I’m not sure how I feel about re-reading books; as a book lover I have to face the facts that I’m never going to read all the books I want to read. So why would I waste time re-reading a book? Sometimes there are books with so many layers that you need to re-read them just to explore the plot and the themes deeper and sometimes it’s just a matter of comfort. For the past three years I’ve been re-reading Frankenstein ever year; simply because I love this book and yet there is still so much in the book to discover. This year I haven’t felt the need to re-read it, yet. So I’ve been questioning the idea of ‘to re-read or not to re-read?’
There are some books I still would like to re-read; The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón and Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut come to mind but sometimes I think there are too many books worth reading to go back to a book. I know there will always be books I will want to re-read and some I will read again but I’m not sure how I feel about the whole concept. I’ve never understood the idea of people completing a book then going back to the same book again straight away. Having said that, I often try to read in a different genre or style after a reading a book because I worry I would get bored with an author or genre if I fully entrench myself. I would love to hear other people’s thoughts on re-reading.