This post creates a little bit of anxiety. :) But enjoyed it much. Rereading... I don't know that I have reread any fiction (that I remember). But I have reread some spiritually helpful books such as The Ragamuffin Gospel and Reuben Job's A Guide to Prayer. The Bible is a yearly read. Anyway, now I'm off to worry about the books I'll never get to. Thanks.
With two exceptions I can think of, I have not deliberately reread any book since I was around 12 years old. I believe it was Tarzan and the Ant Men...
I have accidentally reread a few mysteries, only realizing it when the solution hove into view. I have deliberately reread a few short stories - Joyce’s The Dead, for instance. And the first chapter of Bleak House. And, of course, poems.
Anyway, the book exceptions are Jane Austen’s books, and True Grit. I reread at least one of Austen’s books every year or so. Although now that I think on it, I’ve probably reread Boswell, but in bits & pieces and not sequentially, aside from my first reading.
I do revisit books, dipping into a few pages or chapters here & there, generally as a result of something I’ve read on the internet.
So I have a glimmering of the pleasures of rereading, but in my hierarchy of values, they are set aside for the pleasures of a new first reading.
I suppose I ought to give some thought to the possibility of rereading some books I have enjoyed, but, y’know, so many books, and these days I wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled...
There are some great analogies here, like 'revoking your library car's 'breaking your class's "sink cost fallacy ' That last one: I'd never thought of it like that before, and I used to reach economics! I'm all for numbers, and I quite illogically regret that I won't have time to read all the books I've got, let alone the ones I want to buy or borrow. But there's also a peace and a freedom in that as well. We just read as the need and the fancy takes us, and it's all a journey of discovery. Even when I read books or portions of books I've read many times before it always feels fresh and new.
This post creates a little bit of anxiety. :) But enjoyed it much. Rereading... I don't know that I have reread any fiction (that I remember). But I have reread some spiritually helpful books such as The Ragamuffin Gospel and Reuben Job's A Guide to Prayer. The Bible is a yearly read. Anyway, now I'm off to worry about the books I'll never get to. Thanks.
Feeling this ... too many books so little time. Oy!
With two exceptions I can think of, I have not deliberately reread any book since I was around 12 years old. I believe it was Tarzan and the Ant Men...
I have accidentally reread a few mysteries, only realizing it when the solution hove into view. I have deliberately reread a few short stories - Joyce’s The Dead, for instance. And the first chapter of Bleak House. And, of course, poems.
Anyway, the book exceptions are Jane Austen’s books, and True Grit. I reread at least one of Austen’s books every year or so. Although now that I think on it, I’ve probably reread Boswell, but in bits & pieces and not sequentially, aside from my first reading.
I do revisit books, dipping into a few pages or chapters here & there, generally as a result of something I’ve read on the internet.
So I have a glimmering of the pleasures of rereading, but in my hierarchy of values, they are set aside for the pleasures of a new first reading.
I suppose I ought to give some thought to the possibility of rereading some books I have enjoyed, but, y’know, so many books, and these days I wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled...
There are some great analogies here, like 'revoking your library car's 'breaking your class's "sink cost fallacy ' That last one: I'd never thought of it like that before, and I used to reach economics! I'm all for numbers, and I quite illogically regret that I won't have time to read all the books I've got, let alone the ones I want to buy or borrow. But there's also a peace and a freedom in that as well. We just read as the need and the fancy takes us, and it's all a journey of discovery. Even when I read books or portions of books I've read many times before it always feels fresh and new.