Do you re-read books?

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I can't understand not re-reading a book that you enjoy. Would you listen to a piece of music, enjoy it, but say "I'm never going to listen to it again"?

The only way I can understand this is if I had a perfect memory then I wouldn't feel the need to re-read a book or listen to a piece of music a second time. But I don't have a perfect memory, so I do re-read books & listen to music more than once.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by calvin-c

The only way I can understand this is if I had a perfect memory then I wouldn't feel the need to re-read a book or listen to a piece of music a second time. But I don't have a perfect memory, so I do re-read books & listen to music more than once.

I do not believe this is true. The experience of reading the book is not the same as remembering everything in the book. So even if you had perfect memory there would be good reasons to re-read books.

[Krystian Galaj]

Originally Posted by tompe

I do not believe this is true. The experience of reading the book is not the same as remembering everything in the book. So even if you had perfect memory there would be good reasons to re-read books.

If you remember the whole text, you could read it to yourself from memory rather than from paper/device. Question is whether you'd call it re-reading or remembering then though...

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Krystian Galaj

If you remember the whole text, you could read it to yourself from memory rather than from paper/device. Question is whether you'd call it re-reading or remembering then though...

Yes, but you would have to do the reading process anyway. The point is that reading is engaging with the text and give a certain experience. For a good book it should not matter that you remember it.

[calvin-c]

IMO the 'different experience' that occurs when you re-read a book is because of an imperfect memory. For example, when I re-read a book I'll often find something new that I hadn't caught before-like the author naming a character 'Hambone' and the character later kills his uncle, a la Hamlet. (Poor example, but that's why I'm not an author.)

Basically, if my memory was perfect then, when the character kills his uncle I'd remember the name & say "Oh, that's why the author called him that!" but too often, by then, I've forgotten the scene where they gave him the name (like I said, it was a poor example-think of something that would be mentioned once only, but relates to an event that happens much later in the book)-so I don't realize the significance until I re-read the book.

To me, as I said, that's due to a less-than-perfect memory. If I had a perfect memory, not only do I *believe* I would capture all these little nuances the first time I read the book, but I also *believe* that I could re-experience the reading.

but I don't, so these will need to remain in the realm of belief, rather than being proven-either way.

[nekokami]

A less than perfect memory is part of it, but another part is "you can never step into the same river twice." There are several books I've re-read recently after a 20 year gap, and found that my understanding of the book was very different than the first read... because I have changed in that time.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

There are books that I've bought I doubt I'll re-read. I sometimes get "urges" to read a certain book. The more often I get those urges, the better the book, I think... (The Count of Monte Cristo must be my all-time favourite then... I generally read it once a year). But some books will have to wait for years for a re-read.

I get "urges" as well, I know exactly where you're coming from. Sometimes when I get the "urge" I re-read the whole book, sometimes only selected parts. I've been getting a lot of these "urges" lately, I wonder if that has to do with Christmas being a nostalgic holiday for me, as my husband and I are spending it alone this year; I find re-reading an old favourite is comforting, like getting an unexpected visit from a friend or eating a favourite meal.

I am currently re-reading The Count of Monte Cristo (among others!) right now; my husband is reading it for the first time and wanted to discuss some aspects of the book with me, so he sort of tempted me into it. A friend of mine is reading 1984 for the first time (and also wanted to discuss some parts of the novel with me), so now I am re-reading both books on my reader. I re-read a lot, but I generally like to wait a while between re-readings. There must be hundreds of books that I have read more than once; I do find that I get a lot more insight into the book during my second reading.

Just for the record, I like to re-watch favourite movies and television series as well.

[chlorine]

Originally Posted by calvin-c

IMO the 'different experience' that occurs when you re-read a book is because of an imperfect memory. For example, when I re-read a book I'll often find something new that I hadn't caught before-like the author naming a character 'Hambone' and the character later kills his uncle, a la Hamlet. (Poor example, but that's why I'm not an author.)

Basically, if my memory was perfect then, when the character kills his uncle I'd remember the name & say "Oh, that's why the author called him that!" but too often, by then, I've forgotten the scene where they gave him the name (like I said, it was a poor example-think of something that would be mentioned once only, but relates to an event that happens much later in the book)-so I don't realize the significance until I re-read the book.

To me, as I said, that's due to a less-than-perfect memory. If I had a perfect memory, not only do I *believe* I would capture all these little nuances the first time I read the book, but I also *believe* that I could re-experience the reading.

but I don't, so these will need to remain in the realm of belief, rather than being proven-either way.

Interesting analysis. I also get the kind of new insights you describe when re-reading books (and re-watching movies btw), but I wouldn't have ascribed it to memory problems, but to problems of keeping focus of too many things at once.
When I first read a book, if there are many things going on and many things to take notice of (for instance if there's a main story line and also interesting insight to get about the roles of secondary characters), I will often focus only on the main story line. When I read the book again I may notice some interesting things about secondary characters and side stories that had eluded me because I was so engrossed in the main story.

[Xanthe]

I reread favorite books and series all the time - have always done so. I'm talking about printed books here, because I haven't had my Libre long enough to even go through them once yet.

I'll usually reread an entire series every couple of years. They are series that I enjoyed reading the first time around, ones that successfully created their universe in my mind to the point where I can easily visualize the settings, the characters and the scenarios.

Some favorites are:

Eric Flint's 1632 series (with the supplemental collections and gazettes)
David Weber's Honor Harrington series
David Weber & John Ringo's Prince Roger series
Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's Liaden Universe series (including prequels and offshoots)
Suzanne Brockmann's SEALS/Troubleshooters series
C.E. Murphy's Urban Shaman series
Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series
Catherine Asaro's Skolian Empire series

Other authors that I always reread on a regular basis are Georgette Heyer, Charles de Lint, Carolyn Haines, Charlaine Harris, Julia Spencer-Fleming, Sandra Hill.

But really, whenever I open up one of my plastic storage boxes of book, I usually wind up rereading half of them.

I like the comparison that was made earlier in the thread, comparing favorite books to favorite music. I think that is very apropos in my situation. It's not that I've forgotten what I've read, or that I reread to discover something new in the story (I mean, after 3 or 4 times there's usually nothing left to discover when we're talking genre books). It's just that I enjoyed the books so much the first time that the enjoyment always remains, and I know that I can lose myself in those stories for a while and escape all the cares and worries of everyday life. The same applies to favorite music; it serves to evoke a mood I want to re-experience.

[pilotbob]

I very seldom re-read books. But, I have been considering going back and re-read Wizard's First Rule... because as I watch the show Legend of the Seeker I am reminded what a great book it is and wish the show followed the story line a bit closer.

BOb