Serial Re-Reading

[Easter]

In general there are two schools of thought when it comes to re-reading a book: 1) People who will NEVER re-read a book as they think it's a waste of time and 2) People who love to re-read books... I typically come in contact with people who are EMPHATICALLY for one or the other, so I'm interested to see what people on here have to say!

So which are you? Do you fall somewhere in the middle of the two extremes? Any particular reason(s) for NOT re-reading books? Would you re-read a book more than once? What would make you want to re-read a book?

If you're a serial re-reader, what's your record for the most times you've re-read a book?

My own answers will be forthcoming :)

[ALF]

Lately I think I do nothing but rereading. I remember some quotation of Pessoa talking about that he doesn't like the new books, and just read what he knows, I think I'm in the same situation.

[Calidore]

I'm willing to reread if I like a book enough, but it depends on the book itself, not any personal philosophy.

[RicMisc]

I usually don't reread books because there's just so much still to read and to me it would be a waste to reread a book when I could be having an entirely new experience reading a new book. That said, there are some books I've reread; these are most Harry Potter books, I was young and so in love with the books I must have read some of them like 5 or 6 times.

[Venerable Bede]

I have nothing against rereading, but I usually favour reading new books because there is still so much out there that I haven't read yet. When I do reread books it is usually because they are required reading for a university course and I want to refresh my memory of them. Also, if my views have significantly changed since I last read a book it may be worth revisiting it to see if my my opinion of it has changed.

[The Comedian]

I re-read Walden every year, usually in the spring. Returning to its page is like a click on my personal spiritual and literary refresh button. I've read is so many times, I'd say I'm in the 20-25 range, but I've lost count over the years. I also re-read poems, a lot: the works of Whitman, Yeats, Wordsworth, Herrick. . .come to mind. I also hit up Plato's "Apology", Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, and some of the classical tragedies: Hecuba, Antigone, Oedipus, Medea. . . .for re-reads. But the only true serial re-read for me is Walden.

[Lokasenna]

I re-read books fairly often, certainly more so than I used to - perhaps this is a sad reflection on me, but I've read so much that the books all tend to blend together in my head these days, so I need to re-read stuff every now and then to straighten it all out!

[ClaesGefvenberg]

I do a lot of rereading, for several reasons:

In many cases it is like getting reacquainted with a good friend.
Sometimes I pick up something new in a story despite having read it before.
What else is there to do if I happen to reach the bottom of my stash with new reading matter? I have to read something, right?


My most reread book? I really don't know, But Lord of the Rings could not be far from the top of that list: At least 10 times, probably much more.

/Claes

[PeterL]

If it's worth reading, then it should be reread. Alas, most books are not worth that first reading.

There are some book that I have read more than five times, and I intend to reread all of those.

[Dark Muse]

I myself fall in the middle, usually I just have too many books I haven't read yet to go back and re-reading things I have already read, but I am not completely against re-reading depending upon the circumstances and the book. If I do re-read something it is usually a book I haven't read in a long time and needless to say a book I really enjoyed, and I tend to be more inclined to re-reading the classics than other books. Though I do not re-read on a regular basis or very often, I have re-read some books more than once.

[Sohrevardi]

Although I personally do not have the discipline to reread books, I find it strange that people would be so opposed to it (as you say they are, OP). The purpose of rereading a book is not, in my opinion, to reacquaint yourself with it or to rekindle your love for it, but to better embed within you the written style and techniques that are in the book in the first place. What's the good of reading a classic if you're going to merely give it a once over and move onto the next book? It's always great to progress and to introduce yourself to new works, but if you don't revisit the old ones you might never actually take from them the value that they had in the first place.

Sometimes with a fresh perspective we glean something deeper than we did the first time around. A book isn't a piece of food in a wrapper, to be eaten once, digested, and then defecated out [forgotten] when the system is "through" with it.

[Desolation]

I'm the kind of person who would rather be very familiar with the works of a few authors than loosely familiar with the works of many authors...So I'm a proponent of re-reading. Some books can't really be fully grasped on the first read anyway.

That said, I haven't reread many books yet. There are still too many unread books physically sitting on my bookshelf, and not quite enough time passed since the first reading of many of the books I'd want to reread.

[Helga]

I re-read a lot, some Shakespeare play about 10 times but when it comes to novels, well as a kid I read Black Beauty about 20 times but these days it's probably lord of the rings, and just some of the classics.

I always find something different when I re-read probably has something to do with growing up and growing older. I read Macbeth for the first time when I was 12 and was amazed and have read every couple of years since last time was in November and I always find something I didn't think of (or just don't remember thinking of).

[JamCrackers]

Now that we are computerized, I can find quotes without rereading whole books. To me it is like watching a movie again. It had to be cool and have something I wanted to see again. I read LOTR many times, and thus saw the movie many times, long before the mass public ever saw it on film. I love Dune and Shogun. Those are a few times each. And MY GOD I have reread myself endlessly. It also depends how fast you can read. The wise man would say, keep reading. Most people don't read at all.

[Delta40]

I re-read books all the time. Mainly because I never get around to buying new books and the ones I have, I really love. It's not good for me because it keeps me in a bit of a vacuum and stops me from venturing outward. I have been given other books to read and sometimes they just sit there for months before I pick them up. I can't explain why this is so. I did break out of my mould and start reading Shakespeare though so that's something....

[Easter]

All very interesting answers!

As for me.. I don't see any problem with re-reading a book! Several time, if desired! It always amuses me when I come up against someone so vehemently against re-reading! I suppose I can kind of see the point.. with so many other books in the world, why "waste" time by reading one you've already read...

But I say sometimes re-reading a book is like meeting an old friend... it's a good thing to do :)

I've read Lord of the Rings several times myself, also Shakespeare and some classics that I read when I was younger and didn't really understand, so I read them again when I had done a little more living...

I'd have to say the book that I've re-read the most, though, is American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. There's something about that book that makes it impossible for me to get tired of it! I've read it 9 times... I've been reading it once a year or so since I first read it... still gets me... and I still find things in it that I maybe missed the first time (or the third :p) or that my opinion of has changed since reading it previously.

If a book adds something to your life, I say you should let it keep on adding somethings through re-reading! :D

[Helga]

American Gods is the kind of book you can't read just once because when you read it again there is a totally different viewpoint and you figure things out you didn't the first time.

I read that book for the first time about a month ago and I want to read it again, don't know when I will have the time.

[Prince Smiles]

Every year around the 19th of December, regular as clockwork, “A Christmas Carol.”
How many times? Estimate: twenty-five.

Marley’s face instead of a door knocker quickens my pulse every time.
Why do I re-read it? Because it’s one of the greatest stories ever written on so many levels.

Honorable mentions:

The Master and Margarita. More than five times, less than ten. I usually pick the book up and start reading the first chapter with no intention to re-read the whole novel, but the opening chapter title, “Never Speak to Strangers” and the whole insanity of the Patriarch’s Ponds scenes just gets the ball rolling….(actually, where is my copy ..?)

The Count of Monte Cristo
4-5 times. For a book of this length, it surprises me that I keep re-reading it, but it is so bloody brilliant!

I find something new every time I re-read the above books. A testament to the brilliance of each one.

[PoeticPassions]

I have definitely reread certain books, mainly because the first time I had read them I was either really young and so could not grasp everything; or the book left a quite an impression on me, yet I could not really remember the details of the characters or the nuances of the plot (I just remember the feeling I had while reading it). So, some that fall under that category are Tender is the Night, Anna Karenina, Brothers Karamazov, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha and East of Eden... I will say that, aside from Tender, I enjoyed every single one even more on the reread... and I discovered so many more things.

I plan on re-reading a few books soon... Some Dreiser stuff (as he used to be my favorite author at 12 years of age).. Sister Carrie, An American Tragedy, Jennie Gerhardt...

But I will say that I do not generally read one book many times. I think the one book I have read most is Crime and Punishment, and that only amounts to three times. (I don't count children's books, short stories, or fairy tales of course...)

I also prefer generally reading new books, as there are so many I want to read... but some books are definitely worth returning to!

**oh and I forgot... I have read a few Shakespeare plays several times! Othello comes in at number one (having read it maybe 5 times), then Hamlet, then Romeo and Juliet .. not to mention that I have seen them performed a few times too!

[rootinghog]

I whole-heartedly second The Comedian's take on Walden-- a book I re-read every year for precisely the same reasons. I also find it interesting to re-read any book that has had a profound influence on your outlook on life; as you age, it is fascinating to track your impressions, and see how certain things mean more, or less, to you at your current age. There are certain things in Walden that I can't believe I ever agreed with, and there are certain things I now know I greatly mis-interpreted from the viewpoint of a rebellious teen.

Something I haven't seen mentioned so far is the almost necessary re-reading of really difficult, structurally confusing novels. I find that with books like these, such as Ulysses, Gravity's Rainbow, or Infinite Jest, I get my greatest enjoyment and amount of meaning on the second read, when all of the initially bewildering pieces begin to fall into place. As exemplified by an episode of The Simpsons in which Lisa goes to college:

Lisa Simpson (in awe): “Are you reading Gravity’s Rainbow?”
College Girl (snidely): “Well, re-reading.”

[wordeater]

It's great to reread a classic novel after ten years. I read "The Brothers Karamazov" when I was 20, and reread it when I was 30. I was afraid I wouldn't like it anymore, but I still did and discovered lots of new things in it.

Weird is to reread a children's novel you read when you were 10 or 12. It's incredible how little you remember from what used to be your favorite book.

[Delta40]

I rediscovered childrens books through having my own children and I love them. They've grown up but I have 2 reasons to re-read them and one day I expect to have 3 reasons!

[qimissung]

I love to re-read To KIll a Mockingbird. I don't know why, but it still brings me the same pleasure as it did the first time I read it in the ninth grade. Having said that, I have only re-read it a handful of times. I think I'm due for a reread this summer.

I also love to re-read Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin, and A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up Small in Moreland, Indiana. Kind of comfort food for the soul when the world is too much with me.

[JuniperWoolf]

I re-read books more often than I read new ones, I'm an obsessive re-reader. There are several that I read every year: The Grapes of Wrath, The Secret Garden, the entire Swamp Thing and Promethea series especially (actually I read Promethea a few times/year) and Paradise Lost.

[Aylinn]

I sometimes reread books, but it depends on a book, to be more precise, on whether I like it and have found it worth rereading. The more complex the book is and the more it seems likely that I will benefit from another reading, the greater is the chance I will return to it at some point. But I will wait at least a year before rereading it.

[Delta40]

I re-read books more often than I read new ones, I'm an obsessive re-reader. There are several that I read every year: The Grapes of Wrath, The Secret Garden, the entire Swamp Thing and Promethea series especially (actually I read Promethea a few times/year) and Paradise Lost especially.

I'm a sucker for The Secret Garden!

[mona amon]

I do a lot of re-reading of books that I liked. The books I've re-read the most are Jane Eyre (I think I know it by heart now!), Villette, the 6 Jane Austens, Huckleberry Finn, The Harry Potter books, and Lolita. I don't usualy read again very big books like Don Quixote and Brothers Karamazov even if I loved them, because they take up too much time which I want for new books.

[msmoonlite]

There are certain books that I've reread countless times for comfort reading. Its like having meatloaf and mashed potatoes for my brain not my hips.

[togre]

I re-read books for two different reasons, which do sometimes over lap.

--I re-read books I truly enjoy in order to re-experience and re-capture the joy they provided me the first time I read them.

--I re-read well written books in order to better understand and appreciate them. A second or third reading is often a different experience than a first reading. Often more enjoyable as more depth is appreciated. Sometimes less enjoyable as the newness no longer hides the defects in construction.

[Easter]

There are certain books that I've reread countless times for comfort reading. Its like having meatloaf and mashed potatoes for my brain not my hips.

I feel the same! Though I typically equate my re-reading to slipping into a nice warm bath :D