Re Reading books

[nixie]

I have a habit of rereading my favourite books even though I have a large to read pile but sometimes I feel like a visit to old friends. I've read all the Malazan series twice apart from the last three and I will more than likely read them all again a number of times. I've lost count of number of times I've read Magician, LOTR, The Hobbit and numerous other books. But recently I've tried to reread Robin Hobb's Farseer books, even though I enjoyed them first time this time round I've given up halfway through the first book. I'm finding Fitz and co very annoying and wondering why I was so captivated before.

Has anyone else who enjoys a reread found that some books aren't worth the effort?

 

[mirinda]

I've reread my favorites many times, since alot of those were books I read when I was younger when I've reread them I found I was less interested even though the story was still good. I'd just grown out of it. Others like Anne McCaffrey's I just get bored in the slow parts because I've already read it and know what's going to happen and want to get back to something interesting and will just skip the boring part. Sometimes when I reread something I picked out once I find myself really bored just because it's not the kind of book I'm in the mood to be reading right then it's just that I had nothing else to read.

So while I still love rereading old favorites yes, sometimes It's just not worth the effort for some of them.

Maybe it's just that you know the story this time and aren't dying to find out how it ends Nixie. I do that too. I've loved a book and couldn't put it down the first only to pick it up again and find it much less enjoyable.

 

[ktabic]

Some books I can just reread and reread. Others I can only reread depending on my mood (this seems to be Terry Pratchett novels mainly)

Others I just can't reread at all. The reasons seem to be that either my tastes have changed, and the writing annoys, or I start reading and a few pages in, my mind offers up the entire story and plot, complete, and in order, putting me off reading it again.

So, yeah, I find sometimes it isn't

 

[nj1]

I find i'll only read books that i really enjoyed and as yet haven't come across one that i don't like 2nd time round.

 

[elvet]

I've reread a few books, and so far have enjoyed them. Oddly enough, I was gong to start a Robin Hobb Farseer re read myself.

 

[Reading_fanatic]

I've found myself not enjoying a re-read sometimes. Some series I can re-read no matter what (Like Enders Game) but others just seem to lose their shine after the first read or I find myself skipping parts of the books I'm re-reading to get past the slow bits (Especially when I re-read the wheel of time series)

 

[kythe]

I do a lot of re-reading. I think this is part of why I seem to read so little in comparison with others. I have a way of reading the same books over and over rather than continually moving on to new things.

I find that on subsequent reads I see greater detail, focus on an alternative theme, or relate to different characters. If it has been a few years since the last time I read a book, I am usually in a different place in my life and will find myself filtering the story through a new perspective.

 

[J-Sun]

I've re-read very little, if anything, in years but I keep meaning to because there are so many things I feel like I need to re-read at this point. In the past, I didn't habitually re-read things and didn't generally read the same thing dozens of times or anything, but I did re-read occasionally. I'd say that the vast majority of the time, if I enjoyed it the first time, I enjoy it again, though the precise extent may change. But there have been a few that, as Reading_fanatic says, lost their shine.

I like your approach, kythe, and that is the best way to re-read but I generally go so long between and forget so much that it's basically a sort of deja vu but almost like a first read.

That is one reason I tend to dislike today's ridiculously long books, though. It takes so long to read one thing once that it's very hard to find the time (and to sacrifice chances to read something you've never read) to do it again.

 

[dwndrgn]

Like others here, I re-read many favorites. Usually if I don't have anything new to read I'll peruse my shelves to see what I'm in the mood for. Also for long series, I tend to re-read the first books when a new one is coming out. I read all of the WoT series last year but since the new one is to come out sometime this year or early next year I plan on doing it again. This time though I might be using the audio books from the library - good stuff for the commute.

In bad times I re-read the Callahan series and Discworld. Laughter really is the best medicine.

The worst reaction to re-reading was when I tried to do the Thomas Covenant series again (after 15 or so years) - couldn't get through the first book.

 

[jojajihisc]

If I have re-read anything I'm not sure what it is. There are plenty of books I feel are worth re-reading, it's just that I prefer the original experience of a new book to the familiarity of one I've already read no matter how distant in my memory.

 

[icowdave]

I've re-read a lot of my favorites in the past but these days I've just got too many new books on my pile. So many great books coming out every year I feel a bit behind already!

Like a lot of others have mentioned, I've read Tolkien many many times and I loves me some Alfred Bester. I've read many translations of Homer but I don't know if that counts as a re-read as they're each very different.

Recently I did re-read Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey. It was one of the first books I ever read that was of my own choosing. I picked it up to read a bit to see if I would still like it after 30 years and ended up reading the whole thing over the weekend. Not one that I expected would hold up over so much time but I quite enjoyed it.

 

[Quick Ben]

I've also done very few re-reads, I always mean to with the books I like but there is way too much new stuff out there to read and so little time!

 

[Dagny]

When my life gets overstressed, I go back and reread enjoyable novels. Not only is it (like Nixie said) like visitng old friends but it's a sense of control over something, because even though I know what's going to happen, i'm still worried that they'll run out of air in the spaceship, or Lassie wont' be able to save Timmy this time, or the con artists will get caught, or they won't fall in love after all, or something.

rereading old favorites when my to-be-read pile is out of control? guilty as charged.

 

[Fried Egg]

There are quite a few books I would like to re-read at some point, the problem is there are so many books piled up that I haven't yet read that I just can't spare the time to re-read many books.

 

[The Ace]

If I'm not enjoying a re-read, I just stop.

 

[K. Riehl]

I try to re-read the dense, complex novels to see what I can glean from a second pass. I make more connections and understand more on the second time through for titles like. Hyperion, Perdido Street Station, Pastel City.....

I also like to re-read the eloquent writers that write with subtlety and see how phrasing, pace, and all the other writing skills contribute to the world building.
Le Guin, Vance, Wolfe, Bujold....

 

[Connavar]

Vance was the first author who was so eloquent,amazing world builder that i felt like re-reading as soon as i finished the book.

But i have never re-read a book. I have been reading for real only a few years. Im always hungry for new reads that i dont even think about re-reading.
Because i have only read 200+ books in my three years as an avid book reader.

Im thinking reading again though the few book favorites i read a kid or just before my teenage years. Dumas,Baroness Emma Orczy,Dickens.

Heh only cause of school i read those type authors.

 

[Wybren]

I usually give the books I really enjoy a few reads, often it is because if I am really enjoying a book I will fly through it to find out what happens, but then rereading it I find bits I missed. But for a reread I need to be in the right mood. There are some books though that I will read at least once or twice a year, like they are comfort food for my eyes

 

[Contrary Mary]

Some books are only worth reading once , as we all know.

But, most people who read a lot have certain books that they read over and over. If I were a fast reader---I am only average--I might re-read more. Some books I have read off and on for over 30 years and still enjoy--some I have read maybe twice and the experience is not as good after two or three rea re-reads.

 

[Tickle]

I'm the type that re-reads a lot. I have about 4 or 5 series that I re-read yearly. I treat it like I do my favorite movies. I will sometimes skip through all the boring parts and get to the good ones. None of the stories get old to me, even though I know what is going to happen. Once I get into the story, I get just as involved in the drama or whatever is going on. Re-reading for me feels like going back and visiting old friends.

As for Robin Hobb's Farseer books, I noticed that I only re-read the Tawny Man series. I liked this half of the Fitz life more than the Farseer Trilogy parts.