Right now I’m reading a book on rereading. I don’t
think I’ll read it again once I finish it. The author, a woman in her 70’s,
talks a lot about her own experiences in rereading. She shares how the Alice
stories, which she discovered at age six, have read differently and similarly
to her over the years. The editor of an annotated edition of Pride and Prejudice, she talks about why
so many people revisit the works of Austen annually.
Honestly, I’m not much of a re-reader. Certain
friends of mine can find so much amusement in a Terry Pratchett novel that they
will finish it on Friday night and start all over again Saturday morning. Perhaps
it’s a more active form of how I can watch the same music video several times
in week. But a novel requires a much larger time commitment than my four and a
half minute Michelle Branch video from the early 2000’s.
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| All together now... AWWWW! |
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| Nothing I can say compete with cuteness of this picture |
But such examples are few and far between. I
rarely buy books anymore, with libraries being so useful. When I do purchase
books I’ve already read, it’s more for the idea of having them than actually
reading them again. They are like pictures from a nice vacation. “I went there.
I experienced that. And this is what I have to show for it.” Having a book on a
shelf is to tell others and remind myself of a pleasant journey, whether or not
I actually intend to go back.
What books do you reread and why? Or do you never
read the same thing twice, believing that life is too short to travel familiar
paths?
I reread all my favorites ... all the time. I have honestly lost count of the number of times I have read The Mark of the Lion trilogy (by Francine Rivers), the Anne of Green Gables series and the Harry Potter series. I've read "Pride and Prejudice" several times, as well as "To Kill a Mockingbird" and others. Heck, I've even reread "Maniac Magee." The reason for it is pretty simple ... I love the books. I love the ride they take me on. Like you said, it's more of a time commitment than watching a movie, even, but it's so worth it. The books I reread are so good all the way through that each moment makes it worth it. I probably wouldn't reread something like "The Odyssey," for example, because it was work to get through, and the good parts don't make the rest of it worth it. But when you experience all the thrills of an amazing book, you want to go back and experience them again. I can't believe that you DON'T reread your favorites! Perhaps the problem is you're not reading very good books ... :-p
ReplyDeleteWow, considering not long ago you wrote a facebook note about how you get stuck in ruts, this post really surprises me!
ReplyDeleteI used to be more of a rereader than I am now. The main reason? I was stuck in Brazil, where there are no libraries, haha. Seriously, when you love to read, and all you have is your own personal library of 100 books or so, those books get read many, many, many times. But what Sarah says is true; if you really enjoyed the whole book the first time, you can probably enjoy it again and again and again. Like the author of the article you've referred to, I find that when I reread something at a different point in my life, I can get a completely new perspective on it, which is fascinating. Also, the characters in the books I love are like real people to me, old friends, so wouldn't I be happy to spend time with them again?
Now I have less time for reading, plus an ever-mounting list of "amazing" books that people tell me I "just have to read." This combination has been seriously detrimental to my rereading habits. However, I have still managed to reread a few books in the last few years. I share some favorite rereads with Sarah: Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables (the whole series), and Pride and Prejudice (that book never ceases to make me laugh! actually, that's true of all of the above). I also reread basically everything by Tolkien, Lewis, and L'Engle all the time (ok, not EVERYTHING by Tolkien, that would be impossible). I've reread the Castle books by Diana Wynne Jones a few times, too.
I do know what you mean about the "books are like vacation pictures," though; many of the books on my shelf, and even some of the movies, are like this. These are the ones that, like Sarah said, may involve more work than pleasure, so I'm less likely to reread or rewatch them, but I still like to own them just to show that "I've been there." (And also to lend them to people who haven't read/watched them yet.)
Anyway, thanks for this post. I think I'll go reread something now.
I was thinking about my rut-dwelling as I wrote this. I'm more apt to get stuck in a series rut and read everything published up to present. Oddly, I don't get stuck on authors.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sarah's probably right... it is the quality of books I'm reading. You read a Hardy Boys adventure once, there's really no point in reading it again. ;-)