Appreciation post for the retired librarian who called me out at our book club meetup last month

At the downtown Seattle public library book club, a retired librarian straight up told me I was 'overthinking the symbolism' in the second chapter of The Road. She pointed out that Cormac McCarthy probably just described the ash because it was cold and gray, not some deep metaphor. It made me realize I spend too much time hunting for hidden meanings when the story works fine on its own. Do you guys ever get told you're reading too much into a book by someone in your group?

2 comments

2 Comments

lily57412h ago

Honestly, maybe she had a point. I feel like sometimes people get so focused on finding symbolism they forget a book can just be about a guy walking through the cold.

noahward10h ago

Get what you're saying @lily574, sometimes a cold walk is just a cold walk and that's fine.