Wednesday Book Club.

Are you a re-reader?  I am.  My friend Kristi always reads the last chapter first when reading a new book, so that she won't have to bear the tension...and I guess that's a bit like the pleasure of re-reading.  I think the tension is compelling the first time through, but the second time is for savoring the details.

We recently got bookshelves in our parlour (which may now be called the library), which have been on my list for years (but not in my budget).  We spent a whole afternoon hauling tubs of books down from the attic, sorting through them, and filling the shelves.  I came upon so many titles I want to reread, starting with a stack of paperbacks by David Lodge.

In college I read a lot of David Lodge, after I spent a semester studying in London.  (When in Africa, read Love in the Driest Season; when in New York, read the Morningside Heights trilogy; when in England, read anything by David Lodge.)  I continued to read his books through my twenties, and made it as far as Thinks, which was published about 10 years ago (when I was definitely not in my 20's anymore).  I tried to get through his more recent novels, Author Author and Deaf Sentence, but they both were too dense for me with sentences that go on for half a page and dare I say it, a little boring.  I excused him (but didn't finish the books) because he's been writing so long, he deserves to indulge himself as he ages.

So when I set my old paperbacks on the new bookshelves, I decided it was time for a re-read of his classic academic trilogy, starting with Changing Places, which I first read 25 years ago.  Guess what?  The sentences are really long and parts of it so far are a little boring.  Sigh.  I guess he isn't the only one who's aging.  But I'm going to stick with it; I remember the third book in the trilogy, Nice Work, was my favorite and the most accessible.  

Do you have any favorite re-reads?

Comments

[Destiny]

I have read and re-read Rick Bragg's "All Over but the Shoutin'" no less than fifty times and still discover a new nugget every time I re-read it. I have signed copies of all of his books, as well as beach/bathroom copies. And ... the signed copies will never see the light of the beach or the bathroom! Funny thing is that when I first discovered Rick, I lived in New England. I was fascinated by his story, but didn't understand it at all. Now, I live in the south, just a little more than an hour away from where he grew up, and I totally get it. If you haven't read it, you should. He's so good with words that it comes off as pure poetry! Destiny

[CJ]

I do like to re-read certain happy books when I am feeling a little low. I know they are positive, cheering books and that they will help my mood. There is nothing like getting immersed in another world. Literature as medicine!