Comments on: On Rereading Books

By: experimental music

experimental music — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:01:13 +0000

I’ve read most of the books I own twice (atleast). Probably time to buy some more

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 15:32:32 +0000

If I had a blog, I’d be working on an entry called “On Rereading entries”, and I’d discuss how it sucks when one of the premier blogs in the blogosphere is on haitus, and that whenever you’re online you check it only to be greeted by the same old title. I suppose it’s a little like gambling, less the financial consequences. Is there gonna be a new entry?? No. Crap.

Random thought of the day: on Public Television yesterday Suze Orman was pushing a 270 dollar package featuring her book subtitled The Young, Glamorous and Broke. Any chance part of the reason they’re broke is overspending? No irony there.

By: nate

nate — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 02:07:21 +0000

Chris, RW:

I wouldn’t say I have a list of rereads, but I like the idea of having one — and I especially like the idea of having a bookshelf for them, and maintaining a finite number. I’ll have to try that one of these days.

By: R wellor

R wellor — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 01:43:04 +0000

I have a bookcase full of books I reread. Collected over the last 40 years or so a new one can go in only when an old one goes out. The books range from the idiotic (“Bored of The Rings”) to the sublime (“Collected Works of Shakespeare”) Every probably about 150 books in there (I really should count) and every few days or so between new books, I pull out one of the old ones and read it.

By: BagDad

BagDad — Thu, 10 Mar 2005 17:59:16 +0000

Hey, remember what Bevis said: “Reading sucks, eh, eh.”

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 10 Mar 2005 14:57:34 +0000

Thanks, Nate. That was fun to read.

I do have a set list of books that I like to reread about every three years. They are books that mean a lot to me and they all have something in common: they take place in a different land, whether historical or imagined, they have epic casts and for most of them, I first read them while I was in high school. After having read your piece, I thought about it: I have reread all of these books at least once since moving to Brooks two and a half years ago. Sometimes, I’ll wonder to myself whether it’s really worthwhile rereading this old favorite when I have forty unread books sitting on my to-read shelf. But, yeah, it’s worth it. I want to read them, I want to keep them fresh in my mind. I want to go back to familiar yet exciting places. There’s room for new books, I’ll get to them yet. But there’s nothing like reading something you already love and can’t wait to explore again.

For those interested, my list is:
The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien (which I’ve read four times in the last four years in conjunction with the movies)
War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy
The Stand, by Stephen King
Whirlwind, by James Clavell
The Narnia Chronicles, by CS Lewis (which I haven’t actually read recently)
and the new addition:
A Song of Ice and Fire, by George RR Martin

By: nate

nate — Thu, 10 Mar 2005 00:08:48 +0000

Dan: True dat. Although — and I’m only working on wisps here — don’t the guys in the woods go about systematically memorizing Shakespeare or something like that? That’s sort of an extreme application of the reread principle — the ultimate internalization.

In real life it’s kind of impractical for novels, but a really good idea for poetry.

By: dan

dan — Wed, 09 Mar 2005 21:39:52 +0000

Remember that bit in Farenheit 451 when the main character leaves civilization behind and goes to live in the woods with a bunch of old English majors who fled because they liked books? They said that, basically, if you’ve ever read a book, you keep a little bit of it inside you. Bits and pieces will surface from time to time, enough to piece it together and share with others.
When the alternative is the all printed materials burned into oblivion, whisps aren’t all that bad.