I had a similar experience with the play "A Raisin in the Sun". Reading it in class, it was boring and difficult to relate to. Watching the play live as an adult, you realize it's actually hilarious and heart-wrenching.
Part of it is growing up, but part of it is (obviously) that plays aren't meant to be read. There's a lot of detail and tone that doesn't really come across properly, and it sucks the life out of the story. Not sure why it's such a common practice in school.
To this day I still think Shakespeare is the most overrated buffoon ever to put words on paper, probably because I was forced to read so much of his work in school.
I realize I'm probably wrong about my assessment, but I've tried to watch performances of his plays as an adult and the outcome is always the same: His words just sound like random noise to my brain. They bounce off.
And yet I love Cormac McCarthy.
Blood Meridian is one of my favorite novels. Go figure.
Part of it is growing up, but part of it is (obviously) that plays aren't meant to be read. There's a lot of detail and tone that doesn't really come across properly, and it sucks the life out of the story. Not sure why it's such a common practice in school.