MC Higgins The Great is "difficult"

Today in class Molly presented the concept of “difficulty” in regards to literature. This is something I have always struggled with internally. I have never really voiced difficulty when reading a book, but subconsciously it has always been there. I liked how Molly described these as obstacles not impossibilities. I think often times difficulties come from things we struggled with understanding in our own lives.

In the book, M.C. Huggins The Great, I had difficulty dealing with M.C. developing his identity. This is the story of a boy growing up and coming of age and I think he really struggles with acceptance and security issues. Adolescence is an obstacle in itself. It is the time where you feel you don’t really belong anywhere. You are stuck in limbo between childhood and adulthood with new physical and emotional concepts constantly surfacing. I think I struggled with reading this because I was experiencing that uncomfortable feeling all over again. At some points I thought M.C. was so arrogant and annoying and at other times I could see that he was just trying to figure it all out. Hamilton does a good job of portraying what this stage of life is like.

I experienced difficulty even greater in reading Dicey’s Song. I could just feel her pain. At some points it was that internal battle of wanting to turn the page but not wanting to turn it at the same time. I was intrigued and wanted to know the outcome, but fearful that it might be so painful.

I think authors that are able to incorporate “difficulties” in their stories have a gift because it causes the reader to dig deeper. It makes the reader step outside of their comfort zone and think about something they may not want to. The great thing about a book is that you can read it, process it and continue at your own pace. This makes the process more manageable than just experiencing it all at once as in a movie.