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Re-reading books


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Does anybody reread books - I am always amazed at the little pieces of information you miss the first time around.

 

I have just started rereading Ruth Rendell's Wexford series.  I was surprised that her first book in this series was written in the 1960s but of course, they are far superior to the TV series.

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Jane Austen is usually my re-read author. I know people usually re-read Harry Potter and generic YA lit. gets mentioned often online.

 

I should re-read Frankenstein too, before the movie about Mary Shelly comes out.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 13/04/2018 at 6:51 PM, Raven said:

I re-read books quite regularly. Some, like The Day of the Triffids and The War of the Worlds, I have read over over ten times each over the last thirty years and I'm still finding things I missed the first time around. 

I remember listening to The Day of the Triffids as a play on the radio .. far too long ago for me to admit !!!

I was given the LP of War of the Worlds, narrated by Richard Burton, as a birthday present, also many years ago. !!!!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I reread regularly - looking back over the last few years, about 10% of my books are rereads.  Like Mr Cat, Jane Austen is probably the author I revisit the most.  I tend to wait quite a long time to reread, but there are a few where I've returned quite quickly - I've reread A Christmas Carol and Mrs Dalloway at least 3 times each in the past 5 years; I'm already contemplating rereading A View of the Harbour, and I only finished that a month or so ago! 

Edited by willoyd
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  • 6 months later...

There are quite a few books I'd like to re-read - particularly books which I read when I was younger and didn't really 'get.' 

 

The only problem is that my family have never seen the 'point' in re-reading books (to be honest they don't see the 'point' in reading fiction either..) and despite disagreeing with them, I find myself very hesitant to pick up a book I've already read.

 

Some books I would eventually like to re-read:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

 

..so quite a few. :P I think when I was younger I used to read more for the plot and action rather than the words used, the writing style, the underlying meaning etc.

 

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2 hours ago, Angury said:

There are quite a few books I'd like to re-read - particularly books which I read when I was younger and didn't really 'get.' .....and despite disagreeing with them, I find myself very hesitant to pick up a book I've already read.

.....I think when I was younger I used to read more for the plot and action rather than the words used, the writing style, the underlying meaning etc.

 

And there you've hit the nub of it: a lot of books, like the average thriller or crime mystery, are designed pretty much to be read just the once.  But there's  a whole host of books, like those you've cited, which are meant to be read and reread, and can't be fully appreciated unless they have been.  And that's true even when you do 'get' them first time!

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4 hours ago, Angury said:

Some books I would eventually like to re-read:

...

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

...

 

Good grief, why?!  I mean it isn't a bad book, but It wouldn't say it was the most enjoyable read ever!

 

2 hours ago, willoyd said:

 

And there you've hit the nub of it: a lot of books, like the average thriller or crime mystery, are designed pretty much to be read just the once.  

 

One of the books I re-read from time to time is Robert Harris's Enigma.  Although I know how the story ends, his world building and the story generally are just so good it is a joy to read.

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3 hours ago, Raven said:

 

Good grief, why?!  I mean it isn't a bad book, but It wouldn't say it was the most enjoyable read ever!

 

Because I didn't 'get it' when I first read it and really just ploughed on because I don't like leaving a book half-finished. The result being that I finished the book with no idea of what I was actually reading. :P 

 

But yes, I agree with everything you've said above, Willoyd.

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  • 1 month later...

I don't generally re-read, but this year I have challenged myself to re-read more of my favourite books. So far, I've really enjoyed it. I've just finished reading 'The Passage' by Justin Cronin and on the second read, it's even better than I remember it being.

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