I HAVE ALWAYS IMAGINED THAT PARADISE WILL BE A KIND OF LIBRARY

I HAVE ALWAYS IMAGINED THAT PARADISE WILL BE A KIND OF LIBRARY

Sunday, January 25, 2015

ON RE-READING BOOKS




I have expressed my feelings and shared my thoughts, on reading fiction, in the INTRODUCTION.

Here, I would like to mention that the same feeling of immense happiness and a sense of well-being, prevails over me whenever I re-read one of my favourite books. 

In fact, re-reading a book actually seems to enhance the pleasure and increase the level of enjoyment...!

It's rather like revisiting someone who is a sincere and loyal friend, decent and compassionate person, and an interesting and entertaining companion. 

Moreover, I even get to learn something new each time I read a certain book again.

At this point, a confusion can arise, that how can new knowledge be gained from re-reading a book of which the story and it's conclusion is already known... unless maybe the reader is somewhat lacking in either concentration or memory that he or she keeps forgetting the contents of the book...!  

Well, I guess I should confess that this does happen to me sometimes...! Especially if I am re-reading a book after more than five years of interval, and have read numerous other books in between.

However, my claim doesn't really pertain to learning new facts, instead it's more about understanding and appreciating the same old words of wisdom in a better manner.

As we go through life, we experience new events, encounter different people, and feel varying emotions. This process often results in our mental maturity, sometimes accompanied with wisdom, personality development, character strengthening, reinforced values, altered attitudes, added insight, fresh perceptions ...and though the book remains the same, we read it again as a different, and if we are fortunate, improved, person. 

Hence, at the various stages of our lives, every time we read the same book again, we usually manage to learn something new...!








15 comments:

  1. Re-reading books is one of the best pastimes I have. And it's extremely enjoyable. Interestingly whenever I re-read a book I get another insight which I had missed originally and that is what is the mist fun part of it.

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    1. Yes, as I mentioned, that's exactly how I feel about it...! Thanks for sharing...!

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  2. Yes. I enjoy re reading books too. But mostly the books I enjoy to re read are the classic ones. Jane Eyre ( truth compels me to write that after reading it twice I now skip over paragraphs). Skipping over paragraphs are a no no in Louise May Alcott series though. Can never get enough of JO. To Kill a Mocking Bird tell us so much too.

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    1. Yes, I have read all the books that you mentioned. They are truly wonderful...! Especially, I have re-read Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" series many times, and always find the books delightful...! Anyway, thanks for sharing...!

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  3. I have an addictive personality when it comes to books. If I love a certain author I tend to amass all their works. The result is that I have a huge accumulation of books (mainly British authors) . I look upon authors as friends and will "re-visit" them on a yearly basis - I'm a very loyal friend :-)

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    1. Hi, Miss Marple (or should I say, Carola...!),

      I am both happy and honoured, that you commented on my blog...!

      Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts, as I am the same way...!

      I have been checking out your books on the internet and your "Leslie Sister Mystery Series" seemed so interesting to me, that I have ordered your book "A Deadly Prediction" through www.amazon.de. Will be sure to rate it on Goodreads, once I get a chance to read it...!

      Regards,
      Ramla Zareen

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    2. Thanks so much, Ramla. It's my pleasure and I am so glad I found out about your blog - great way to reach out to those of us who love cozy mysteries!

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    3. Hi Carola,

      As always a pleasure and an honour to have you comment here, ...and thanks a lot for appreciating my blog...!

      You might be glad to know that I finished reading your book: "A Deadly Prediction" today, and you are now added to MY LIKED "MYSTERY" AUTHORS list :-)

      Regards,
      Ramla Zareen

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  4. I definitely believe in re-reading books. Some I re-read the way some people eat sweets--for comfort when I'm down (that's mostly the childhood favorites). Some I re-read because they were really good and I want to enjoy them again. And I find that (especially for the good books), I always discover new things. I don't think it's so much inattention the first time, as that a good book has more in it than you can take in at once. I have some audio books that just sit on my MP3 and get listened to repeatedly when I'm too lazy to go get a new book. Dorothy Sayer's "Gaudy Night" is one of those--and having listened to it many times, I now find I can ignore the story, as it were, and see the structure. Great way to learn more about the craft. I think I need to do that with more books that I really like, so I can understand why.

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    1. Hi Rebecca,

      It's always a pleasure and an honour to have you comment on my blog :-)

      And yes, I agree with you on all the points you mentioned about re-reading books...! :-) Though I admit , I prefer proper paper books as opposed to audio books...!

      By the way, Dorothy L. Sayers is one of my favourite authors as well :-)

      Anyway, thanks for sharing your feelings and thoughts on this topic, and looking forward to having you visit my blog again soon...!

      Regards,
      Ramla Zareen

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  5. Hi Ramla (Murder by Death here but posting anonymously)

    Really nice blog you've got with so many interesting topics!

    I love re-reading almost as much as I love reading new-to-me books. I haven't done nearly as much re-reading lately as I usually do, but like you said, it's like visiting with old friends. Classics or cozies or anything in between, if I liked the writing and felt like I escaped into the setting of the book, I'll re-visit that place again and again.

    Plus, as you also mentioned above, with mysteries, if enough time goes by (or enough books) I'm likely to forget "whodunnit" - so it's almost new to me all over again. :)

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    1. Hi Murder by Death...! :-)

      I am glad that you are finding my blog topics interesting ...and that we seem to share the same feelings and thought on re-reading books :-)

      Anyway, thanks for appreciating my blog ...and for commenting...!

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    2. By the way, I am finding your own blog,

      http://jenn.booklikes.com/blog

      ...interesting and informative as well...!

      Your insights on the various books are very useful when I am researching for 'new-to-me' books :-)

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  6. Ramla -- There's so much in your blog I want to explore! Although we share many of the same favorite authors, I see new ones to try.
    I do like to re-read books by favorite authors. By the time I begin to re-read, I've become acquainted with the main characters, learned their quirks and how they interact -- my favorite things about series. Also, I too often forget the solution to the crime so the book becomes fresh for me again ;)

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    1. Hi Meg, 

      I am glad to know that we not only share many of the same favourite authors, but that we also seem to have similar feelings and thoughts on re-reading books :-)

      You are welcome to visit and browse around any time you wish to, ...it would especially make me happy if you manage to discover new favourite authors based on my recommendations :-)

      Anyway, thanks for appreciating my blog ...and for sharing your views on this topic...!

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