On Missing The Point

This rather enjoyable little essay/art review by Colm Tóibín begins, “From an early age, I have missed the point of things. I noticed this first when the entire class at school seemed to understand that Animal Farm was about something other than animals. I alone sat there believing otherwise. I simply couldn’t see who or what the book was about if not about farm animals. I had enjoyed it for that.” What’s great about it is I think it speaks to a secret worry we all have about not seeing something that seems so clear to everyone else, that nagging feeling that we’re not understanding the whole story. Or at least it’s a secret worry of mine. I bet you guys get everything.