Good Omens

Good Omens was my favorite book for a very long time. I've re-read it more times than I can count. I once gave a copy to my mom for Christmas and then immediately stole it back. It's sitting on my book shelf right now. This book never failed to make me laugh or to make me think about what it means to be a good and moral person (or a god worth worshiping). I've read it so many times that I practically have it memorized.

But I think I might be outgrowing it.

Or maybe it's just that it isn't aging well. I still like a lot of what it says about humanity and morality and taking responsibility. But this time through I found myself cringing at as many of the jokes as I laughed at. Shadwell as a character no longer makes much sense to me. Or maybe it's the way people react to him. I can certainly imagine an angry, conservative, little man who hates everyone indiscriminately and insults anyone he interacts with. I can't imagine all these people finding it charming.

I'm excited for the miniseries adaptation that's currently filming. I hope they update it some to make it more inclusive and to get rid of some of the jokes that aren't all that funny. I hope it captures what I've always loved about this book. I hope it's something I can watch and feel happy about.

Because I'm not sure I'm ever going to read this book again. I'm falling out of love with it, and I think that revisiting it will just be too painful. It doesn't give me what it used to.

I suppose the silver lining is that I've grown as a person. And there are so many more books that can help fill the hole in my heart. Which isn't all that big of a hole anyway.

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