Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
I rarely—if ever—reread; so I'm lucky in the fact that all the early stuff that I read back then and loved... I still love. Regardless of the quality of the writing. The memory of enjoyment is enough for me. I would never risk spoiling something like that by going back and re-reading it after MY tastes, and MY reading skills have evolved. Not going to do that to myself, the author, or the story. If the person I was back then loved it... I'm happy for him.  |
I never used to, it was my wife that finally convinced me to try ... and I am so glad I did. There is a whole new level of appreciation to be gained from some books, and a whole new level of appreciation of what makes a truly great book. So significant has this change been that one of the yard-sticks by which I now measure my reaction to books is whether I want to reread them. My absolute favourites get re-read every few years.
Certainly I have out-grown some authors. Much of the work of Arthur C. Clarke has not benefited from the passage of time, and yet most of Isaac Asimov's work I still enjoy. This doesn't change the fact that Clarke was important to my youth, but why shouldn't my more advanced years benefit from the new insights and new enjoyments to be had from books that I breezed through so casually in my youth?