Something Old, Something Familiar
“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”― Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde has never been one for subtlety, but all the same, I think he has a point. A good book deserves at least a second reading. A great book, however, practically demands to be savored time and time again. The very best novels never lose their charm, no matter how many times they are read. Rather, with each re-reading, these brilliant novels grow in complexity and beauty, forever climbing higher and higher in our esteem.
That being said, people are surprisingly divided when it comes to the topic of re-reading books. Take my sister and me for example. I am constantly re-visiting my favorite novels. I’ve read some of my favorite books upwards of a dozen times, and I have yet to get tired of them. By contrast, my sister, no matter how much she loves a particular book, absolutely refuses to read the same book twice. While I don’t necessarily agree with her, I can see where she is coming from. Re-reading books isn’t for everyone.
However, the fact remains that in my personal opinion, there a few things more comforting or relaxing than reading a favorite novel a second, third, or even fourth time. I hadn’t realized how much I love re-reading my favorite titles until recently. After a university quarter full of philosophy — Nietzsche, Marx, Freud, and Kundera — not to mention various works of dystopian literature — The Road, 1984, The Time Machine — it was safe to say that I was a little burnt out, not to mention enlightened. Perhaps a little too enlightened. After a quarter like that, I was in need of something familiar. I was in need of something beloved, something predictable, and something both comforting and dependable. For a solid week, I immersed myself in some of my old favorites. I had read some at least ten times, others, fewer than three. Regardless of how many times I had read each particular book, I found myself falling in love with each of them all over again. I discovered new intricacies in their storylines and found startling new traits in characters that I had previously, and naively, assumed to know like the back of my hand. Most importantly, I found reassurance. With the aid of my old standby favorites, I found myself back on solid ground, refreshed and ready for whatever happened to lie ahead.
Drawing from my own personal experience, not to mention the sage advice of the great Oscar Wilde himself, my advice to anyone looking for a good book–pick up an old favorite. You’ve read it before sure, and you know how it ends, but there is no telling what you might find a second, third, or even forth read through. Why limit yourself to reading and experiencing a good book just once? Better to enjoy it again and again.
Image source: Kate Ter Haar
