Sunday, August 5, 2018

The Joys of Re-Reading

I love to re-read the odd book. I know that sounds really bad to do as a reader and a writer, but sometimes when I re-read a book, I find I get details from it which I've missed out on in the previous reading.

This sounds kinda dorky, doesn't it? It's like watching a movie over and over to catch other details you missed - but it true. Try watching 'Rear Window' a few times and you'll see what I mean; there's big and little details in that film you'll see on the second and third viewing you'd have missed in the first one. The same goes for 'Back the to Future'... so much goes on in the three films when you watch them back to back that you miss out on in just one sitting of them when you watch them once.

The same thing goes for books I think. 

When I first read 'On Writing' by Stephen King, I thought it was kinda boring (sorry, Steve!). But then, I re-read it a year later and found some of it was funny and I came away from it with some tools he had imparted in the book. The following year after that, I read it yet again, and I found it was great book, and very informative. So, it took three reads and for me to get what Stephen was trying to tell me... and still I've picked it up a few more times since and I'm getting more and more out of that one book. 

So, re-reading a book isn't a bad idea really. But I think it depends on what you're like deep down. Do you get everything in one sitting? Are you a slow reader and pull in every detail as you read? Or are you like me, and read faster and go back and re-read it again and again to get more details from it all over and over? 

Personally, I think it depends on what you want out of a book at the time you purchase it. Do you want to get information from it your after at the time in your life right then, and a year later, when you go back and read it again, you'll get other information which is relevant to you for that part of your life then? I wonder about that too. What do you think? Is re-reading a book worth it? And do you re-read the classics? Or are they too complex and difficult to get into once you're done with them? Until my next post, happy reading!

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