I love the book personally myself! I think it’s very easy for people in my age group (I’m in my early 20s) to dismiss this book and others in classic American literature because we can’t look at it from the lens of its own era. Of course it’ll feel awkward with language - we’ve have 100 years of language since. Of course it’ll feel basic with social critique - we’ve had 100 years of critique and societal change since.

When I look at it for what it is, it’s an amazing novel with beautiful prose that sounds like music to me. If I was to compare it to my modern favorites, it doesn’t hold up because books from my generation will always hit harder.