Even though I’m a bit late, I’m going to work off of last Thursday’s prompt from Booking Through Thursday.
Have you ever finished a book and loved it so much you went right back and started re-reading it again?
This happened to me once, back in fifth grade when I first read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Not only did I refuse to put it down to sleep (and only reluctantly put it down to eat, and only then at my parents’ insistence), but I read all three books in three days.
I remember, after reading the final sentence in Return of the King, closing that volume (cuz my mom had the hardcore, three-volume set), and promptly re-opening Fellowship, ready to go at it again. I ran into one little snag, though… the words kept blurring. I made it all of three sentences before giving up in exasperation and going to my mom to find out what was wrong with me.
“Eye Strain,” said she. “I told you not to stay up so late reading. Now go lay down and rest your eyes and it will go away.”
I did as I was told. For all of ten minutes. Then I tried reading again. No dice.
Glum now, at being denied my favorite pastime, I trundled out to mom’s sewing room again.
“I’m bored. Can I play a video game?”
As you can no doubt imagine, my mom burst out laughing and promptly informed me that that was not going to help my eyes – no books or video games for at least a few hours.
Since then, few books have made the insta-re-read list. Among the titles to gain entry are:
- Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice
- Ekaterina Gordeeva’s My Sergei
- Gerald Morris’ A Squire, His Knight, and His Lady
- Brian Jacque’s Marlfox
- H. P. Lovecraft’s Colour Out of Space
September 21, 2011
Golden Bookwyrm
3 responses to “Have You Ever…?”
Mysterious_Otter
September 21st, 2011 at 23:21
I have never loved a book so much that I turned right around and re-read it. I have, however, waiting six months and re-read (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) and re-read a favorite each year for several years (The Jungle Books, The Three Musketeers). I have turned around and skimmed over my favorite parts in books I liked, but to receive the same emotional impact I need to step away and regroup. You’re heard me talk about how difficult it was to play a matinee and evening show of Fiddler on the Roof — we got kicked out of Anatevka twice in one day and if was very emotionally draining, and the second show was always harder to get through — well, reading is similar and, thankfully, I have the luxury of waiting for my emotional batteries to recharge.
stevebetz
September 22nd, 2011 at 07:48
I don’t think that I have ever done that — but that’s a great story!
Sei∂r
September 22nd, 2011 at 14:41
I’ve just gotta say, H.P. Lovecraft seems a bit out of place on that list.
Sadly, I remember too much of the books I read to do much in the way of re-reading. I’ve only ever read two novels a second time, and both times I waited something like 3 years between reads. I may have done it with a short story or two, but I don’t know that those count.