up. I noticed with pleasant surprise that it had been read by Tim Robbins, which can only be a good thing. I bought it along with another selection, thinking of it as medicine coated in chocolate — unpleasant, but good for me and made palatable through good presentation.

I set it aside, opting instead for The Picture of Dorian Gray on that particular road trip. Yesterday out of sheer morbid curiosity I put it in the cd player in my car. And . . . it’s good! It’s actually very well written, with careful attention to euphony, alliteration, and grandiose yet cynical imagery. Now I know why I hated it so much back then.

This is not a book that tenth graders should read. What can a fifteen-year-old know of decadence, losing one’s soul, and being imprisoned by a web of mistakes, lies, and denial? The subject matter is completely inappropriate for teenagers. Not because it deals with sex, drugs, and hard living. Teenagers can grasp that. But what they can’t grasp is the tension of adulthood — the struggle between the apathy induced by knowing life has peaked and the fear of not doing anything worthwhile before they die. That can not and should not be brought to someone who hasn’t even gotten through puberty.

At any rate, it’s nice to have this one redeemed. I just needed to double my life span before I could appreciate it.