The Pleasure of Reading Again
Rare question that people ask
For all your life, you may have heard this question a lot: How many books do you read a month/year? But I bet you don't get to hear this question a lot: how many times do you read the same book?
When I was young I used to read the same book over and over again. So much so that I could memorize all the scenes and details of the book, even though I couldn't fully understand the story or new words in the book.
For example, when I read "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", I didn't know what bacon was. Up until that time (I was around 10, and living in South Korea), I'd never heard of nor seen "bacon" in my life. The book explained that "bacon" was a kind of pork, but it was not the kind of pork we had in Korea. Nonetheless as you can guess, that couldn't stop me from enjoying the book.
Source: Goodreads
Oh, I vividly remember the fence, the white paint and his little trick to avoid doing the chore. :)
I was a little distracted. My point is, when I was young I read the same book several times without losing interest in that book, even though I couldn't understand the book fully.
But now? Well...
The Pleasure of Reading Again
As I get older I have more books to read and I seem to find less time to read. Consequently, I only tend to read books just once.
Sometimes reading a book - and checking off one item from the "to read list" - almost feels like a race. A race that I have to jump over a hurdle after hurdle after hurdle...
Am I enjoying reading books? Or am I just checking off another book from the list?
So most of the time I never turn back to the book I already read. But some books are worth reading several times. And I don't only mean the cases where the book is too difficult to understand.
Some books just amaze you every time you read. Somehow it enlightens you in the way it never did before. And some books, when you read them after several years, tell you totally different stories.
This winter I'll read again
When I was in middle school, I really enjoyed The Little World of Don Camillo. It was hilarious and touching at the same time. I read the book in Korean, of course.
After I graduated from college and after my English skills finally allowed me to read books in English, I tried and failed to find the book written in English. (The book was originally written in Italian by Giovanni Guareschi, so English version was also translated from Italian. But I didn't mind that.) Especially since I live in the US, I wanted to read the book in English. But I couldn't find the book neither from the library nor from book stores.
A few days ago, however, I saw the book on Amazon.
Source: Amazon
It looks like they published the book again June 2017. It was a very pleasant surprise. And I'm happy to say that the four books in the series will be Christmas gifts from my husband.
So this winter, I'm going to enjoy the pleasure of reading books again. I hope - and I'm sure - this series will make me laugh again just like the old times.
Do you also have books that you want to read again?
I've literally (hahaha) read 10's of thousands of books. I've only re-read a few, some many times. Atlas Shrugged, by Aynn Rand, I used to read once a year. Thank you for reminding me, the memory tickles. ;)
Most of my reading is now online and for research reasons. sigh
Go Be Awesome! :D
Sometimes reading the same books again and again makes me a little nervous and even guilty(!) because I feel like I should read many other good books instead.
But like I said, reading the same books again has its own charms and merits. It's worth it. :)
책을 읽어야 하는데 ㅠㅠ 잠잘 시간도 부족해서 못 읽는 안타까운 현실..이네요
책 읽는 건 저금하는 거랑 비슷한 거 같아요. 저축도 쓰고 남은 걸 하는 게 아니라 먼저 저축해놓고 남은 걸 쓰라고 하잖아요.
책읽는 것도 시간 되면 읽어야지, 하면 시간이 절대 안 나더라고요. 먼저 시간을 떼어놓고 읽어야 그나마 좀 읽게 돼요.
When I was younger I used to do this too :) I can't even remember how many times I read Alice in wonderland. Good books like that become like old friends.
I've just recently gotten back into reading for pleasure after years of study. Really enjoying it again :)
You're right about good books becoming old friends. They're loyal and give you good advice when you turn to them. :)
It is very rare to read the same book again.
However, only if there are very useful contents, it is read again.
Especially, I read it again in philosophy.
Ah, philosophy books. It not only takes more time to read, but also it requires you read several times. Because every time you read, it seems to ask different question to you. :)
영어라서 무슨 내용인지는 모르겠지만..ㅎㅎ;;
https://steemit.com/sevendaybnwchallenge/@woolgom/seven-day-black-and-white-challenge-day-3
제가 여기 @bree1042 님 지목 했는데 괜찮으시죠?ㅎㅎㅎㅎ
아, @chocolate1st 님께서 이미 저를 지목하셨답니다. ^^; 제가 시작을 안 하고 있었어요.
저는 장 주네의 도둑일기를 다시 읽고 싶어요! 뭔가 음침하면서도 쓰레기 속의 아름다움을 표현한 것 같은 책이어서 좋았어요!
그렇군요. 책을 다시 읽으면서 예전에 감동받았던 부분과 지금 마음에 와닿는 부분이 어떻게 다른지 비교해보는 것도 좋을 거 같아요. :)
맞아요, 가끔은 제가 책을 읽고 싶어서 읽는지, 단순히 독서 목록을 채우기 싶어서 읽는지 헷갈릴 때가 있더라구요. 정말 좋은 책은 두번째 읽을 때부터 더 재미있는 것 같아요:)
공감해주셔서 고맙습니다!
좋은 책은 읽고 읽고 또 읽어도 참 좋지요.
또 읽는 나이에 따라서 책의 감흥이 달라지기도 해요. :)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 어릴때 만화를 엄청 인상깊게 본 기억이 납니다. 표지를보니 읽고 싶어지네여
만화로 보셨군요. 전 "허클베리 핀의 모험"을 만화로 봤어요. 톰 소여의 모험은 책으로 읽었고요. :)
I hope you'll join the #steemitbookclub when we re-start in the new year!
What is it all about? I have The Game and Rules Of The Game, BTW both paperback edition.
You're going to start a bookclub? That's good. I'll look into it when you start the club. :)
Part of me wished that the books I chose to re-read would be perhaps more prestigious, but alas, I find myself coming back to those comfort books every time I need to escape.
For me that's Harry Potter, The Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan fantasy series), and I thinking about re-reading His Dark Materials again (The Phillip Pullman series) now that he's releasing a new trilogy.
I love Harry Potter series! I already read the 7 books three times. And I'm sure I'm going to read them again. ;-)
For HP, I actually got really into the audiobooks, the ones narrated by Jim Dale. He's really incredible, so if you're into audiobooks and you've haven't given it a listen, I highly recommend it.