I’m rereading this for a project I’m working on, and I still don’t like this book. I read it in high school and wasn’t a fan, mainly because there was a lot I didn’t understand, and I didn’t really want to read about whiny rich people and their problems. I think, upon this reread, that I understand it much better, and I honestly wish I’d read it as an adult vs. a sophomore in high school. Throughout this revisit, I still feel as though the characters are superficial, but I think that’s one of the points of the novel. I also realize that a reason I disliked it initially is because there are several literary moves that I don’t like in narratives, specifically the ways in which the author jumps around to recall events. Lastly, I didn’t remember the clearly racist and ethnocentric aspects within the story. Maybe I cast it out in my earlier read, but it was centered on the page when I read it this time. One could argue that it was a sign of the times, but I never accept that as an argument, soooooo… Either way, I think the story is a story, not overly special, not horribly terrible. It’s a story. That’s all.