I first read this novel my senior year of highschool and remembered it being graphically sexual. I have wanted to reread it for quite some time, and I’m glad I finally have. I was absolutely engrossed with this book the second time around and found the sexuality and the violence to be much less shocking then I remembered. This is partly due to more experience and maturity on my part, and partly due to more exposure to other literature. This is a book that has forced me to contemplate life in terms that I haven’t before. This is a book that has been able to make me as happy, excited, or sad as anything I have read.