The Beauty of Re-Reading

For today’s post, I have decided to take a look at re-reading.   I have been an avid reader for my entire life, and I have been re-reading favorite books for basically just as long!   Now, I know some people have trouble with the concept of re-reading.    I have often been asked, usually by those who aren’t readers to begin with, why I would want to have a large library of books.    These people do not understand that even if I have read the book, and therefore “know what happens,” does not mean that I would not love to read it again.

Re-reading serves different purposes.   One purpose is to refresh your knowledge of a subject, and that comes in handy for those of us that also write!    A second purpose is to gain a new perspective on the subject matter.    By that, I mean that each different phase of our lives will impact how we perceive what we are reading.   This is especially true for novels and poetry, where the meaning of the content will change with our evolving life perspectives!   The third purpose of re-reading is for comfort.    This is similar to how I have described having television shows and films I re-watch because they are comforting to me.    When you have already read a novel, then you know the basic plot, and this means there are no surprises.   In this way it can be truly comforting to know what will happen, and that it will not change.   It is like wrapping yourself up in a cozy beloved blanket, or at least this is how I feel reading some of my favorite novels again!

When you re-read something you once loved you may find new things you did not notice on the first reading.   This is especially true of more complex literature, and it helps us appreciate foreshadowing events in a way that we did not upon a first reading!   

I am aware that not everyone who reads likes to re-read, and that is fine if it is your personal choice.    But I do encourage those that are curious about re-reading to give it a shot.   Pick up an old novel that you loved, do you still love it (sometimes our opinions change with life experience also) and what does it mean to you now?    If pressed for time, re-reading poetry is a great start since many poems are short (this would not be the case with epic poetry obviously).   

I hope that you have enjoyed this brief post about the beauty of re-reading.   Do you re-read?   Will you try it out?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!