I’ve heard a few people at my current work place express variations of this opinion. How would you change their minds? Would you bother?
The books I reread usually have characters that I feel close to. Its like spending time with old friends. Sure I know how the story goes and in a couple of cases I don’t read the whole book anymore. I just want to spend time with those people again.
OR there area couple books that I have enjoyed the way the author uses language and so I reread for the pleasure of reading those lines again. This would account for why I have read Jane Eyre four times.
Also I forget. And after a year or two I say hmmm I remember reading it but I dont remember what happens. So I read it again.
It also recreates the memory of when you first read it. There are certain books I read that make me feel like being back in the university canteen.
The argument I usually use when all else fails is to ask them if they’ve ever listened to a CD and enjoyed it. When they say yes, I ask them if they listened to it a second time.
Reading a book a second (or third) time can also give you new perspective on it.
For example, I read Susan Cooper’s “Dark is Rising” series for the first time when I was in 5th Grade. I loved it then. I’ve re-read it 3 times since then, and each time I get a different take on it. I still love it, but my perspective with regard to the characters changes as I get older.
Same for “Lord of the Rings” (the books); I liked them as a kid, but as an adult I’ve been able to appreciate them even more.
Why do people see movies more than once? Why do some people spend day after day after day with the same person?
I guess my question is, if you enjoy it, why not?
Heh… or what Little Nemo said. 
No arguments from me. I was just a little bewildered by the disparaging attitude these guys adopted. I got the idea that they’d consider it a waste of time to read a book even once.
Or why watch a movie more than once?
Reading a book is not just a race to get to the finish line and find out what happened. You’re supposed to enjoy the trip. If the book is a good one, why not read it again?
It depends on the book, of course. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve reread LOTR, and am preparing to have another go at it. The Caine Mutiny is another book that, for some reason, I find endlessly compelling. But most lighter, “best seller” fare, I’m not likely to re-read, though I might read John Grisham’s The Rain Maker a third time.
For a snappy comeback to your co-workers, you could say, “Just because you’ve eaten prime rib does that mean you never want to eat one again?”
A lot of times, yes. In mysteries, I’ve read right past important clues and been blindsided by the ending. In a lot of other genres, I’ve missed little subtleties of plot and character development, which means I’ve missed a lot of the depth and richness of the book overall.
And, of course, I reread books for the same reasons everyone else has already mentioned.
Oh good, I thought I was the only one who read mysteries more than once. Most of them are so fluffy and forgettable that I usually don’t remember who the murderer is six months later, and on the flip side – well, you can never read The Name of the Rose or Gaudy Night too many times.
The same goes for most “serious” literary-type novels – there are always new layers that unfold with each reading. And then there are books that are just plain ol’ comfort reading; I fully expect to have read Winnie-the-Pooh a thousand times before I die, especially if I have children.
I read the Hitchhiker’s Guide trilo…quadr…uh, books for the second time 8 years ago, third time last year. Seemed like 75% new material each time.
Dramatic irony, for one. I can think of several books where there’s foreshadowing that you probably wouldn’t catch til you know what the plot twist is later on.
I’d go with “new perspective.”
I first read “Animal Farm” when I was eleven. I thought it was some kind of fairy tale, not bad.
I read it again when I was sixteen, and realized it was about communism.
I read it again in my twenties, and realized it was a simplified parable about how Stalin came to power, among other things.
A good book can tell you something different and new each time you read it.
I’m rereading the Dragonlance Legends right now, which was rereleased in a collected annotated form a few months ago. This time, of course, I’m reading it with the authors’ commentary, which enhances it far beyond my original reading.
Loved the story the first time through, though. Very emotional, and I’m enjoying coming across several of those moments again.
Also, with some non-fiction books, you’ve probably learned new stuff since the last time you read it. A second reading will give you new perspectives on the authors arguments (Pretty similar to what Master Wang-Ka was saying.)
This is especially true of “great books” where you will get new things after reading them once, twice, even ten times.
I went through a time when I started to think the whole LOTR saga was a sort of farce. Some things just seemed actually funny, like when Aragorn sings his funeral eulogy song for Boromir, then says “Now let us go!”. I don’t know why that seemed funny to me, but it did. So count me as another voter for new perspectives.
I don’t think of it as farce any more, but when watching my new TTT DVD last night, I thought of the part where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli chase the Orcs on foot as “The Great Hustling of TA 3019.”
> I read it again in my twenties, and realized it was a simplified parable about how Stalin came to power, among other things.
Hopefully the next time you read it you will realize that your last reading was bullshit. Animal Farm is not a subsitution cipher. Actually, your first reading is still the strongest.
If you appreciate literature, rather than just enjoy reading, you definitely re-read your favorite books. There are plenty of analogies here, and they all work. Why look at a paining a second time? Why listen to a favorite piece of music again? If you have to even ask, you have no idea what it means to really appreciate literature in the first place, and I can guess the kind of dross you do read.
Reread it for the same reason you enjoyed reading it the first time for a start Good writing you enjoy because of the characters created or the style of writing, in the same way you enjoy a film because of the characters or script etc
Like Kizarvexius says, its not a race to see how many books you churn through in a given time, they can be enjoyed again and again like a piece of music or film.
I have a generally low opinion of people who consider reading a waste of time.