Yes Im stealing ideas again! Happyhippy, thanks for the inspiration!


I do this, I`ve read the Diskworld series until the books are ragged, I also read War of the worlds over and over, and...well, I`ve re-read lots of books.

I read once that its immature and the sign of a childish mind to do that.

What do you think? What do you get from each progressive reading of the same book? The words are the same, they never change, the story is the same, so... why do we do it?

I have no idea why I do it, maybe I`m the kind of childish person that I read about.

Which book do you like to read over and over?

Hmmm... I rarely read books more than once, because I don't have time to read all the books I want to as it is. Damn authors put them out faster than I can read them.

I'll sometimes re-read scenes of books, the riddle contest at the start of Wizard and Glass, little bits of The Bell Jar and Trainspotting, Animal Farm, but never feel like reading a whole book again.

I do this all the time. I've just finished re-reading 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' for the umpteenth time, and I've lost count of the times I've read 'The Dark is Rising'. I used to do it as a kid too, with my favourite Enid Blytons.

I've just finished 'Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective agency' for the third or fourth time - but most of Douglas' Adams stuff is full of little insignificant things that you miss on the first go round but are massively important to the plot

I've also read all of my mum's Norah Lofts books more than once, as good period novels are hard to come by without somebody ramming a few PC modern ideas in there that just don't belong :rant:

The Harry Potter novels I have re-read the same way as some may chose to watch repeats on the telly ;)



ooooohhh, nearly forgot - Spike Milligan - his war books.... now those have to be read twice to see if you can do it a second time and not be in tears of mirth and unable to actually follow the story line at a sensible pace for not being able to see :D

I might go out and get Milligoons war books, I havent read them since at least the early 80s.

I think I've read Jonathan Livingstone Seagull about 3.7 gazzillion times. Never fails to drag me off the floor. Rich Man Poor Man is another one that I have to go back to - the whole Rudi-Tommy contrast is just classic storytelling. And there's a Dean Koontz novel; From the Corner of His Eye which I like to read cos it has one of the best villains I've ever come across. The scene on the tower makes my hair stand on end.
I think the reason I keep going back to certain books is I find them inspirational - they remind me of the joy of writing when it's started to feel like work.

Guilty as charged your honor.
But why do we do it? :huh: When there are so many good books out there we have yet to read.
At the moment I’m just reading George Orwell again (Wigan Pier) but that’s probably because I’m writing a short story (watch this space) and need the info.
People watch Films and TV programs over again, so we are no different from them.

I find it virtually impossible to read a book more than once. I can't help it. It's the same with Films or DVD's of same......once seen, never to be repeated for me.

I would never buy a DVD of a film, ever, unless it's worth just the one viewing only.

Sorry if I seem to go against the trend on this thread. :)

Short stories for me.

I have some collections that are falling apart. There are other books which I have multiple copies of because they've bene read to pieces. :)

I like re-reading certain books that I first read whilst on holiday, I think there is a causal link there & I now associate certain books with specific holiday locations, admittedly the majority are usually in a tent with the rain lagging down outside.

I think we re-read to remind ourselves what a good book it was and to re-create the ‘inner world’ that we enjoyed previously.

I’m a bit like this with certain films, particularly “2001 – A space odyssey” if I’m flicking through the channels & discover its playing –it’s a case of “aw well, its 3AM and you’ve got work tomorrow, never mind, just watch it to the end credits like you normally do!”

When I first saw this film at the cinema and Hal refused to open the pod bay doors… chills me every time. I had a Windows 95 machine just like that.

I find it virtually impossible to read a book more than once. I can't help it. It's the same with Films or DVD's of same......once seen, never to be repeated for me.

I would never buy a DVD of a film, ever, unless it's worth just the one viewing only.

Sorry if I seem to go against the trend on this thread. :)

Im the same as shoeshine. I have never read a book twice.I think the same as coyleys, why read a book twice, when there are so many books out there that are unread.

Im the same as shoeshine. I have never read a book twice.I think the same as coyleys, why read a book twice, when there are so many books out there that are unread.

Why eat the same type of food more than once? Or make love to the same partner more than once? Or visit the same pub / restaurant / cinema more than once?

When I write, I deliberately set out to create a story that people will want to read at least three times - getting something a little bit different every time. It is, of course, debateable whether I succeed... (Hah - or maybe no need for a debate...)

Was it Hemmingway who said he wanted to write with 90% below the surface? Personally Hemmingway bores me to death, but for anyone who appreciates writing with that aim, you'd have to read it more than once to get the benefit, wouldn't you?

Im the same as shoeshine. I have never read a book twice.I think the same as coyleys, why read a book twice, when there are so many books out there that are unread.
Because the books you really like work on so many different levels. You might rush through a really intriguing thriller to find out the mystery, then read it again to see exactly where the clues and red herrings are and work out how you managed to miss them. A third or fourth reading might be done simply to savour the writing.

As for films, I have certain favourites I go back to time and time again on a wet Sunday afternoon: Brief Encounter, Groundhog Day, Singin' In The Rain... how could you possibly not watch them several times over?

Jill Paton Walsh coined the apt phrase "comfort reading" for this behaviour. I suspect we all do it :)

Yep I'm the same as Pattrica and Shoeshine, once read then it does the rounds to family and friends I never look the pages again.:)

i re-read books a lot, one of the biggest delights of moving house, was that i was able to get all of my books out of boxes, and i seriously could not decide what to re-read first!

I LOVE re-reading books. I think our appreciation of many things, and life in general, improves with age. Someone who likes music, for instance, wouldn't dream of listening to their favourite song just once ever. I find that the more times you appreciate art, the more nuances you can take in. Sometimes the penny of why something happens in a story, or of how that story relates to another one or to your own existence, only drops after a long while. Sometimes you relate so much to some characters and their experiences that is like a meeting of old friends. I absolutely love reading. I remember once when I was a child and I visited a good friend of mine. The entire book collection of a 5-people family was 10 books. I felt so lucky that my parents started me with this love of reading.