Can you re-read a book?

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Hm?

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 10 May 2004 12:27 (twenty-one years ago)

There are quite a few books that I have read many times and plan on reading a lot more. It's much easier for me to re-read a book than it is to re-watch a movie.

Plus, I have an eight month old. SO I've read Peter Rabit like fifty thousand times. But I don't think that counts.

― Cassandra (Cassandra), Monday, 10 May 2004 12:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Absolutely! It's like visiting friends you truly can't spend enough time with...

― yesabibliophile (yesabibliophile), Monday, 10 May 2004 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I love re-reading. The more I re-read Borges the more I appreciate it. The opposite is true for Richard Bach.

I re-read my Richard Brautigan books every December. Dunno why, but I'm suure Richard would appreciate the gesture.

― Mikey G (Mikey G), Monday, 10 May 2004 12:52 (twenty-one years ago)

yes...not only I do, but there are books I can't wait until enough time has passed since I read them last, to read them again!
Also, approaching holydaya, I noticed I start re-reading all Harry Potter's, to start de-briefing from work and be ready to relax.

― misshajim (strand), Monday, 10 May 2004 12:57 (twenty-one years ago)

You never slip between the same covers twice.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Monday, 10 May 2004 13:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I re-read a lot, but mainly when I'm ill, sad, exhausted or otherwise mentally unfit.

― Archel (Archel), Monday, 10 May 2004 13:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't re-read but I'd like to.

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Monday, 10 May 2004 13:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I love it! It's interesting how books change depending on your mood!

― Bed, Monday, 10 May 2004 14:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I hardly ever re-read stuff cuz there is so much I want to get to, but I mentioned on the "what are you reading" thread that right now I'm re-reading Cathedral by Raymond Carver for the first time since the 80's.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 10 May 2004 14:42 (twenty-one years ago)

I will re-read a book that I truly love. I find that I get more out of a book if I read it at least twice. I admit embarassingly that I used to re-read Atlas Shrugged a lot in high school. Now, I find that I have less time to re-read stuff, but every now and then I do.

― bookdwarf (bookdwarf), Monday, 10 May 2004 14:54 (twenty-one years ago)

For those who don't re-read, do you have favourite books that you've only read once?

Surely a book is like a small puppy and you should spend quality time together, getting to know each other, throwing sticks at it etc

― Mikey G (Mikey G), Monday, 10 May 2004 15:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I reread a great deal. Books that were amazing and lifechanging, or at least ones that made me think, often find new niches to roost in when read again because _I_ am not the same reading the book. I reread mysteries with characters I like as if visiting old friends. I reread childhood and teen novels at the rate of two or three weekly. I've read "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" more times than I can count.

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Monday, 10 May 2004 15:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I lied. I have re-read a book or, rather, a complete series (and it's the only thing I've re-read): The Sandman (vol. 1-10) by Neil Gaiman. When I finished it, I immediately re-read it for a number of reasons:

1. I couldn't bare to let go yet.
2. I had to go back and see what I missed.
3. To get a better understanding of the story as a whole.
4. I couldn't bare to let go yet.

As for MikeyG's question: I have plenty of favorite books I've only read once. They're the ones that stick in my mind and/or were staisfying reads.

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Monday, 10 May 2004 15:26 (twenty-one years ago)

ignoring re-reading as study and considering re-reading as pleasure:

The only book that I re-read often is Howard Frank Mosher's Disappearances. Brautigan: I read all my Brautigans over and over for a couple years and then suddenly stopped, though I remain totally possessed by them. I think re-reading is a mystery and obeys no laws re: the book's worthiness. There are many books that I have read a second time; sometimes I am delighted that they are still wonderful (Angle of Repose, Invisible Cities, Rebecca) and sometimes I'm disappointed and wonder if it's me (changed? ornery?) or the book (recently had this experience with Wind, Sand, and Stars).

Rabin the Cat: I like that "as if visiting old friends." I think I know what you mean. I don't do it a lot but my husband does it and I'm super-jealous that he can quote characters' lines from Richard Russo novels.

― slow learner (slow learner), Monday, 10 May 2004 15:30 (twenty-one years ago)

There are books I enjoyed reading but I can't re-read, like Agatha Christie, Stephen King, Wodehouse books.
But then there are books like Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22, etc. which can be read more than once and enjoyed more every time.

― Fred, Monday, 10 May 2004 16:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I re-read all the time. I especially like to re-read books I read as a child (although sometimes this can be very disconcerting, like with Narnia books) and books I read for courses in college, just to see how they have changed now that I am reading them on my own. And then there are books that I read for classes that stare at me from the bookcase and I can't bring myself to read on my own because I find they need the support and interpretation of others (e.g. Ulysses, Woolf, Moby-Dick)

― Jocelyn (Jocelyn), Monday, 10 May 2004 17:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not sure you can re-read a book.

― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 10 May 2004 17:27 (twenty-one years ago)

No man ever reads the same book twice, for it's not the same book and
he's not the same man. :-p

― Fred, Monday, 10 May 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not sure you can re-read a book.

Of course you can. It's not the same as reading the book, which is why it's called something else.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Monday, 10 May 2004 17:33 (twenty-one years ago)

okay, cozen, more please! you posed it and are thinking something, what is it?

― slow learner (slow learner), Monday, 10 May 2004 17:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Pynchon novels lend themselves very well to re-reading. While my initial reactions to both Gravity's Rainbow and V. were negative, certain images and ideas would stick with me for awhile and in re-reading I discovered a new elments, layers to each work. They're the only novels I look forward to re-reading.

― theodore fogelsanger, Monday, 10 May 2004 18:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Obviously you can't reread a book in the sense of having the identical initial experience of the book. (Although maybe if you had a blow to the head...) But you can certainly physically reread a book. Each experience would be unique, however.

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Monday, 10 May 2004 18:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I reread for comfort or when I've not made it down to the bookstore in a while. But some books hold up better on re-reads than others. Mysteries, for me, aren't rereading types. But with the best ones, it's great to spend more time with people you love and learn more about them, see things you missed, and discover hidden depths.

― SJ Lefty, Monday, 10 May 2004 22:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I usually re-read for the language- if I like the prose, it's worth going back once or twice. (e.g. All the Kings Men) although, sometimes a good plot is worth going back for (Stephen King books, etc.) just for the brain donut of having a good story to read.

― tomlang (tom), Monday, 10 May 2004 22:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I re-read David Sedaris quite a bit because he always makes me snigger. I'm trying to re-read some of the classics I was assigned in high-school (and the first go round at college) and am discovering that I probably didn't read them the first time.

― aimurchie, Tuesday, 11 May 2004 00:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Ditto on the Sedaris and the CDs of him reading his books are staples in our car. "You can't kill the rooster, motherfucker!" One of his CDs has a terrific performance by Ann Magnuson and his sister Amy works with him on the audio also. It turns out that I am rereading "Elegy for Iris" tonight. I mentioned it on the "what are you reading now" thread. I had forgotten it.

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 01:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Ann Magnuson! Are you a fan of Bongwater? I just flipped through "Naked" and "Barrel Fever" and have decided that the "favorite first sentence" thread could be dominated by a post of EVERY FIRST SENTENCE SEDARIS HAS EVER WRITTEN! I like to re-read Santa Land Diaries at least twice between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

― aimurchie, Tuesday, 11 May 2004 02:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes, I'm a fan- yet another reason I love my husband. He introduced to "Decadent Iranian Country Club," for starters. I married a person far hipper than myself!

― Rabin the Cat (Rabin the Cat), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 02:50 (twenty-one years ago)

"Nick Cave Dolls" - whoops, I'm going off-thread again. I no longer have any Bongwater on tape (I listened to them obsessively when cassettes were still viable.)
Re re reading - I re read alot of ILB while scrolling.

― aimurchie, Tuesday, 11 May 2004 03:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I re-read a lot of travel books. The ones I've most enjoyed are those where

1) I read the book and was insired to visit
2) I read the book while there
3) I read the book at a later date

That's my definition of a decent travel book.

― Mikey G (Mikey G), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 14:19 (twenty-one years ago)

don quixote to thread

― tom west (thomp), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 21:56 (twenty-one years ago)

tired convoluted "to thread" gag to thread

― tom west (thomp), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 21:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm more likely to go back to a comic, because there it's so easy to race along with the word-carried narrative and forget to relish all the little story-details in the illustrations.

― Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Tuesday, 11 May 2004 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes.

― Aimless (Aimless), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 00:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Otherwise I would'nt understand it.

― joking (joking), Wednesday, 12 May 2004 12:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I've only ever reread eleven books that I can think of.

Books I read when I was a youngin: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass, The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia

Books I read in high school, and wanted to read again with an older perspective: The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Great Gatsby (I'd like to add Of Human Bondage to this list, but I'm so scared I won't love it as much as I did in high school)

Books I loved so much for various reasons that I read them again right away: The Commitments, Prague, Atonement

And then we have Paradise Lost, Beowulf, and The Canterbury Tales which I had to read twice: once in high school, and again (with more guidance) in college.

I agree with Scott: there's too much I want to read once, no matter twice or three times.

― zan, Wednesday, 12 May 2004 13:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to reread constantly, and in fact didn't consider a book read until it had been reread (certain books, such as Lolita, are pointless to read if you're not going to reread them). Now I wonder how I had all that time. (Answer: This was before the Internet.)

But Cozen, it sounds like you're going for something more mystical. So spill it.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 13 May 2004 00:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I tend to re-read books from my childhood, especially when I'm feeling like I need to stop being a responsible adult for a while.

I used to re-read almost everything I owned, but then my "Haven't read yet" piles started growing and I learned that there's not going to be enough time in this life to read everything that I want to read but I'm damn well going to make an effort to make a dent in the list so I stopped a lot of my re-reading.

Except for Sedaris, of course. His "Easter Bell" has become an "in phrase" with my S.O. and me, when things are just plain f*cked up. As in when he sees me eating Cheetoes with chopsticks and shakes his head and mutters "That's so Easter Bellish." And Sedaris' Holidays on Ice is always at the forefront of my Christmas book collection, as seen here.

― I'm Passing Open Windows (Ms Laura), Thursday, 13 May 2004 05:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I've just finished re-reading Flowers in the Attic and wish, well, wish I hadn't bothered. I loved it fifteen years ago and should have left it at that. Still, the one good thing to come out of it is the phrase "good golly day" which I have been using at work to silent responses.

― Mikey G (Mikey G), Thursday, 13 May 2004 07:48 (twenty-one years ago)

I've just finished rereading Gravity's Rainbow - I first read it about ten years ago age 17, and loved it then, but this time around I was able to understand it a lot better. I look forward to reading it again in ten years.

As a youngster without much money and with an obsessive bent I used to reread the same few books over and over: Lord Of The Rings I've read about five times, Good Omens, And The Ass Saw The Angel and Stark were particular faves too.

But now there are so many books that I want to read for the first time, that there's not really any time for rereading - though I'll probably come back to LOTR at some point, simply cuz it's a great story.

Oh, and I like Bongwater too...

― Mog, Thursday, 13 May 2004 09:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I will be able to reread Anne of Green Gables an infinite number of times. I am twee obviously.

― Archel (Archel), Friday, 14 May 2004 14:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Yay Archel! (My sister and I re-read the Anne series so often that the covers fell off and several books lost pages, too. Now we both have gone and purchased "new" copies of the series for ourselves, but I retained ownership of the tattered and well-read copies.)

― I'm Passing Open Windows (Ms Laura), Friday, 14 May 2004 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

re-read? hmm.. it is a good idea but just as an idea I guess.. There
are books I would love to re-read but the problem is time I suppose..
Too many books to read and too little time .. Of course I do re-read
a couple of pages of books from time to time but I never re-read the
whole book. (not yet)

― yesim (yesim), Friday, 21 May 2004 09:11 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

i started reading 'mason & dixon' in maybe 98 or 99, and despite re-starting at various times since then and making non-trivial progress, i stayed stuck around halfway. so recently i bought a more portable copy and started over, since it seemed like there was no point in trying to pick up where i left off just to say i had finished it. but it's certainly underscoring the point of rereading with an author that makes as many demands as pynchon: despite remembering a great deal about the events and situations, particularly the more developed ones (the general atmosphere and social network of the cape, and the set pieces like meeting the neurotic maskelyne, the jenkin's ear museum, dixon's memories of his education and relationship with his father, mason's memories of rebekah and particularly of his time in the mill with his father and the bread (!)), i feel like i'm making little headway in understanding what i'm reading. i don't mean understanding deeply, though there's that too - rather, understanding the whole range of small affective and dramatic and narrative details that one generally hopes to accomplish intuitively by having read the words on the page. the mock-period style always seems orthogonal to the way i am used to getting my goods from a novel - i'm not at all familiar with actual prose of the period, except in a few philosophical texts that still feel stylistically distant to me. for the most part i am taking this, at the moment, as a lesson in how ill-suited my usual way of rereading is to slowly bringing me along in some texts, like this one. that is, rereading as a matter of repeatedly consuming a book in order to get more and more practiced with its difficulties, its novelties, its scope and unity, and so on. that's partly what i did with 'gravity's rainbow' as i slowly transitioned from my painful first read (giving up at page 74 before turning back, later, to start over). but i think that with 'gr' i also did a great deal of very slow, concentrated reading, as well as just being more generally prepared to cope with the book (with its style, its allusive registers, with finding something of interest to draw me along despite transient difficulties). with 'm&d' i do find it interesting, and want to know what happens, and i think i have at least a rough feel for many of its themes (independently of the book, that is), but somehow my entire feel for a slower read is off. it takes a lot of (subjective) intrinsic interest or sheer discipline to read so carefully.

― Josh (Josh), Friday, 11 August 2006 09:12 (nineteen years ago)

josh otm.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 11 August 2006 23:04 (nineteen years ago)

not sure i was coherent enough to be on it but thx.

i figure i've gotta finish m+d and vineland before december. : / : )

― Josh (Josh), Saturday, 12 August 2006 04:09 (nineteen years ago)

i can't ever seem to make myself re-read books because there are too many i haven't even read once and i want to read everything. but this winter i reread history of sexuality (vol. 1) and it was great. one should at least read books like that twice, i guess. not too hard as it is, i didn't really get it the first time through.

― nazi bikini (harbl), Saturday, 12 August 2006 14:27 (nineteen years ago)

i like this thing - : / :

near all the bits of m&d josh mentions have largely slipped my mind. i think that book has turned, a bit, into the cliff's notes version of its themes: i read everything like a pulp junkie, though, so i'm slightly used to that.

also i have reread GR twice ( :s ) since i read m&d.

line i remember : "Dixon enters, Coprophagously Agrin"

― tom west (thomp), Saturday, 12 August 2006 22:15 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, man, for howevermuch I read of that book, I was never quite sure whether lines like that were awesome or shameful.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 13 August 2006 00:36 (nineteen years ago)

lines like that were AWESOME get your head right

they seem less stylistically integrated than in GR, in fact the humor and other various modes in general do. that may, again, have to do with my not having the right feel for the whole thing.

― Josh (Josh), Sunday, 13 August 2006 07:00 (nineteen years ago)

As it happens, I just reread a book last week: The Guns of August, Barbara Tuchman. After the elapse of some thirty years, it was just as fresh and illuminating as the first time through.

― Aimless (Aimless), Tuesday, 15 August 2006 23:38 (nineteen years ago)

eight months pass...

He never told us.

― Alba, Monday, 23 April 2007 19:10 (eighteen years ago)

i want to re-read but i usually don't,cause there are lots of books i havent read at all,so i feel i have to read them first.
maybe when i'm old...sometimes it feels like this guy from "Harry met Sally" who says he always read the end of a book,so at least he will know it if he suddenly dies.
so,i have to read as much as i can before i'll die.

― Zeno, Tuesday, 24 April 2007 20:24 (eighteen years ago)

very few books have I reread. Nadja by Breton probably the last one, several years ago. Lots more that I should reread and want to, (White Teeth, Woyzeck, Ulysses come to mind) but mostly setting out on more branches.

― freewheel, Friday, 27 April 2007 08:31 (eighteen years ago)

I'm with Scott on this: there's way too much I want to read. On top of that I consider myself a slow reader, so I feel as if i'm always catching up. If I quit a book halfway, I'll VERY rarely start reading it again. I can't bring myself to do it. Very weird. Also very sad. :-(

― nathalie, Friday, 27 April 2007 12:34 (eighteen years ago)

He never told us.

yeah, he's like that.

― jed_, Saturday, 28 April 2007 23:25 (eighteen years ago)

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