The Power of Rereading

I am happy to report that I have spent this last week using my time in isolation and social distancing to read a lot! Being back home and close to my bookshelf has inspired me to do a bunch of rereading and while I have yet to reread a book from front to back, I have ended up working through at least 1,000 pages of a wide range of novels. This bizarre pandemic has unsurprisingly caused me to revert back to my middle school habits and read good old trilogy Young Adult Dystopian. So far I have reread parts of the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi, The Diabolic by S.J Kincaid and the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. I remember really loving The Diabolic when I first read it but after my rediscovery of the novel I have realized it, like many other books I read during this phase of my life, is not as complex or well written as I thought. It almost makes me scared to pick up other things I remember loving only a few years ago in case I decide it is not as profound or interesting as it once was. 

I also could not resist reading parts from my favorite series Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas and I ended up spending two days rereading the best parts from the eight-book saga. No matter how many times I reread it, certain scenes from the books always make me cry and for some reason, I hope this emotional response never goes away. 

I have also started the perilous and long journey of reading Moby Dick. I have to read it for one of my classes and decided that I might as well start now while I am out of a reading slump. Wish me luck on this voyage!

All of this reminds me of a time in high school when one of my friends was talking about how they do not understand people who reread. That when they watch a movie or read a novel they do it once and never again. I would be lying if I said that some part of me wasn’t horrified by this. I can not imagine only listening to a story once, especially if you like it. I am the kind of person who even rewatches bad movies just for comfort or to give them a second chance. I know we talked about this once in class but what are all of your opinions on rereading? For me, rereading has always added to my understanding or provided me with a new way of thinking about a story I enjoy. Do people who don’t reread not feel this way? As someone who almost always buys the books they read I am also curious for people who don’t reread why would they buy a novel only to never pick it up again? I’m curious as to what you all think. Stay safe.