Is it good to reread books or not?

Do you think rereading books is good? Or do you believe you should read a book once and never touch it again? My belief is that you can reread any book if you want to, i myself reread books all the time.

I also think rereading books is very well for the mind.

it's ok to reread it so long as you do in reverse - last page to first.

Personally, i burn each book as i read it. That way there's no going back.

#3: MrAndrew "Personally, i burn each book as i read it."

You could save money by using the pages in the traditional way after reading.

Every time you reread a book an angel gets her wings.

My mom and I had a deal (when she was worried that I was reading too much "trash") that I would read one "worthwhile" book for each "non-worthwhile" book. I don't think she monitored, but I decided that rereading did not count as "worthwhile" books. So I kept rereading somewhere below the 50% mark.

I've been known (more than once) to read a book twice in a row, starting my reread immediately as I finish it. I do that with books that I love, but sometimes with books that I don't "get". Sometimes on the second time through I get more insight.

I did this with the first Harry Potter book. It wasn't that I didn't understand it the first time through, but it had come so highly recommended and I couldn't figure out what was making grownups return to the store to buy hardcovers for all their friends, on what seemed to me to be a perfectly adequate YA coming of age fantasy novel. The second time through, I was just looking for answers to those questions. I did like it better the second time around, though I must admit that even though I read everyone of the Harry Potters as they came out, I still don't fully understand what made those books so much more popular than all of the other YA coming of age fantasies.

Absolutely, but prepare to be disappointed. Tropic of Cancer was a much inferior book at 40 than it was at 25.

Not to get all Borgesian, but we as readers participate in the creation of the books we read. To paraphrase Heraclitus, you can't step into the same book twice...

Or to put it another way, every time I finish a book, I've added a new book to my library. :)

Re-reading a book is like visiting an old friend. I simply have to re-visit certain books on occasion. I've re-read Little Women, The Secret Garden, Gone With the Wind, and A Wrinkle in Time numerous times. I just re-read Calico Palace by Gwen Bristow (found for $1.00 at a used book stall in an antique mall!) and found that I remembered entire passages, even after not having read it in over 30 years. It was one of my favorites as a teen (I totally skipped "YA" books and went straight to adult novels by the time I was 12)

I also have reread A Wrinkle in Time. I believe it is an awesome book but the series was kind of hard to figure out.

#7 - Very true! I had the same experience with The Catcher in the Rye. Holden seemed so deep and misunderstood when I was 13, and like a spoiled whiny brat when I was 30. Of course, some books improve on further acquaintance and increased maturity. Like Middlemarch.

I've re-read a few books in the past couple of years - Treasure Island, Almost Home, and Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader - to name a few, and very glad that I did. The perspective of a few decades of life-events changes how you interpret what the author wrote. I appreciated the books even more.

The author of the last-mentioned book, Anne Fadiman (who will only touchstone using her last name), also edited a book called Rereadings: Seventeen Writers Revisit Books They Love. Personally, I liked her Introduction better than any of the other essays, but (full disclosure), Anne is my favorite author.

It seems I just don't have time to reread. Not that I'm busier than anyone else, it just seems there are so many books calling. I count seeing a movie made of a book as rereading. I loved the Swedish movie of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and plan on seeing the other 2 in the series. I hope, I hope I'll get the books read first.

12> You can still read other books but, when you don't have a book handy you can reread any book on your shelf or whatever.

I have so many books I want to read thatto re-read seems to be wasting time. But I have reread a few books:

23 Peter Pan, by Sir J. M. Barrie (read about 1937 - re-read as Peter Pan or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up on 8 Aug 1998)
104 Beau Geste, by Percival C. Wren (read in 1942 - re-read 1 July 1961)
229 Giants in the Earth, by O. E. Rolvaag (read 14 Jan 1946 - re-read 19 Aug 1969)
230 Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (read 20 Jan 1946 - re-read 29 Nov 1973)
231 Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte (read 23 Jan 1946 - re-read 8 Dec 1973)
234 The World, the Flesh, and Father Smith, by Bruce Marshall (read 2 Feb 1946) (Book of the Year) (re-read 8 Apr 2010)
298 The Return of the Native, by Thomas Hardy (read 24 Nov 1946 - re-read 16 Jan 1965)
315 Brideshead Revisited The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder, by Evelyn Waugh (read 18 Mar 1947 - re-read 27 Nov 1982)
469 The Girl in the House of Hate, by Charles and Louise Samuels (read 4 Jan 1955 - re-read 11 Aug 1962)
1196 The Incredible Journey, by Sheila Burnford (read 12 Nov 1972 - re-read 15 Apr 1991)
2183 The Third Army, by Wayne Johnson (read 26 Jan 1989 - re-read 8 Sep 1997)
2678 Encountering Mary: From LaSalette to Medjugorje, by Sandra L. Zimdars-Swartz (read 23 Nov 1994 - re-read 1 Nov 2000)

The last one I re-read because I had forgotten I had already read it--not till I wen to record m reading of it did I note that I had read it a few years before.

I'm amazed at the kind reviews Brideshead Revisited gets. I found all the characters so unlikeable after they grew up that I had to force myself to finish it the first time. Can't imagine anything that would make me go there again.

#9 The series of A Wrinkle in Time was definitely not of the same caliber as the first book--but it was also much more explicitly Christian, playing with ideas in that direction.

I didn't read the sequels until I was a grown-up.

#15 I am also at a loss as to the draw of Brideshead Revisited, but my husband and daughter have re-read and watched it multiple times, with great delight. They've dragged me through it, kind of (watched but not read; I have listened to key passages that they read).

Well, I've bemoaned this so many times I apologise to all who have heard it before. When I have finished reading a 'new' book I either put it on my shelves or give it away (either to a friend or a charity). The ones that go in that second pile are the ones I know I will never want to read again; it's the first lot that give me the problems - these are the books that I know I want to read again and, believe me, the majority of books on my shelves have already been read more than once. The problem is this: I have now reached the stage in my life (age-wise and 300 TBRs-wise) where time is against me. I can't stop buying new books but if I'm going to read these PLUS all the old ones I want to reread I'm going to have to live to be at least 204. I do try to do a reread at least once a month but I certainly can't manage it the way I used to. Old favourites like Captain Corelli's Mandolin, The Crimson Petal and the White, A Passage to India, 84, Charing Cross Road, Middlemarch etc, etc have already been read many times (in the case of those mentioned, at least 6+) but, looking back, I'm not sure how I managed it.

And, yes, I too have got to the end of a much-loved book and turned back to the first page. It happened with Captain Corelli, Crimson Petal, Picnic at Hanging Rock and quite a few others and I felt a real sense of bereavement when I realised I was going to have to finally put them down and read something else. So many books, so little time - I'm going to have that engraved on my tombstone.

ETA _ I should add that I do agree that this only really works with books I first loved as an adult. Okay, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan and the real children's classics are an exception, but teen reading is notoriously unreliable and I have often picked up a book I read between the ages of 14-18 anticipating a really good read and thought 'who on earth was the person who enjoyed this drivel?' It can be an interesting journey back into the past but, as with all journeys into the past, all too often you find things have changed beyond recognition.

Booksloth...I agree! I finally came to somewhat of my senses and realized that, age + amount of TBR books + books that will come along that I will want to read + reality = A cut in less important (to me) books and the realization of too many books, too little time.
When I'm finished with a book, it's on to the next!

I've always liked rereading books. Most of them being classics like Charlotte's Web (5 times), The Secret Garden (at least 5 times), Trumpet of the Swan (6 or so), Johnny Tremain (3), The Giver (more times than I can count), etc. But those were from when I was a kid, and I didn't have access to books like I do now.

Now, I purchase a book practically every time I leave the house, and I finish a novel every two or three days. I find myself torn between reading all of the books I can get my hands on, or revelling in those few that I would like to read again and again. I think a lot of it boils down to time spent reading vs. how many books you have to read.

However, I think rereading is awesome and should be done whenever one gets the itch. I'm thinking of rereading the Ender's Game quartet even though I just finished it, and there are a couple of fantasy/sci-fi novels on my shelf that could use a good rereading. :D

Do any of you like to reread books over and over when bored?

20: I used to. I still do, if I can't get my hands on any new material, but generally, I have 10+ books unread on my shelf at any one time. :p

Cool, but what if you go camping and do not have any new books will you still reread books?

Yeah, I'll reread them then. If I'm in a hotel room or something, and foolishly only brought one book, I'll reread that sucker until I get home, provided I liked the novel. :p

I always wish I had more time to reread things, but I just keep buying more books. It's a vicious cycle...

True. But, lets say you read a book 2 yrs. ago and forgot what is was about would you reread then>?

For me personally, it would be hard to forget if I liked or disliked a book from 2 years ago...or even longer. I might not remember all the details of the story or plot but I would def remember if I liked it or not.
Plus, that's what LibraryThing does for me, it lets me catalogue each book with my comments and personal ratings to refresh my memory. ;>

#22 Why would anyone go camping and not take a sufficient supply of books?

Just to add to my earlier comments (#17) I do have to point out that this doesn't make it any easier for me to get rid of books. There are around 1,500 or so books currently on my shelves that I'll probably never have the chance to reread but what if I did? I could never throw or give them away because I know the urge would get too strong and I'd just have to rebuy them.

ETA - And lindasbooks - just you wait! I haven't got to that stage yet and I'm pretty sure I'd remember whether I'd liked a book or not but in her later years my mum (who had very much all her own marbles and quite a few of someone else's) got immense fun and saved a lot of money rereading all the books she'd read in the past because she could no longer remember what happened. There are some advantages to old age.

I re-read books all the time. My reasons are for comfort, to get more details about characters I love, to refresh my memory if it's part of a series I'm continuing with.

I think I'm going to review my books and see which one's I've re-read and tag them as such.

7> Great answer.

Any book not worth re-reading probably wasn't worth reading in the first place.

True. Rereading is a good way to refresh your memory on what the book is about also.

24: It depends. When I get a re-read 'itch', it's usually because I loved the book. So I'd probably only read books that I at least vaguely remembered.

Yes, true. Okay, you win.

OK, I confess. I re-read...but only the sexy parts ;-)

yes reread if you miss them and revisit the situations, people places brings you back to happier times when things are off.

>7 Makifat:,28
My feelings, exactly. I don't really feel I know a book until I've read it three or four times: if it starts to seem dull on the second reading I wonder why I wasted time on it. But sadly, there are so many books that some old favourites rarely get to the top of the rereading pile...

Often.

I always re-read at least some if not all of a series before starting the latest installment. I liek to have the characters, world, and politics clear in my mind, as background for the new story, and as there is often a gap of over a year between series books I find it hard to remember without re-reading.

I'll re-read other favourites, or sometimes just because I haven't got a new book with me - I don't buy new books until I've finsihed reading all the others that I've bought previously.

I only start to remember plot twists until after I've re-read a book a couple of times.

I originally started my collection by buying books that I'd borrowed from the library that I fell in love with, and wanted to read again.

If I've got part of a series and the author is still writing it, I'll read the previous books, sometimes, to refresh my memory when the new one comes out (Robert Jordan's 'Wheel of Time' for example, which started out intending to be a trilogy).

Right now, I'm re-reading the 'Anne of Green Gables' series. When I first read it, as a teenager, I thought Anne was absolutely justified in slighting Gilbert Blythe - in fact, I thought she forgave him too easily. Now, I can see she was a bit silly; but I can empathise (now I have kids of my own) with the way characters respond to the children in the stories (where, before, I probably thought they were spoiled brats to be ignored)

Absolutely - full steam ahead with the re-reads!

What is the point of owning a book if you are not going to read it? I can understand that some people do not wish to revisit somewhere they have already been. But if that is the case why keep the book? Members of my extended family who feel like this get arround this by giving me their read books.
When I am tired or feeling a little unwell that is the main time that I reread books, that way I know that I am getting a good book, and I can realy choose what "flavour" or book to match my mood exactly.
To me it is like saying "i have heard that music once, I know how it goes, why would I want to hear it again?" and I have never heard that.

I have re-read some books but I have a problem. I wonder where I am going to get the time to read all of my books for the first time.
Even when a book is taking me a long time to read, I feel guilty for not getting on to the rest of the pile that I bought on my last trip to the book store.
Sometimes I think that being poor wouldn't be so bad because then I could just start over and re-read everything.

I do try to re-read Hamlet and Crime and Punishment every other year.

I re-read favorites, some as often as once a year. I also re-read books that I'm reminded of from my childhood, or that someone I know read recently and I want to refresh my memory. I wrote all about re-reading and listed a few of my favorites in this blog post (will open in another window), and got some great answers from readers, as well.

Re-reading helps to remind me of what inspired me to become a writer. Authors can get battered by the public with shifting views and tastes. Once in a while it's good to take a step back and get refreshed.

38> You can try to only reread books when you do not have any other new books to read.
40>Do you like to write? I do though i am only a premature writer and i do not have any published pieces.

I completely agree with this. There is something nostalgic when you pick a book up again and feel the pages-- I usually get a memory of when I was reading it. Plus, it is always good to re-read your favorites and such, I find that they often come up in conversation when you least expect it. Better to be prepared!

41> Yes, I'm a writer/author. As such, I tend to spend more time writing than reading. Deadlines and editing doesn't afford me as much time to explore the new as I once had, so picking an old book is like sitting down with a good-old friend to talk, refresh and remember.

37> Jessica, You put it so well!

Great analogies.

There is no reason to feel guilty about taking time to go back to a favorite, and thus not having as much time to meet new works. Heaven will be the ability to read more than one book at a time, AND dialogue with all the authors too.

44> Nice wording.
43> Cool. Well, you can in between writing two books you can take some time to explore.
42> I also get a memory of the book when i pick it up again.

Isn't it almost a definition of a good book, that a reader wants to come back to it again and again?
I don't usually buy novels--I get most of them from the public library--but I own the entire Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, because I know that I'll want to step into that world from time to time. The same goes for some of P.G. Wodehouse's books, and (at least for the time being), the mysteries of Sarah Caudwell and Steven Havill.
And if I'm in need of a fiction fix, I'd much rather re-read a good story than slog through a trashy novel just because I've never read it. Which is why I've just finished Brat Farrar for the third or fourth time, and am now deep in the adventures of The Three Musketeers.

I spent a lot of my teens-20s not reading many fiction novels, so I already feel like I'm way behind and won't get to read all the books that I want to read, but even still, I love to reread and always have. When you reread a book your memory and emotions contribute a large part to the experience and it doesn't even feel like reading.

I reread the original Dune books every three or four years (usually just books 1-4, sometimes 5 & 6) and I usually do it in what feels like a single sitting that stretches over a week. It doesn't matter that I already know what's going to happen - I still get something new out of it every time and I still love it every time, perhaps even more every time.

Sometimes when I'll go to my bookshelves to choose a new book (and there are SO many new ones right there at my fingertips) I'll look at an oldie and think, "I really loved this, I should read it again." And I'll pick up the book and flip through it, pausing here and there, smiling or tearing up, and sometimes I'll get caught up in it and the next thing I know I've finished it to the end, all while still standing there in front of the wall of books...

{contented sigh}

I mean, what can top a reread of Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn? Not much, I can assure you.

46>True, the defintion of a good book should include you want to come back to it again and again.

I reread books as I grow older. Sometimes I feel I'm reading it for the first time. Ahh -- aging memory!

Sometimes I'm just too damn frightened to re-read a much-loved book. God forbid I go and read one of my favorites again, and think to myself, Boy, this is really crap.

And what would be the problem is finding that your taste in literature has changed? Or that your ability to analyse it has matured?

I guess I'm just...afraid of change. *breaks down crying*

Ahh the joy of not having to admit that we are no longer young.
I am left wondering if this is the reason that so may mainstreem ailiens are long lived, or that much modern science fiction is based around the problems of dealing with becomming imortal

When or if I reread Silas Marner it will be with the reference to Hephzibah (2Kings21) much more securely in mind. When I first read the passage (in chapter 14 I think) where Marner is asked to name the found child I didn't find the link. Hephzibah mother of Mannash King of Jerusalem ... Mannash woshiper of "trees" symbols of fertility. Marner, occasionally, as frozen like a statue, who keeps his gold in two flexible leather sacks. Those guineas like unborn children. Possibly the second time around it will be a funnier tale.

I have re-read many books, some several times (all of Nero Wolfe, all of Louis Lamour, C.J. Cherryh, Mary Roberts Rinehart, many, many others. I reread them back in my stressful working days when it felt like a holiday to sink into them again. I don't know if I will read those ones over again, but they'll have to come to my grave with me, they've given me so much.

There are books that I've re-read that I didn't like the second time, but I keep them because I remember very well the feeling from the first time.

Now that I am thinking about all of those thousands of books I feel very strongly that my relationship with books is the strongest, most important one in my life next to my family (which includes my cats). When I look at my books on the walls all around me, I am looking at my life.

>55 nhlsecord: (nhlsecord)

I reread them back in my stressful working days when it felt like a holiday to sink into them again.

Ditto. But "so many books, so little time".

BTW: I lived in S.W. Ontario for 10 years. Mostly in Windsor. Still visit my friends there. Canada has such great writers and poets. I read a lot of Canadian poetry even now.

reading books is really good for the brain

#57

And the emotions. (I think I'm going to cry!)

I love rereading books, particularly favourite sections of books! For instance, Ulysses as a whole struck me as incredibly tedious (I had to spend weeks studying it back in grad school), but I love the last chapter written from in the bawdy (orgasmic) voice of Molly Bloom. That section I reread from time to time, when I need a touch of the "scandalous" to wake me up.....

Ex Lit Prof
www.the-reading-list.com

If you weren't female I'd say the last chapter was titillating. BTW, I lived in Toronto for one year. Loved it and got to appreciate Canadian writers esp. poets. I was born in Ireland and, of course, am a bit biased toward James Joyce.

Great Irish poets also!

I tend to re-read books during those periods when I'm feeling under the weather. Really, it's just that I can't seem to cope with reading anything for the first time if I'm feeling ill. I can most definitely cope with re-reading anything that's already familiar - Agatha Christie, Jane Austin, Harry Potter... I've even been known to revisit Salman Rushdie, which is so much more accessible the second or third time around, in my experience.

Other titles I've re-read and am likely to continue re-reading every couple of years because I consider them important: Brave New World, 1984, various of Isaac Asimov's robot stories together with John Wyndham.

If I reread a book...which I hardly ever do...it's because it's a book that everytime I pick it up it's still moving to me. Something that'll shake ur insides with such emotion that it's insane!

#62 (tearsXsolitude)

Read your poem "My names is Sarah". V. impressed. Have you read Sharon Olds who writes a lot about her abuse as a child. She also writes a lot of erotic and explicit poetry -- a good model, I think, of how it can be done well.
Are you one of the three in the photo? You could be sisters!
I've struggled a lot with depression. I wouldn't play around with it. Two of my siblings committed suicide from it.
Keep writing. Looking forward to reading your short stories on your web site.

#63 (bookmonk8888)

I haven't read any of her no but I'll deffinately check her out now that uv recomended it!
I was really surprised that you looked at my fanfiction thing. I don't know why but it just surprised me I guess.
And ya I'm the middle one. The two next to me are my friends. I have one sister and I love her but we don't have a very strong connection. I'm so sorry that that happened to you. May your sisters rest in peace, your happiness is in my thoughts.
How did you know that I'm depressed?
Thanks sooo much. If you have any suggestions or idea for the stories pleeeeaaase feel free to help me out because I'm stuck on ALL of them and I'm just not happy with the way they're written.
Thanks!

#64 (tearsXsolitude)
I always click on the LT link to the Profile of the person who posts here. On your Profile page you have your home page to fanfiction.net. So I clicked on it. That is where I read your poem and about your depression. Because of my own lifelong struggle with depression I felt bad for you. But don't forget that a high percentage of talented artists of all sorts, including writers, have grappled with depression. However, if it gets bad it should be treated.
I probably should not have mentioned your depression here on LT, so let me know if you'd like me to remove my post. Including this one if you wish.
I will read your stories very soon and send you my comments.

I'm stuck on ALL of them and I'm just not happy with the way they're written.
A perfectly normal experience with writers. When it gets bad it's called, as I'm sure you know, "writer's block". All writers experience it but the important thing is not to give up. Write something every day, even if it's nonsense. Once one starts "Free-writing", very often some good ideas come.
And finally: Writers write. But you'll never write well if you don't read a lot.

57 and 58 . Both right. It also very good for your mental health because it can use your memory to see how well you can remember the book.