Garrison Keillor
Do other folk re-read books?
I have always kept a bunch of books with me that I want to read again. Perhaps because they are beautiful and elevating; perhaps because they told me a truth I had not previously known or understood and I want to keep the reminder there. Sometimes I keep them so that I can lend them to somebody else when the time is right.
But re-reading can do two things. It can either make you wonder what on earth you saw in a book, and make you wonder who were you that you thought this was special?; or it can reinforce the message or the feeling and the delight and can be helpful and calming.
I have been reading some gentle, light, mindless books of late as I have found the external world far too daunting to challenge myself with difficult books. They have done their job... the familiarity of them; the comfort in knowing how it will end; and the escapism they have offered me has been just what I needed.
These books have indeed been, the gift that keeps giving.
Ahh, the love and comfort of books...
An enthusiastic "yes!" to re-reading good books. And I have found in more recent years that I re-read some books like right away ... hoping I might not forget what I have read quite so quickly
ReplyDeleteI agree with that desire to re-read a book fairly soon after having read it - it stop easy for the fragments of memory to dissipate; and only a few things held. Our Big Book Club is meeting again soon and I need to re-read the book to have some form of intelligent conversation bout it even tho I loved it! The Last Migrationby Charlotte McConachy - highly recommended!
DeleteI love escaping into a good book & have kept quite a few on the shelves that I reread at ten year intervals, they act as anchor points for this lifetime
ReplyDeleteOh I like that idea of ten year intervals - re reading and reflecting They would be really interesting markers. I have kept lots of books that were meaningful to me; even childhood ones and wonder if I will re-read them as an adult. Could be a great reading challenge!
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