precipitated by a discussion at work where someone looked at me like an alien when I said I re-read books. my own policy is that re-reading > reading
― ||||||||, Friday, 26 January 2018 22:01 (six years ago) link
Curiously enough, one cannot read a book: one can only reread it.
― very stabbable gaius (wins), Friday, 26 January 2018 22:02 (six years ago) link
I don't, but I don't think it's mad. I sort of envy the urge/relationship with partic books.
― rob, Friday, 26 January 2018 22:20 (six years ago) link
Militantly not re-reading is surely more savage
― brimstead, Saturday, 27 January 2018 00:11 (six years ago) link
Re-reading is something of a rarity for me, but there are certainly times I re-read, and a smallish number books I've re-read multiple times. The rarity of my re-reading is due to my loose habits and cavalier ways. Confession: the one book I've read most often is the one book I ever wrote.
― A is for (Aimless), Saturday, 27 January 2018 00:42 (six years ago) link
Find myself doing this more and more often tbh
― The Sound of the City Slang (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 27 January 2018 01:54 (six years ago) link
I think I've always done this from when I was a kid onwards
― hard to be a spod (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 27 January 2018 01:59 (six years ago) link
New books are a bad bet
― i,CloudiOS (darraghmac), Saturday, 27 January 2018 02:01 (six years ago) link
as an old person, it's handy recalling that you liked a book without actually remembering any of the details
― mookieproof, Saturday, 27 January 2018 02:04 (six years ago) link
I maintain many relationships in much the same spirit
― i,CloudiOS (darraghmac), Saturday, 27 January 2018 02:04 (six years ago) link
time is money, pal
― j., Saturday, 27 January 2018 02:15 (six years ago) link
Ah I often think about this. I never reread a book which is weird since I rewatch movies/series a lot and relisten to music even more !I think I consider that there are too many things to read to reread... but that doesn’t make sense since it should be the same for music and films !
― AlXTC from Paris, Saturday, 27 January 2018 08:38 (six years ago) link
this is what books are for
― difficult listening hour, Saturday, 27 January 2018 08:41 (six years ago) link
You sure? The thick ones are good for doorstops.
Yes, only my favourites...don't do enough of this but I have been gathering my own copies of the books that mattered to me over the years, and while I can see myself trying the odd thing now and then it'll be going in deeper with what I love. Re-reading the favourites.
― xyzzzz__, Saturday, 27 January 2018 12:14 (six years ago) link
this is all i do
― mark s, Saturday, 27 January 2018 12:18 (six years ago) link
Yes, all the time.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 27 January 2018 12:24 (six years ago) link
I've pretty much stopped re-reading novels, which is something I did a lot when I was 20-ish. Instead I re-read non-fiction and philosophy way more (Barthes, W. Benjamin especially is endlessly re-redable). It tends to grow with me, opening new portals and ideas every time.
― ♫ very clever with maracas.jpg ♫ (Le Bateau Ivre), Saturday, 27 January 2018 12:49 (six years ago) link
I agree with Sontag: "One must be strict with books. I want to read only what I’ll want to reread—the definition of a book worth reading once."
― jmm, Saturday, 27 January 2018 15:25 (six years ago) link
also evening up tables
― difficult listening hour, Saturday, 27 January 2018 20:43 (six years ago) link
there are too many things to read to reread
used to think this, now a sworn enemy of people who think this
― flopson, Saturday, 27 January 2018 23:51 (six years ago) link
im in the "there are too many things to read to reread" camp
― Well bissogled trotters (Michael B), Saturday, 27 January 2018 23:53 (six years ago) link
it's fucking insane, mike
― flopson, Saturday, 27 January 2018 23:54 (six years ago) link
implicit assumptions, in increasing order of implausibility:(i) one gets greater utility from reading a greater variety of books(ii) marginal utility of reading books is decreasing in the number of times you read them(iii) the marginal utility of the first reread of the best book you will ever read is lower than the marginal utility of the first read of the worst book you will ever read
(i) is probably true. (ii) true is definitely not true. (iii) is deranged
― flopson, Saturday, 27 January 2018 23:57 (six years ago) link
I'm not disputing what you're saying but I guess I always see reading as a discovery. part of the enjoyment is from finding new authors, new styles etc. so picking up a book Ive already read seems a bit regressive or something (i am aware this is silly)
― Well bissogled trotters (Michael B), Sunday, 28 January 2018 00:05 (six years ago) link
at this point i reread more than i read new books at a rate of 10 : 1
― the late great, Sunday, 28 January 2018 00:30 (six years ago) link
I guess I always see reading as a discovery
it keeps being one
― difficult listening hour, Sunday, 28 January 2018 01:03 (six years ago) link
http://evidenceanecdotal.blogspot.com/2018/01/progress-in-art-of-reading.html
― j., Sunday, 28 January 2018 03:14 (six years ago) link
also evening up tablesyou're thinking of thin books
― Haribo Hancock (sic), Sunday, 28 January 2018 07:28 (six years ago) link
I reread irregularly but reasonably often, I guess. Would also say that I don't really enjoy audiobooks that are new to me--I have trouble not being able to set my own pace, skip back a few lines, etc--but when you already know the book a bit having a good actor read it to you, so you can really wallow in the language, is a delight.
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Sunday, 28 January 2018 09:08 (six years ago) link
I want to read only what I’ll want to reread—the definition of a book worth reading once.
That's crazy talk.
― alimosina, Tuesday, 30 January 2018 01:32 (six years ago) link
I have the same problem as Aussie James even if I have already read the book. I still need to listen to the audiobook twice.
― The Sound of the City Slang (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 30 January 2018 02:37 (six years ago) link
yes but not that often. i mean i re-read a lot of the stuff i read in high school in my early 20s and started going thru all the stuff i wasn't assigned semi-recently. re-reading your favorite books after 5, 10+ years is essential imo
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 31 January 2018 05:13 (six years ago) link
as with anything your relationship will inevitably be different with it the older you are. it's great. but i always feel like i don't have enough time to re-read rather than read something new to me
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 31 January 2018 05:15 (six years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Thursday, 1 February 2018 00:01 (six years ago) link
i always feel like i don't have enough time to re-read rather than read something new to me
you don't have enough time either way
― difficult listening hour, Thursday, 1 February 2018 00:10 (six years ago) link
i know!!!!!
― flappy bird, Thursday, 1 February 2018 00:17 (six years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 2 February 2018 00:01 (six years ago) link
I do very little re-reading. I have a completist drive in most culture, of wanting to know about everything, and it keeps me from going deeper into works I've already read. It's insane, because obviously I won't live long enough to watch every notable movie, let alone read every notable book. It's also bad because my shelves fill up and up. I spent a year not buying books and even then I didn't have to re-read, so much stuff I've bought and not read yet.
This year I'm trying to read/re-read all of E.M. Forster. I hope limiting myself to one author will give me greater appreciation for diving deep into things, which might lead to re-reading more.
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 2 February 2018 10:24 (six years ago) link
RANDOM INTERVIEW5: "How rapidly do you read?" Miss Hanks asked ayoung girl. "One hundred and twenty words a minute," the girl said. "On Earth some of the girl students your age have learned to read atthe rate of five hundred words a minute," Miss Hanks said proudly. "When I began disciplined reading, I was reading at the rate of fourthousand words a minute," the girl said. "They had quite a time correctingme of it. I had to take remedial reading, and my parents were ashamed of me.Now I've learned to read almost slow enough."
― slouching towards depresslehem (Noodle Vague), Friday, 2 February 2018 10:29 (six years ago) link
That's one of Lafferty's bratty magic kids. I hear that in Delany's recent book the characters can inject all of literature into their brains in minutes, which sounds like something from a horror movie.
― alimosina, Friday, 2 February 2018 14:43 (six years ago) link
I'm re-reading Light in August.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 February 2018 14:45 (six years ago) link
xp lol but the point in the Lafferty story(s) is that reading sloooooow is what the kids need to learn
― slouching towards depresslehem (Noodle Vague), Friday, 2 February 2018 14:46 (six years ago) link
philology innit
― j., Friday, 2 February 2018 15:43 (six years ago) link
I reread irregularly but reasonably often, I guess. Would also say that I don't really enjoy audiobooks that are new to me--I have trouble not being able to set my own pace, skip back a few lines, etc--but when you already know the book a bit having a good actor read it to you, so you can really wallow in the language, is a delight.― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Sunday, January 28, 2018 4:08 AM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Sunday, January 28, 2018 4:08 AM (five days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This is me to a T. I still occasionally get new-to-me audiobooks, but most of the ones I have purchased were from books I've read in the past. I do most of my audiobook listening while at work, and it used to bother me that I'd lose my place, mentally speaking, if I happened to be listening while working on a complicated work problem. Listening to an audiobook of a book I already read alleviates that anxiety for me.
As far as actually reading books, I'd say I spend about half my time re-reading a book, and half checking out a new one.
― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Friday, 2 February 2018 17:20 (six years ago) link
This thread is making me think I should reread more. The last book I reread was Tragic Sense of Life, though I do reread a fair amount of poetry.
― o. nate, Friday, 2 February 2018 17:35 (six years ago) link
you know that thing that people always say on the back cover reviews of books like 'i read the last page. then i turned it over and read it again'? i used to think that was bs. then i did it :)
― flopson, Friday, 2 February 2018 17:45 (six years ago) link
I don't even own a book
― The times they are a changing, perhaps (map), Friday, 2 February 2018 23:25 (six years ago) link
then i turned it over and read it again'? i used to think that was bs. then i did it :)
i did this exactly once. with this, lol
― mookieproof, Saturday, 3 February 2018 00:17 (six years ago) link