To Re-Read Or Not To Re-Read?

by Rana Asfour


Many people I know have drawn up a rough list of what books they want to read this year, making sure to leave a few empty spaces for new titles that will be released further down the year for authors they already know and like or even for those books that will come highly recommended by friends and family or experts whose judgment they value. What is most interesting to observe, and this is in no way based on any scientific research on my part, is that many of the people I have spoken to have listed one or two books re-reads on there. This, I think, is brilliant.

Reading is great. No argument there. Reading a broad range of titles expands the mind and offers insight into a world of ideas that enrich your understanding of the entire world from the comfort of your own surroundings. However, reading is also one way we learn about ourselves. We are continuously changing, growing and evolving; from the way we talk, to the way we dress to the way we pass judgment on the world around us. As much as we hate to admit it to ourselves, humans are fickle creatures. What we like today, we may secretly abhor the next and what we vowed we would never do in the future is refuted by today’s circumstances. We change and with it our perspective does too.

I had previously written about my experience re-reading ‘The Great Gatsby’ (here) and how the way I understood it changed each time I had; first as a teenager, then as a love-struck 20-year-old and now in my not-so-young-anymore age. It was not only proof (as if proof were needed) of how very good writing transcends time but it was fascinating to experience the realization of how much I, well my perspective, had changed as well. Even though reading is often a solitary activity, one is never really alone reading a book. It is you and your life and all that makes up that life that holds that book with you. When one reads, one is essentially allowing for a sanctioned invasion of the mind’s privacy. Think again if you thought reading was a passive activity!

So, ‘To re-read or not to re-read?’ That is the question! And my answer is a guarded yes. Time is precious and unless the book title of choice is seriously worth it, and by that I mean if there is a feeling it will add value of any sort to one’s life when it is read again, then go for it. In certain books, as in life, there is a kind of beauty that is blinding in its force, mesmerizing even, that will take your breath away and leave you spellbound and hooked for life. However, there is another kind of beauty that is subtle, quiet, with a power in its insistence for attention. One might look away but is continuously being drawn for ‘one more look’ and that is what re-reading is all about.

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So, I have made up a short list of some of the books that I re-read as an adult and some I continue to re-read not only for their enduring appeal but because of the precious memories they re-awaken as well. What book have you re-read?

‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald 
The last time I read this the latest film adaptation starring Leonardo Di Caprio was coming out and I loved the book's new cover.

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‘Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger 


I had to re-read this as a bookclub choice and although I had liked it the first time, I didn’t like it at all as an adult.

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‘David Copperfield’ by Charles Dickens 
I re-read this when London marked Charles Dickens' centenary in 2012. It is said that the book shares many similarities with Dickens’ life.

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‘Love You Forever’ by Robert Munsch 
I know this is a children’s book but I re-read this all the time because it was first given to me as a present from my sister-in-law Rosa, and every time I re-read it I dare myself not to cry. I have yet to win this ridiculous game!)

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‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood
I re-read this because I love everything this woman writes. This is a particular favourite of mine. If you’re in a bookclub, this is one great choice.

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‘Holes’ by Louis Sachar 
I re-read this in California right after we had watched the film adaptation with friends and their children. Everyone was saying how the book was so much better and I couldn’t remember a lot of details so I re-read it again. The book is defo better than the film.

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My tattered copy that I've had since I was 8

‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C.S.Lewis 
I have re-read this so many times, the book cover is starting to crumble. I can remember a time when I could recite the first two pages off by heart.

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