kerravonsen | Coming Back For More of the Same

I've been thinking, the past few days, what it is that makes a book worth reading twice. There are three types of books in the world: those worth reading twice, those worth reading once, and those not worth reading at all.

While most discussions about books tend to be trying to divide between those worth reading and those not worth reading, I'm wondering today what it is that distinguishes those worth reading once between those worth reading over and over.

A book that's worth reading once can have good ideas and good plot, but good ideas can only be novel once, and a good plot, while that can still be part of the appeal, it isn't sufficient to be coming back for, because once you've read it once, you already know what happened. What I'm wondering today is, what is it about a book that makes it worth reading again even though you already know what's happened in it, even though you already know what nifty ideas it has.

Here's a few: style, snappy dialogue, a love of words, scenes you want to savour. For example, I absolutely adore the proposal scene in Lois McMaster Bujold's "A Civil Campaign", and also the Nikki-refuses-to-come scene just before that. It's just so delicious I want to read it again and again. But what makes a scene delicious may vary from person to person.

Ideas?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, actually, it's mainly Pride & Prejudice that I enjoy reading over and over. It's the archaic English prose, which must be additionally parsed and translated, and which sounds so lovely. It's the I'm-still-laughing-at-this character interactions. It's the wonderful pacing and the thoroughly realistic-sounding plot. I love the intelligence, the humor, the comfortable dresses, the enigmatic Mr. Darcy (who you like more every time you read it, because you see some new nuance), and the fact that book is not a long tome. For a book of that era, it's quite lively and very concise. There's not a single wasted word or scene in the whole book, no polemicizing. You get all the good stuff about that era and none of the Dickens- or Hugo-style "I'm getting paid by the word so I'm going to keep filling pages with them" prose.

Love it love it love it!

And aside from the Bible, which is a different sort of book altogether, I can't really think of that many books that I want to read again someday. "Redeeming Love," Francine Rivers. "The Sparrow" and "Children of God", Mary Doria Russell. "Ender's Game", Orson Scott Card.

I recently re-read the Lioness Rampant series, by Tamora Pierce. I remember loving it when I was 13, but it didn't quite live up to expectations at 25. :)

Beside, with so many UNREAD books still in the world, and limited reading time, I'd really rather read something new! :)

Yes, there's always Pride & Predjudice. (happy sigh)

Never heard of "Redeeming Love", but your other three choices give me the impression you really like angst! I mean "The Sparrow" and "Children of God" were really good, and they're on my shelf, but I don't see me re-reading them very often, because they were so harrowing. And I prefer "Speaker For the Dead" over "Ender's Game" because it has a more hopeful feeling.

I recently re-read the Lioness Rampant series, by Tamora Pierce. I remember loving it when I was 13, but it didn't quite live up to expectations at 25. :)

I read those much later than 13, and I didn't like them; too pagan.

Beside, with so many UNREAD books still in the world, and limited reading time, I'd really rather read something new!

With so many books in the world, I know I can't read but a drop in the ocean of them, so I'd rather read something I know I enjoy -- at least some of the time.

Coming Back For More of the Same

then there's Jane Austen...

Re: then there's Jane Austen...