Jo Walton, a Science Fiction and Fantasy writer who lives in Montreal, recently she wrote an interesting post explaining why she re-reads books that she doesn’t like. She developed this unusual habit in her childhood when she would read books that were beyond her years. Although these books such as Ivanhoe and David Copperfield were not that interesting at first they were on re-reading and so there was a sense of “growing into fiction.”
I have to say this has not been my experience with one notable exception. I love C.S. Lewis’ Science Fiction Trilogy Out of the Silent Planet. However I could not get through the second volume Perelandra (or sometimes called Voyage to Venus). I started it three or four times and always bogged down in the same place and then skipped on to That Hideous Strength. Finally I read it all the way through and now it is indeed my favorite book in the series.
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I do re-read many books, but they are my favorites. Like old friends, even though I know the stories inside out, just to hear them say it again brings out an image, or a thought I had not seen before. By having the rest of the book in my mind because of many re-readings, I can often put together thoughts that could not have occurred to me on the first reading.
Perhaps I should take a cue from Jo Walton and try re-reading books I have abandoned.
Which books do you like well enough to re-read?
Thanks for reading,
Peter
http://peterkazmaier.com
