Re-re-reading one's favorite novels

[fearfaoin]

Unless I really don't like a book then I'll always re-read them. Just like I'll always watch a DVD again. I don't really understand why people don't do that. If you enjoy a story why wouldn't you want to lose yourself in it again from time to time?

For me, there's a lot of books I want to read,
and a certain amount of time in my life. So any
rereading takes time away from reading other
books. And sometimes, I'm not in the mood for
the stories I've already read, even though I like
it.

When the war in Iraq started, I went out and
bought the Harry Potter books that had come
out at that point because I needed something
innocent. But recently, I've wanted to read
something more adult-themed so I got Kushiel's
Chosen. You know how it goes... One day I'll
be back in an HP mood.

[dwest]

I've read the Bible several times, that Paul always cracks me up, and I have a number of pastoral style SF I re-read.

[fearfaoin]

...pastoral style SF...

Uhh..... please expound upon that one.

[dwest]

...pastoral style SF...

Uhh..... please expound upon that one.

Simak.

[fearfaoin]

Simak.

Interesting.

[Charlene]

I re-read a lot of my books. LOTR, the Pern series, the first Dune book, 1984, Atlas Shrugged, Lucifer's Hammer, Dracula, the Sherlock Holmes stories, The Saint books (and I don't think Roger Moore was the right actor for the TV show), and there are quite a few others. I have some Dickens books that belonged to my grandfather dating from the early 1900s that I read from time to time.

For the last almost 22 years, I've gotten books for free from my husband's used bookstore, then if there's one I really like we write it off under "usage" at the end of the year and keep it.

[FJohnSharp]

There are just so many book I've never read that I want to read and every time I pick up an old book to re-read I think, "I could be reading _____instead.'

[izzarina]

Ummm...yeah. I've re-read a few Pretty much all of Austen's works...at least 4-5 times. Wilde (I haven't read Dorian Gray in a while, though...might be time to pick it up again). Hawthorne (I don't know why, but I love The Scarlet Letter). I like Walter Macken, and have re-read a few of his books. And I know there is more...I just can't think of it all.

I'm actually trying to read more of those things I should have read a long time ago, but never did. Which is why I'm reading Jane Eyre...I do think it's one I"ll read again. Bronte's style is very appealing to me.

[chas]

Oh, geez, I forgot all about Jane Austen (she's pretty much a given). I think I've read all of her stuff at least twice. Except some of the fragments and epistollaries, and possibly Mansfield Park. If I had to read only one book for the rest of my life, I'd probably choose Persuasion.

[furrycelt]

Unless I really don't like a book then I'll always re-read them. Just like I'll always watch a DVD again. I don't really understand why people don't do that. If you enjoy a story why wouldn't you want to lose yourself in it again from time to time?

well, i would guess that it is easier to re-watch a 2 hour movie, than read a book that takes far more than two hours to read. i guess i am reticent to re-read books for the same reason i don't re-watch movies. i know how it ends already. but more importantly, i have too much other stuff i want/need to watch/read, so those take precedent.

[emmline]

I have to admit that, while I enjoyed the initial reading of the "Golden Compass" trilogy, I've never felt any impulse to read it again. The ending was just so bleak and bland and hopeless ("And so they're separated forever and never have any hope of seeing one another, in this world or the next. That's the way it is...pfffft. The end"

I'm not sure why I liked it anyway. You're right, from a certain pov, but I suppose I found there to be an element of hope lingering...not that they'd have a life together, but just the sort of synchronicities that would continue to link them in a way...
But I'm probably not in a happy ending mood at the moment. I used to be though.

When I was in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, I read Dodie Smith's 101 Dalmatians every year. I knew exactly where it was on the school library shelf, and I don't think I loved any book more as a kid.

[izzarina]

If I had to read only one book for the rest of my life, I'd probably choose Persuasion.

Siiiiiiggghhhhh........

Yeah, me too

[chrisoff]

well, i would guess that it is easier to re-watch a 2 hour movie, than read a book that takes far more than two hours to read.

Yeah obviously.

I guess I don't always have the time or the money to go buy new books so if I'm in the mood for reading I end up going through the bookshelf. Knowing the ending isn't a problem for me (except with Iain Banks, but it doesn't seem to be a problem for him either) as getting to the end is most of the fun.

[HDSarah]

I re-read any that I've really liked. Sometimes it's been long enough that I've forgotten a good bit .

Me too.

I try to limit the books that I own to those I'd want to read again and/or loan to others with a recommendation to read. Often I'll want to read something and I haven't been to the library or used bookstore recently so I don't have anything new. Then I'll pull something off my shelf to reread.

Some of my favorites, that I've read several times, are:

Anne Tyler: Saint Maybe, The Clock Winder, Searching for Caleb, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant . . . ok, anything by Anne Tyler
Terry Pratchett: Night Watch, Soul Music, Going Postal, actually just about any of his Discworld books
Wallace Stegner: Crossing to Safety
Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Love in the Time of Cholera (I need a new copy of that one -- I think I loaned it and it didn't return.)
Elinor Lipman: The Inn at Lake Devine
Mark Salzman: The Laughing Sutra. I recently reread Lying Awake too.
John Irving: A Prayer for Owen Meany
Joe Keenan: Blue Heaven (hilarious!)
J.K. Rowling: the Harry Potter series

[herbivore12]

I guess we take for granted that poetry is something to return to repeatedly? It is for me, certainly. I also like to return to short story collections, since well-written stories are often as rewarding on re-reading as poems are.

But there are lots of good reasons to re-read novels, too:

Some novels I've read several times because they are so dense (in a good way) that I know there is more to discover in them (e.g., David Foster Wallace's "Infinite Jest", Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian", recently). I'll have had to find the book rewarding and enjoyable the first go-round to read it again, generally; I've rarely re-read a book I disliked on the "just give it another chance" theory.

Some I reread simply because I love them so much that the characters feel as familiar as old friends, and returning to visit is a pleasure (Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin books, for instance; I love returning to these books when I'm feeling ill and want to be transported to another place entirely -- an adventure with old friends).

If things are very busy at work and at home and I'm stressed out and have little time to read, I might pull out a favorite comic novel for good entertainment and a sure laugh (maybe Christopher Moore's "A Dirty Job" or "Fluke", or Jerome K. Jerome's "Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)").

Or I'll re-read a book for any number of other reasons. Often, I find re-reading the book in light of things that were revealed at the end of the story often rewards me with new pleasures and insights that weren't apparent on first reading. It's delightful when that happens.