I have a number of books that I have read multiple times, some even many times, like the Lord of the Rings, but they aren’t necessarily the best books I’ve ever read. Some are amazing and some of my favorite books, and others are enjoyable but not especially spectacularly written or have amazing plots or characters. Some of my favorites to re-read are childhood books, like Hatchet, and My Side of the Mountain, as well as LoTR and Narnia. Others are just short and easy to read but just satisfying and beautiful, like the Time Machine. So again, what makes you want to re-read a book, and what books do you re-read the most?
by Pristine-Board-6701
3 Comments
Just went through a really emotionally tough period where it felt like everything was going wrong for me both personally and professionally. Something within this drew me back to Raymond Carver’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. The direct no frills prose, the flawed and complex characters. The subject matters and the emotional punch a lot of these see stories have. I don’t think there was one specific thing that made me reread it but the emotions I get reading that book just felt congruent and right for the place I was in.
It takes a lot for me to want to read something again, when there’s so much out there I want to read. I can’t think of many I’ve read twice. Some reasons:
Ubik, Philip K Dick because it was his first I read many years ago and I wanted to check if it was really as good as I’d remembered. I enjoyed it even more the second go round.
Redwall – similarly, wanted to check if it was as good as I’d remembered, reading it as a child. It wasn’t. But I could see what appealed.
Narnia, but only re-read once. I bought a set in adult life that was the full lot, and read it all from choronological start to finish. Which was interesting, and great.
Alice in Wonderland, with the kids when they were very small. Still great.
Those might be the only books I’ve consciously re-read, apart from countless kids books and picture books when they were small. also some Famous Five and Secret Seven. Same reasons.
I sort books into “the best” and “most enjoyable”. Lolita and One Hundred Years of Solitude are arguably the best books I’ve ever read. No desire to reread them. Enjoyable are books like CJ Cherryh’s SF works; Glen Cook; Tigana & other works by GGK; and Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart. Often “big finish” stuff, where all sorts of disparate threads pull together at the last moment. A clever protagonist. A good or great reveal.
Also, some authors are just fun. Raymond Chandler & Roger Zelazny are just masters of language.