Read the Same Book Multiple Times?

[Glorfindel]

I reread books that I enjoy. Like many that includes LotR, The Hobbit, Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, Lost Tales... Etc...

[delph]

I read these days for relaxation and to stimulate my imagination with new fodder, and very occasionally for mindless entertainment. For the second reason, I tend to enjoy devouring new books. But there are those times when I want my old favorites. I mentally call them my old friends; I think they're actually better described as 'comfort food' books. I turn to those books when I'm excessively stressed or feeling under the weather.

Sometimes I also find myself re-reading if someone (usually in these forums) mentions a book that I enjoyed. It reminds me that I might like to go read it again, much the same way as watching a movie more than once. I find that while I remember the major plot points, I've forgotten the details, which keeps the book fresh.

[Iskariot]

Originally Posted by Majorix

I see people everywhere reading some books numerous times. I can't understand how they can do it. I mean, no matter how much I like the book, I can't read the same book even twice. Knowing the plot twists etc, and reading the same things I already know about just doesn't give me the pleasure I had had reading the book for the first time. I like the feeling of being curious when reading a book, and that is pretty much what keeps me reading it - you can't "wonder" when you know what will happen next and next and next.

What about you?

I am one of the weird ones who does read certain books multiple times.
I assume you are talking about fiction.

I have had a troubled youth and in my teenage years was comforted by fleeing into the worlds certain science fiction authors created for me. Frank Herbert, Asimov, Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, Vogt etc. etc. One of the most important ones was Jack Vance. I own most of his books in dutch and english and one of the first things I did after buying my first ereader was buying all of his books in ebook form again.
Especially Vance's Dying Earth books, The Tschai series and the Demon Princes series are very dear to me and I have read them at least three times and will read them again. To me these books are more than just books. They are friends. It is not just about reading a story anymore. It is about spending time with old friends. These books are a great comfort in a life I fail to see the sense of and that I endure with great difficulty.

[speakingtohe]

My sympathy and best wishes.

Helen

[danskmacabre]

I reread some books. Usually favorites such as Lord of the rings, Silmarillion and other Tolkien works.
These types of books are worth re-reading as you pick up new information and insights every time you re-read.
I must have read LOTR about 14 times over the years, maybe more.
I re-read it every couple of years and love it.



I also have been re-reading books from my younger days.
I don't tend to re-read books I've read after my 20s so much.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by delph

I read these days for relaxation and to stimulate my imagination with new fodder, and very occasionally for mindless entertainment. For the second reason, I tend to enjoy devouring new books. But there are those times when I want my old favorites. I mentally call them my old friends; I think they're actually better described as 'comfort food' books. I turn to those books when I'm excessively stressed or feeling under the weather.

I call it my "contact poison" shelf.

Those are the books that I have to be extremely careful with. If I look at the shelf and let my eye rest too long on a CP book's spine, I'll find myself remembering how much I enjoyed a particular scene. Next thing I know, I've taken the book down to find that scene, so I can see exactly how something played out...and then I'm rereading the whole thing. If it's part of a series, I count myself lucky if I manage to stop at the end of that one book.

Just about everything Heinlein wrote - with a few notable exceptions - is on that shelf. So are Clarke and Niven's short story collections, Asprin's Myth and Phule books, Spider Robinson's Callahan books, and Stephen King's It. None of King's other books, although I've read just about all of 'em - but I have to reread It about every couple of years. There's something about the combination of detail, plot, and sheer mastery of construction that keeps me coming back...and the first reading took me six days, while I was in high school and thus busy with homework and classes.

On the seventh day, I rested.

I generally find that a reread works best if my memory has faded just enough that I remember the juicy parts a few pages ahead of time, so I can savor the setup and the execution. That also means that the lesser details have faded enough to catch me by surprise, either because I've forgotten them completely or I remember them but forgot they happened here instead of later on.

In the book I'm writing, I'm aiming for it to reward two rereads. The first should illuminate the foreshadowing and let you piece together some background that isn't obvious the first time around, and the second is so you can go through it hunting for Easter eggs and subtle pop-culture references. A once-only reader won't be lost and should be entertained, but they won't get all the juice out of the orange. (For instance, I'm tossing in hints about a character's heritage, but they won't get described until about halfway through the book...by which point, I expect that the reader will have formed a mental image that will probably be wrong. On a reread, though, they should be able to see that the clues were there all the time.)

The funny thing about that is, I'm writing in what's usually seen as a disposable genre, something you read once, with low expectations, and then forget about. I'm making a deliberate decision to aim higher and subvert that pattern, in the same way that modern comic books are a more complex form than the single-issue stories of the '60s and '70s. I just hope I can pull it off.

[aardbewoner]

I am one of the ones who does read certain books multiple times.Specialy series.
And just like a movie i find new things during a re read

[hrosvit]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

... and Stephen King's It. None of King's other books, although I've read just about all of 'em - but I have to reread It about every couple of years. ...

I am exactly the same, in terms of picking up one of my favorites to re-read a single scene, and getting sucked in. I am also a big Stephen King fan, but my King tastes seem opposite of yours. I will read 'Salem's Lot and Christine and The Stand every couple years, but don't tend to re-read his "newer" stuff (really, anything from It on). Interesting how people's tastes vary.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by hrosvit

I am also a big Stephen King fan, but my King tastes seem opposite of yours. I will read 'Salem's Lot and Christine and The Stand every couple years, but don't tend to re-read his "newer" stuff (really, anything from It on). Interesting how people's tastes vary.

It just strikes me as an amazing achievement. The parallel construction, the use of shorter chunks and broken sentences to step up the pacing, the incredible detail of the worldbuilding, all culminating in the underground section where 1958 and 1985 blend seamlessly together because it's a cycle that's repeating...gets me every time.

[drofgnal]

I'm on my third read of War and Peace. This time I'm using a relatively new translation which has a lot of historical footnotes added that add a tremendous amount of context.

[CharredScribe]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

I call it my "contact poison" shelf.

Those are the books that I have to be extremely careful with. If I look at the shelf and let my eye rest too long on a CP book's spine, I'll find myself remembering how much I enjoyed a particular scene. Next thing I know, I've taken the book down to find that scene, so I can see exactly how something played out...and then I'm rereading the whole thing. If it's part of a series, I count myself lucky if I manage to stop at the end of that one book.
[...]
I generally find that a reread works best if my memory has faded just enough that I remember the juicy parts a few pages ahead of time, so I can savor the setup and the execution. That also means that the lesser details have faded enough to catch me by surprise, either because I've forgotten them completely or I remember them but forgot they happened here instead of later on.

Wow, this is me! Different authors but pretty much the same thing.

[CharredScribe]

Originally Posted by hrosvit

I am exactly the same, in terms of picking up one of my favorites to re-read a single scene, and getting sucked in. I am also a big Stephen King fan, but my King tastes seem opposite of yours. I will read 'Salem's Lot and Christine and The Stand every couple years, but don't tend to re-read his "newer" stuff (really, anything from It on). Interesting how people's tastes vary.

Not to turn this into a King-lovefest but The Stand is one that I really love, and will probably re-read several more times in this life. I have only read the unabridged version so it's long, but I always enjoy it.

[DiapDealer]

I don't normally re-read very much. Not because the plot is already "spoiled", or there's no enjoyment involved (I've enjoyed most of the books I've ever read multiple times), but mostly because I feel my time is better spent finding new books to love. I'm fickle like that, I guess. My best re-reading experiences have always felt inferior to the first-time read-through of books that "wowed" me. So like any good thrill junkie, I spend the vast majority of my time seeking the latter.

And yes, I listen to songs (and less often; watch movies) more than once. But I see no real contradiction in that. Re-listening to music (or re-watching movies) doesn't have nearly the same time/focus/emotional investment attached to it that re-reading novels does (for me anyway). Neither requires my undivided attention (for an extended period of time) the way reading a book usually does.

[whitearrow]

I do re-read; sometimes before a new book in a series comes out (I have to do this with ASoIaF, because of the level of detail), sometimes because I just want to revisit the book again (The Lord of the Rings, or The Mists of Avalon). Sometimes I just want to reread something I know won't tax me too much, but is nonetheless enjoyable (any of a dozen urban fantasy series).

[momtodogs]

I re-read favorites over and over. As others have mentioned, they become friends. I especially re-read series books (currently doing just that), when I want to freshen my memory about recurring characters' back-stories. I usually don't re-read within a year, though I have re-read the same book immediately if I liked it so well that I "fast-read" it and had to go back and add the flavor.