I am a voracious reader. I read to relax, to escape, to be entertained, to consider new ideas, and, occasionally, to learn. Even with an under-2 year old child, I still read at least 3-4 books per week. They put me to sleep at night, relax me when I am too wound to rest, and fill in the gaps of my TV shows when the commercials are playing. And I REALLY like to read when I am eating. I am frequently reading 2-5 books at the same time – scattered all over the house with dog-eared corners, randomly chosen bookmarks (recently a fork), and even facedown, open to the page I left off. it has been likened to an addiction – not unlike the smoker with hal-finished ciggarettes all through the house. Less rough on the lungs, ‘tho…any everyone else’s.
Many of these are “re-reads.” In fact, I generally only read one or two “new” books at a time. I re-read – several several at a time. I have to be careful and rotate through my permanent collection so that it has been “long enough” so that I can read them again. I have become a big proponent of used book stores – and it is a mark of pure distain if a book goes into the “trade that” bin. Not worthy of a re-read…EVER.
So when Ed sent me this article: Some Thoughts on the Pleasures of Being a Re-Reader it sang to me. I am SO glad I am not alone. I may even re-read Great Expectations again as a tribute to the author. (Last time I read that I was 18 and in Chile reading ANYthing written in English I could get my hands on - I was SO homesick!) And what he says is so true – as you change, the book changes – how you perceive the words, ideas, and conversations changes. Now that I’m a mom, I have a whole list of books to re-read – to see how they have “re-arranged themselves” while I was away!
Wheeee! (although at the moment I seem to be on a reasonably authentic medieval mystery novel kick….)
I just had this conversation with Martin last night, about how books change as we change. On of my favorite re-reads: Robin McKinley’s “the blue Sword” not high literature by any stretch, but a good book.
anyway I used to think of the heroine as a teenager, but she is starting to sound more like a mid-twenties lady to me. Little things I never noticed are popping out at me. And As I read it through, deliberately looking for age references I noticed that the author seems to have deliberately left them out. There are relative* age markers “Termin was just Harry’s age” “Innath had a gray beard” …etc but no actual ages or even markers (like teenager) given. So it leaves it open for specualtion. Which I love.
I also love that she doesn’t tie up all the loose ends. I think this is what helps make a book more re-readable for me. When it is not all neat and tidy it is simply more interesting. I get irritated with authors who close all the gaps and leave you with nothing to guess about.
Oh gosh yes I re-read. The publishing world doesn’t provide nearly enough new stuff *that appeals to me* to keep me satisfied. I have whole series that I re-read, and favorite authors that I revisit regularly. I also totally understand making sure there’s plenty of time between re-visits.
I don’t necessarily look for new perspectives or new details, although it’s fun when I discover something new. I re-read for dialoge, characters, scenes that I adored, and feelings of comfort.
I don’t keep all of my books because there’s not enough room, although it took me several years to get to the point where I was willing to part with books, even books I disliked or never finished. Now, I do cull periodically, and I’ve got an ongoing box that I toss in books I know I will never re-read … sometimes they were bad or I discovered I didn’t like them, sometimes I haven’t finished them because they just didn’t work, sometimes I liked them fine but know that for whatever reason, I won’t ever re-read them.
I still manage to have tons of books, though … My dad and brother came and built me bookshelves along one long living room wall; I have a bookshelf that I use as a bedside table, I have a bookshelf in my bathroom (the “other” library); and there’s a small built-in in the den.