I think without the help of my high school english teacher, Mrs. Lockwood, I would not have made it through this book, let alone understood it!! On my own I would have probably rated this book a 5 but with her instruction and insight I saw things in this book I never would have seen or understood on my own! Obviously, or I wouldn't be registering it now 14 years later! It is definately a novel that sticks with you forever! It is fabulous, true literature!