books you've read at least 2x

[brainstrain]

I tend to read pulpish type books a couple of tinme or so. Off the top of the head:

Most of C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblowr books

That was a book series??? I've seen the movies, they are really good, the books should be even better ^_^

[Adudaewen]

I usually read books until they fall apart. I have like 6 bookshelves in my house, just to give you a hint. I have re-read the following at least 5 times; The Lord of the Rings, Dracula, 1984, The Hobbit, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Predjudice, Braveheart, Jurassic Park, the Harry Potter series. I really could go on and on.

[Eagleheart]

1.Niezsche's "Thus said Zarathustra" required a second reading; without neglecting the fact that I first tried to read it at the age of 15, I was particularly impeded in understanding some points in the philosophy itself. Its technical brilliance was absorbing and not quite assisting my efforts to understand the work...
2.Crime and punishment - 3x...this was a mania
3.The Golden Bowl-2x- after all I am a foreigner...This work of Henry James was just my Cerberus in my study process for the SAT, not to mention how it caused me a depression for a week, for I had to read every sentence twice...

[Bii]

I've read most of Angela Carter's novels more than once, The Magic Toyshop is my favourite and I can read and re-read it as it has a kind of timeless quality to it. Captain Correlli's Mandolin because it has a bit of everything, drama, love, comedy, death and war; The Time Travellers Wife which is a top-notch albeit slightly obscure love story and makes me cry more each time I read it; Mr Golightly's Holiday, because it is so gentle and timeless.

I find that I re-read things less now than I did when I was a child, perhaps because there are more books available to me as an adult. I definitely read and re-read all the Chronicles of Narnia books until they became dog-eared when I was younger. Now I like more variety but that being said there are some stories which are as profound and touching every time you read them.

[Laindessiel]

Like Whiff says any good book is worth re-reading. I would take it even further. Any good book requires re-reading if you really want to understand its structure and craft.

Strongly agrees.

Well, I've read all the Harry Potter series innumerable times already.
Goosebumps too, 3 years ago.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - twice
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman - twice
The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde - twice

I've got to read LOTR again. (I just read the whole series once because they were just borrowed.) It takes a rereading for you to be able to comprehend and memorize the characters. Man, they are confusing! I once assumed Celebrant was Elven. Idril told me it was a darn river.

I've still got to go through lots of books but there are still more new ones waiting on my (and Toni's) shelves.

[Laindessiel]

I would love to read the book by Elie Wiesel (it's one of Oprah's favorite) and John Steinbeck's too. Also that ever-famous 1984. I feel like I don't belong because I still hadn't read this.

[Wintermute]

Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouac - It always makes me feel so good
Neuromancer - William Gibson - Each read is a new experience
Guns of Navarone - Allistair Maclean - I've reread this every 5 years or so since I was about 15

Am I only supposed to name works by folks featured on this site? If Jules Verne is here I can put several of his books in this category. Oh, and The Nick Adams Stories by Hemingway--close to perfect imo.

[dramasnot6]

Maybe im the only one on the forum who has never re-read a book

[malwethien]

I usually don't re-read books because I find that the feeling you get when reading it for the first time is gone the second time around. I think the only books I have read more than once is Pride and Prejudice and The Catcher in the Rye.

Pride and Prejudice because I love it and Catcher in the Rye because I feel that I have to read that book every so often at different stages of my life...I might learn something new from it...

[mtpspur]

To Brainstrain--I was going to PM you but the computer would not allow so here's the lowdown on Hornblower by C.S. Forester:

Chronological order:

1. Mr. Midshipman Hornblower Published 1950
2. Lieutenant Hornblower 1952
3. Hornblower and the Hotspur 1962
4. Hornblower and the Atropos 1953
5. Beat to Quarters (USA title) 1937
6. Ship of the Line 1938
7. Flying Colors 1938
8. Commodore Hornblower 1945
9. Lord Hornblower 1946
10 . Admiral Hornblower in the West Indies 1958
11. Hornblower During the Crisis (unfinished due to Forester's death) and also contains 2 short stories: Hornblower's Temptation and The Last Encounter (which is the last Hornblower story in chronological order and a fitting epilogue to the series 1966/67


I discovered Hornblower by way of the Gregory Peck movie and (on TV) as a pre-teen and devoured the series. I currently own the books in the Pinnacle editions (paperbacks from the 70s with superb covers, Bantam did some great ones too)

Forester also published the Hornblower Companion giving insights to his writing/creation of the characters--excellent reference for would be writers to study for writing tips alone but the creative process. Publsihed 1964.

Happy reading --most libraries should have the series. Bernard Cornwell is reputed to have created Richard Sharpe to help fill the loss of good historical adventure novels.

One final note I have read somewhere that a Naval expert read the series with the idea of checking for naval inaccuracies in the ship/sea battles and could find none.

Rich

[Anthony Furze]

I once re read A Passage to India 9X.

These days, as a teacher of literature i have to read more than once.The most rewarding books to do this with have been:

Wuthering Heights
The Grass is Singing
Tess of the D'Urbevilles
Animal Farm

[Vedrana]

Like others have said before me, I read books twice because I enjoyed them. It's always a good experience to pick up new things that you didn't really notice before, or think about it in a different light.

Other times I read books twice because the first time I didn't really pay attention, and the books failed to grab me. An example of this would be the time I read 'Northanger Abbey' and enjoyed it 50 times more than the first time. Other times I don't even finish the book and later decide to try it again.

[blackbird_9]

If I read a book twice or more, it's usually for one of these two reasons.
1. pure enjoyment
2. necessity
The Harry Potter books are so effortlessly entertaining that I could read them over and over. I've read the lot about 3 times and found them just as page-turning the 3rd time as I did the first.
As for necessity, an example might be the Anthony Burgess book I'm currently weeding through a second time. There are certain authors I like to reread for both clearity and nit-picking all the 'below the surface' ideas I missed.

[aXis]

Let's see:

Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Brave New World - for school
Romeo and Juliet - for school
Antarctica - Journey to the South Pole (at least 3 times for fun)
Second part of Antarctica
The Stranger - for understanding
Notes from Underground - for understanding
Macbeth - once again for school
Run (Eric Walters)
Soldier X
To Kill a Mockingbird
1984

and some more I can't re-call at the moment.

[Moandor]

The Count of Monte Christo by Dumas - three times
The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien - three times
Around the world in 80 days by Verne - twice