Do I re-read? Yes, though it depends a lot on the material. I suspect you are talking about novels, though I'll take the question more generally.
Like a lot of people I have a number of technical books. They get re-read as I have far too small a cache memory and am prone to forgetting things...
There are some novels I never re-read; and I suspect I never will. It's not that I didn't enjoy them -- I did. Many of these I've recommended or lent. It's just that for me the joy in them was the "twist", and not the language or the creative depth, if that makes sense. (RickyMaveety, given your analogy to re-reading, please do not psycho-analyse this. Please.
)
By comparison, those I tend to re-read I do so for the joy of the language or the chance to explore parts I missed on my first trip (think of climbing a mountain again, if you will). Like DMcCunney, I've read Tolkein, but also some Pratchett and the likes of Arthur C. Clarke.
But I've never re-read a play, Shakespeare or otherwise.
Although the category I read least, the one I re-read most is poetry, probably as that is so often about the language, or the depth of the idea.
My personal favourite poet is Norman MacCaig. I'd recommend anyone to try his poetry -- the
collected works is excellent. If you are getting it second-hand, make sure you get the CD with it as it has him reading some of his poems. As a small sample, from A Man in Assynt:
Quote:
Who possesses this landscape?
the man who bought it or
I who am possessed by it?
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I really hope his work is taught somewhere.....
I hope someone out there has heard of him.