What makes us read novels more than once? It can hardly be a tense plot as we already know how the plot unfolds. It might possibly be the quality of writing - I have read Scott Fitzgerald on many an occasion just for the pleasure of the words - but it is a rare writer that can achieve such heights. It might, of course, be familiarity : a kind of literary comfort food - rice pudding printed in Times New Roman - but there are limits (I am told) to how much rice pudding you can eat.
I pose the question because I have just started reading C P Snow's "Strangers And Brothers" sequence of novels again: for the third time. I suspect it is a personal thing, a relationship between characters real and characters fictional, that brings me back to these eleven linked novels. As I read the books I keep coming across bits of my life, people I remember and people I have forgotten, incidents and events, even places : all mixed up, shuffled around, out of context like a lightly troubled dream.
I have just embarked on the first in the series - George Passant - and there are still another ten waiting for me. In a moment of unnecessary contemplation the other day I thought to myself "this will be the last time I read the sequence". But that is silly. I suspect I can manage one more full reading before I leave the library of life.
I suffer from bookshelves, and Kindle, stuffed with books I still have to read for the first time. Like Alan, my card for the library of life is also running a little short on credit, so some will probably remain unread.
ReplyDeleteI do that too, Alan. I recently re-read Arthur C. Clarke's Rama series, and now I'm re-reading my favorite books by Annie Dillard. Getting re-acquainted with an old friend is always pleasant.
ReplyDeleteI think I read these too young. They all seemed to be about old people. I suppose if I read them now they would all seem to be about young people! :)
ReplyDeleteI seem to read about 1 new book (new to me) to about 20 rereads of books I've read already, sometimes 4 or 5 times.And I love to read a series like the Angela Thirkell Barsetshire novels (about 29 or 30 of them) or maybe the Chalet School books by Elinor M Brent-Dyer (about 60) and yes I know these are for children but it doesn't stop me reading them again. And neither does the fact that I know some of them off by heart! And of course I have many unread books on my shelves.
ReplyDeletea good series is always hard to put down. There are many books I would like to reread. My daughter rereads many books as she says there's always more to get out of them.
ReplyDeleteI suspect you'll have many more readings of it! I hadn't heard of this before, so I'll have to check it out!
ReplyDeleteI do this to so many books. Always something new to unearth. Or some classics like Jane Eyre, to pass a rainy Sunday afternoon.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, there must be something wrong with my literary appreciation. I do NOT like to read books twice unless they are old literature (19th century or older perhaps) and I can't stand to watch a movie or TV program twice. I would if I were going to analyze it and see what made it worthwhile. I do like trying to see what makes things work or how it could be made better.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! There are some books I must have read 20 times, and TV shows I have watched just as often. The characters become dear friends and I miss them if I don't watch or read them again. I know the plots and some chunks of script off by heart. I imagine ChisJ that your house isn't crowded with DVD box sets? I have to confess though, Alan, that I don't know this C P Snow sequence.
ReplyDeleteI have a favorite book I grab and read from all the time. Aldo Leopolds a Sand County Almanac..it is so me. I think once that connection is made we just best go with the flow and read them over and over:)
ReplyDeleteCPS is definitely on my list of novelists what I haven't read but would like to when I get round to it. I'll take your repeat visits as a recommendation.
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