On rereading

[startredder]

One of the questions that most baffles and annoys me (after "Have you read all those books?") is "Why do you bother reading a book more than once?"

Because, of course, no one ever listens to a piece of music more than once, or watches a movie more than once, or an episode of a television show.

So, three reasons for rereading a book.
First: comfort

Comments

[tsukikoushi]

I interrupt your fine essay to inquire sadly as to why you are not mentioning The Hallowed Hunt! ...sniffle.

[startredder]

Because I am a /horrible human being/.

Or, because the last time I reread this series was when The Hallowed Hunt came out, so I haven't actually ever reread it ... and also, at the time, I think I was in that horrible period where I was waking up at 5 AM to go to that awful transcription job, and reading it on the bus, so I remember NONE OF IT.

I'll have to rectify that.

(Where are the two more Chalion books I was expecting, Ms. Bujold?!)

[tsukikoushi]

No kidding. Five gods, five books! What's so hard about that? Pshaw, it's just two more entire books to write!

But, ahem. I sat down and reread all three Chalion books just recently, so I am, of course, hurt and alarmed at the lack of love for The Hallowed Hunt. HURT AND ALARMED.

[startredder]

It's not like Bujold's in the process of finishing up a second Sharing Knife duology, or contracted to write another Miles novel or anything, no sir! (... Seriously, Bujold, where's my Father and Mother books?)

While you're busy being hurt and alarmed, I'm sitting here going AND THIS IS WHY MOO IS MY FRIEND. And because she is my friend, I will toss The Hallowed Hunt into my bag to read when I finish Paladin of Souls. For you, I delay my rereading of Going Postal by /days/.

[nyonyo]

I have to echo this sentiment. I've never been able to figure out why people think it's odd to reread; I'm baffled at the idea of even buying a book at all if you're only going to read it once and then let it languish on the shelf for the rest of its life. :( Books need love and attention just like people, dammit. But my entire life, people have gotten so weirded out when I finished a book and, often as not, turned right back to the first page to read it over again. I can't help thinking that if they can't imagine the idea of reading the same book twice, maybe they haven't been reading the right sort of books.

[startredder]

The books I'm going on in this entry? You are getting in your hopefully birthday package. :3

I begin to suspect that even among people who don't mind reading, my life is strangely devoid of people who derive proper joy from the activity. Sigh.

[peneli]

Paladin of Souls is one of those times where a good book has an incredible sequel. I adore that book.

Your third reason is actually the reason I reread all my most favorite books. It's the ones where I've read them so many times I've lost count, and I know what's going to happen, and yet I still cry at the pivotal moments.

People have tried to tell me that rereading books is a waste of time. Since these same people rewatch movies and tv shows, I call bullshit.

[valke]

i reread books for all those reasons and just because I want to read the book again. Sometimes, it's about wanting to read something, but not wanting to commit to a new work, which often entails staying up all night to finish it. Sometimes, it's wanting to read something, but wanting be sure it's something you will enjoy and not throw against the wall. And sometimes I reread because I'm thinking of the book and I suddenly realize I can't remember too many of the details, and now I'm curious.

Bujold is actually one of the authors I -don't- reread much, because her books are so good that I'm afraid I'm going to be sucked into rereading the entire series. The exception is Borders of Infinity, which works for me because it's more of a short story collection.

I dip into short story collections when I want to read something new, but I don't have the time to commit to a novel.

[startredder]

Man, I hear /that/. I only pick up a Bujold if I'm willing to commit myself to reading the entire series all over again. Thankfully, with the Chalion books, that isn't nearly as time-consuming a proposition.

I do find that if I'm rereading because I don't want to start something new, I'm probably going to be rereading a comfort book anyway. It takes an incredibly long time for the details of a book to really fade, for some reason. If I sat down and really thought on it, I could probably piece together a decent impression of books I read in junior high.

[startredder]

I'm actually a big believer in a writer trying to build their own style, so I'm not too comfortable with the idea of rereading for the purpose of imitating, unless you're consciously setting out to do a pastiche of some sort (say, if you were wanting to write a Sherlock Holmes story, I could understand rereading the original body of work with an eye to the specifics).

I know some people who teach writing are big on the reread a book to study it and break it down so you can see how a narrative structure /works/, but I'd argue that if you'd rereading something for that purpose, it's kind of in a different category than just rereading. Then you're working and I don't think you read in the same way you do when you're reading for pleasure. Possibly more akin to the way I reread in university when I was writing a paper on something, where you aren't so much getting something new from the narrative itself, but going over the text with some particular goal in mind.