Coming Back For More of the Same

[kerravonsen]

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?

Comments

[kerravonsen]

Oddly enough, I didn't like L. E. Modesitt Jr's books... neither the Order/Chaos ones nor the Soprano Sorceress ones, and the main reason why I didn't, was because I actually disliked the worldbuilding in them. I disliked the Soprano Sorceress because we get a world in which the beauty of music has been replaced by doggerel, and that's too bleak a concept for me to enjoy. And I didn't like the Order/Chaos world because I didn't like its metaphysics; I don't believe Order and Chaos are like that.

I also suspect that I'm enough of a "character junkie" that interesting worldbuilding isn't enough; there must be likeable characters populating said world. I mean, for example, Greg Egan's "Permutation City" was what I call an "idea" book -- it had some really cool ideas in it. But I couldn't care less about the characters, so it's a worth-reading-once sort of book, for me.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_finn_/]

Ah yes, the metaphysics of the Recluse world. I think I accepted it because I read it more as 'There are two powers in the world, one called Chaos, the other Order' rather than applying any previous definition of it all.

I kind of liked it due to the fact that it switched the usual Good/Evil thing around at times, Black was Good, but not necessarily 'good' and the same with White. It was interesting to see the propaganda on both sides in regards to who was the good guys and who was the bad guys. That world is a lot more belivable to me due to the political machinations than any other 'Race X is evil evil evil, while Race Y is goody good' style story, everyone has an agenda, which does not necessarily make them evil per se, just having different goals than the 'main character'. It also is based on a world that is technologically regressed rather than just unevolved, so the histories and use of technology is interesting.

I guess what gives them readability for me, is that every single book ties in with each other in some way or another, and reading them again lets me locate those links and think "Oh wow, this situation is written from the other side in that other book" or "This is how that action was marked down as history from that previous book", it's a series of well mapped out concepts, even though it spans centuries of time.

Have you tried his 'Ghost' series? Starting with 'Of Tangible Ghosts' it's an alternate history style book series, which is quite well written.

If you're for character driven, Spider Robinson has some fantastic books, if you can wrap your mind around his writing style...Wonderfully re-readable

[kerravonsen]

'Ghost' series by whom?

Didn't Spider Robinson set all these stories in a bar or something?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_finn_/]

By L E Modesitt Jr =) He's also written quite a few scifi that aren't too bad. His Ecolitan series is almost purely a political space opera style on an environmental scale.

And yes, Spider Robinson's main series is set in a bar (with various facelifts as time goes by) that started with the name Callahan's crosstime saloon and bar. He's written other once-off books that are quite good to re-read.

[kerravonsen]

On an environmental scale? What do do you mean?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_finn_/]

lets say ecological, rather than environmental... It's been a while since I read them, but I recall somewhat that the main character defeats the bad Empire by threatening to destroy the ecology of their home planet. It's an application of a long-term solution to problems rather than a short term 'kill the head badguys' style of story. LE Modesitt, in his SF series really considers consequences, and applies tactics forthwith.