In high school, US English teacher Akie Kutsunai did not like reading long books.

It all started with Oliver Twist, a book about a poor orphan in Victorian-era London.

“Oliver Twist is a little grim,” she said.

Kutsunai did not enjoy reading Oliver Twist. So when her 12th-grade English teacher announced that the class would be reading Crime and Punishment after winter break, Kutsunai cringed.

She decided, against better judgment, that she would read the whole book in one day just to get it over with. Eight miserable, monotonous hours later, Kutsunai came to regret this decision; she would realize (later) that she had to read it again in class anyway.

But this is where, like long books, time offered a surprise. Being forced to read it again in class changed her understanding of the book’s complex philosophical ideas. This newfound understanding made her resent the book a little less.

Off to college, and Crime and Punishment wasn’t done with Kutsunai. Her understanding of the novel would be further developed when she was assigned to read it again during her senior seminar.

Her fledgling understanding of the book’s complex narrative and message freed her from her dislike of long books. It fostered an enjoyment of a book she once despised.