[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I think that may be the case for continuing series even among folks who don't normally reread. If there is a long enough delay between installments, going back and rereading may be required to refresh your memory on the world, the characters, and the events.

I've read Neverness three times, The Broken God twice, The Wild once...but I've yet to get around to reading The War in Heaven. The reason for this is because then I'd have to read Neverness a fourth time, The Broken God a third time and The Wild a second time...and it's hard to dedicate that time when there are so many other books to read.

I think this was the series that finally tipped Asimov's Foundation series from the top position in "My favourite SF series" list...though the reservation that I haven't completed the whole series yet sits as a conditional placement. So, I don't know why I haven't started the re-reading process yet.

(I also re-read the first four of King's The Dark Tower series. Only the fourth book annoyed - I never liked Wizard & Glass as I felt that this "back story" should have been included over several books, amidst and complementing other action. It felt like a "treading water" book to me; something to fill in the gap while he figured out the details of the "live" plot).

I anticipate a marathon re-read session some time down the road when Brian Sanderson completes the unfinished last book of the Wheel of Time series.

The Wheel of Time series is the one that had me put my foot down: No reading series books unless the series has been completed by the author. I will never finish that series. I will never re-read the ones I've already read, as I wasn't overly enamoured of them anyway.

Originally Posted by Over

One thing I noticed is that many people here read very fast. Could that also be related to why you must re-read to fully assimilate a book or refresh your memories? Or is it that I'm just a very slow reader?

I don't read all that fast. People assume I do, because I read so much (well, not lately - too much time being spent on MR ), but generally the speed I go through books is through the large amount of time I spend reading, rather than the speed at which I read.

Yet, I reread, because I have a compulsion to "not miss a thing". I'm like this with watching movies. At home, when the lights go out for the entertainment, you better shut up, and the dogs better be in their place, and nobody better ring, from the moment the first opening credit comes on-screen (including the production company's guff) until the last closing credit rolls off. Likewise, with books, I need to reread to ensure that all detail has been properly assimilated, and no detail forgotten that might be important (especially when, in the time intervening while waiting for the next book in a series to come out, I've read other books). I have an appalling short-term memory, which everything must pass through to get to long-term, and so I have a "concentration" and "reinforcement" requirement. As the Loved One tells me, "You've only got a single stream processor" (or sometimes "You can't walk and chew gum at the same time" ).

I generally try to avoid re-reading though (thus the rule about series). I've read Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance three times (in an attempt at complete comprehension), and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas twice (because it's just so bloody good), but it's not something I do often.

Cheers,
Marc