do you re-read books?

Curiously enough, one cannot read a book: one can only reread it.

I don't, but I don't think it's mad. I sort of envy the urge/relationship with partic books.

Militantly not re-reading is surely more savage

Re-reading is something of a rarity for me, but there are certainly times I re-read, and a smallish number books I've re-read multiple times. The rarity of my re-reading is due to my loose habits and cavalier ways. Confession: the one book I've read most often is the one book I ever wrote.

Find myself doing this more and more often tbh

I think I've always done this from when I was a kid onwards

New books are a bad bet

as an old person, it's handy recalling that you liked a book without actually remembering any of the details

I maintain many relationships in much the same spirit

time is money, pal

Ah I often think about this. I never reread a book which is weird since I rewatch movies/series a lot and relisten to music even more !
I think I consider that there are too many things to read to reread... but that doesn’t make sense since it should be the same for music and films !

this is what books are for

You sure? The thick ones are good for doorstops.

Yes, only my favourites...don't do enough of this but I have been gathering my own copies of the books that mattered to me over the years, and while I can see myself trying the odd thing now and then it'll be going in deeper with what I love. Re-reading the favourites.

this is all i do

Yes, all the time.

I've pretty much stopped re-reading novels, which is something I did a lot when I was 20-ish. Instead I re-read non-fiction and philosophy way more (Barthes, W. Benjamin especially is endlessly re-redable). It tends to grow with me, opening new portals and ideas every time.

I agree with Sontag: "One must be strict with books. I want to read only what I’ll want to reread—the definition of a book worth reading once."

You sure? The thick ones are good for doorstops.

also evening up tables

there are too many things to read to reread

used to think this, now a sworn enemy of people who think this

im in the "there are too many things to read to reread" camp

it's fucking insane, mike

implicit assumptions, in increasing order of implausibility:
(i) one gets greater utility from reading a greater variety of books
(ii) marginal utility of reading books is decreasing in the number of times you read them
(iii) the marginal utility of the first reread of the best book you will ever read is lower than the marginal utility of the first read of the worst book you will ever read

(i) is probably true. (ii) true is definitely not true. (iii) is deranged

I'm not disputing what you're saying but I guess I always see reading as a discovery. part of the enjoyment is from finding new authors, new styles etc. so picking up a book Ive already read seems a bit regressive or something (i am aware this is silly)

at this point i reread more than i read new books at a rate of 10 : 1

I guess I always see reading as a discovery

it keeps being one

http://evidenceanecdotal.blogspot.com/2018/01/progress-in-art-of-reading.html

also evening up tables

you're thinking of thin books

I reread irregularly but reasonably often, I guess. Would also say that I don't really enjoy audiobooks that are new to me--I have trouble not being able to set my own pace, skip back a few lines, etc--but when you already know the book a bit having a good actor read it to you, so you can really wallow in the language, is a delight.

I want to read only what I’ll want to reread—the definition of a book worth reading once.

That's crazy talk.

I have the same problem as Aussie James even if I have already read the book. I still need to listen to the audiobook twice.

yes but not that often. i mean i re-read a lot of the stuff i read in high school in my early 20s and started going thru all the stuff i wasn't assigned semi-recently. re-reading your favorite books after 5, 10+ years is essential imo

as with anything your relationship will inevitably be different with it the older you are. it's great. but i always feel like i don't have enough time to re-read rather than read something new to me

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i always feel like i don't have enough time to re-read rather than read something new to me

you don't have enough time either way

i know!!!!!

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I do very little re-reading. I have a completist drive in most culture, of wanting to know about everything, and it keeps me from going deeper into works I've already read. It's insane, because obviously I won't live long enough to watch every notable movie, let alone read every notable book. It's also bad because my shelves fill up and up. I spent a year not buying books and even then I didn't have to re-read, so much stuff I've bought and not read yet.

This year I'm trying to read/re-read all of E.M. Forster. I hope limiting myself to one author will give me greater appreciation for diving deep into things, which might lead to re-reading more.

RANDOM INTERVIEW5: "How rapidly do you read?" Miss Hanks asked a
young girl.
"One hundred and twenty words a minute," the girl said.
"On Earth some of the girl students your age have learned to read at
the rate of five hundred words a minute," Miss Hanks said proudly.
"When I began disciplined reading, I was reading at the rate of four
thousand words a minute," the girl said. "They had quite a time correcting
me of it. I had to take remedial reading, and my parents were ashamed of me.
Now I've learned to read almost slow enough."

That's one of Lafferty's bratty magic kids. I hear that in Delany's recent book the characters can inject all of literature into their brains in minutes, which sounds like something from a horror movie.

I'm re-reading Light in August.

xp lol but the point in the Lafferty story(s) is that reading sloooooow is what the kids need to learn

philology innit

I reread irregularly but reasonably often, I guess. Would also say that I don't really enjoy audiobooks that are new to me--I have trouble not being able to set my own pace, skip back a few lines, etc--but when you already know the book a bit having a good actor read it to you, so you can really wallow in the language, is a delight.

― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Sunday, January 28, 2018 4:08 AM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is me to a T. I still occasionally get new-to-me audiobooks, but most of the ones I have purchased were from books I've read in the past. I do most of my audiobook listening while at work, and it used to bother me that I'd lose my place, mentally speaking, if I happened to be listening while working on a complicated work problem. Listening to an audiobook of a book I already read alleviates that anxiety for me.

As far as actually reading books, I'd say I spend about half my time re-reading a book, and half checking out a new one.

This thread is making me think I should reread more. The last book I reread was Tragic Sense of Life, though I do reread a fair amount of poetry.

you know that thing that people always say on the back cover reviews of books like 'i read the last page. then i turned it over and read it again'? i used to think that was bs. then i did it :)

I don't even own a book

then i turned it over and read it again'? i used to think that was bs. then i did it :)

i did this exactly once. with this, lol