Always appreciated Taleb's quote on this:
> A good book gets better at the second reading. A great book at the third. Any book not worth rereading isn't worth reading
Rereading books
11–20 of 56 posts
Re: Rereading books
#12I’m not sure when it started but I seem to read Pratchett’s Night Watch at least once a year on average for the last decade.
Don’t think i’ll stop anytime soon. :)
Re: Rereading books
#13For me, the most important statement is: >Rereading a book can give you an insight into how you’ve changed since you last read it. Said in a different way, I noticed I understand from a different perspective some of the books I re-read.
No man steps in the same river twice. I've had a good time re-reading books years later, where my opinion on the book can shift drastically between reads.
Re: Rereading books
#14I like how this advocates the opposite stance of a post from a day or two ago that argued for letting yourself "forget" books and reading widely.
I think they can both be correct, and at the end of the day we shouldn't worry too much about being optimal. Leave some books quickly, keep others that feel deep enough to return to. Read for both learning and for pure entertainment. Read books that you already know you'll like, but leave room for some that could surprise you.
Re: Rereading books
#15I like how this advocates the opposite stance of a post from a day or two ago that argued for letting yourself "forget" books and reading widely. I think they can both be correct, and at the end of the day we shouldn't worry too much about being optimal. Leave some books quickly, keep others that feel deep enough to return to. Read for both learning and for pure entertainment. Read books that you already know you'll…
"Some books should be tasted
Others devoured
But only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly"
Re: Rereading books
#16Even "simple" books can be surprising. On my first reading of Jurassic Park I had no idea that it was about startup culture - no really! It's not even from the Sci-Fi section of the bookstore!
Re: Rereading books
#17“Rereading, an operation contrary to the commercial and ideological habits of our society, which would have us ‘throw away’ the story once it has been consumed (‘devoured’), so that we can then move on to another story, buy another book, and which is tolerated only in certain marginal categories of readers (children, old people, and professors), rereading is here suggested at the outset, for it alone saves the text from repetition (those who fail to reread are obliged to read the same story everywhere)..." - Balzac
Re: Rereading books
#18Re-reading a book is a lot like re-watching a film for me, I don't want to do it immediately, but there is value in doing it some years later where the details become less certain. I'm actively aware that even during tasks such as talking, my brain condenses and throws away most information. The import thing really is to develop and capture the right abstractions. There are a few books I have gone back and read simpl…
Yea, I have re-read things for goals as well. I also re-read things for the mental approach it may instill for a period of time while and after reading it, to enjoy it (like you said), or to see how the perspective fits to my new mental models a few years later. Three fiction books I constantly go back to at different times are Brave New World, The Alchemist, and Prey.
I'm curious what books others go back to over time.
Re: Rereading books
#19For me, rereading just feels like missing out on the excitement of finding something new. A fresh story, a different perspective, an author I haven’t met yet. So I usually skip rereads and pick up something new instead.
Re: Rereading books
#20With some authors, like Gene Wolfe, rereading is not optional. I really like the books designed to be reread, each time you read them you discover something new.