Afraid to Reread a Cherished Book?
This comes from a previous post where someone said they wanted to reread a book I had mentioned, but were afraid of spoiling the memories of the book. Has this happened to you? Did you end up rereading the book? Were your memories spoiled, or enhanced?
This happened to me with Stephen King's The Stand, which I read way back in the early 80s when I was in junior high. I reread it last year, and although I enjoyed in in different ways and on different levels, I almost wish I hadn't reread it. Before I reread it, I had some magical memories associated with reading it in junior high. I don't think I can say those memories were spoiled, but I now look at the book in a different light. Maybe with not as much nostalgia. Hard to explain.
Anyone out there relate?
This happened to me with Stephen King's The Stand, which I read way back in the early 80s when I was in junior high. I reread it last year, and although I enjoyed in in different ways and on different levels, I almost wish I hadn't reread it. Before I reread it, I had some magical memories associated with reading it in junior high. I don't think I can say those memories were spoiled, but I now look at the book in a different light. Maybe with not as much nostalgia. Hard to explain.
Anyone out there relate?
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I am so the opposite. I reread my favorite books consistently. Some of my favorites I have reread a dozen times throughout my life. One great example is the Chronicles of Narnia. As a child I read them with wonder. Magic, talking animals, and so much more. Not really seeing anything deeper than the story itself. Rereading them as a teenager, I saw deeper into the allegory, but still saw them more as fantasy. Now reading as an adult I see only pieces of how I saw it as a child, and yet the memories of when I read it remain, my paradigm changed. I don't see this as a negative, only look forward to how much more I'll see when I am older still
Oh, don't get me wrong, I do reread books that I love. I've read Shadowland by Peter Straub three times, Watchers by Dean Koontz at least twice, Boy's Life by Robert McCammon twice,The Dead Zone by Stephen King twice, so I do reread. I was referring to books that maybe you read a long time ago, hadn't reread in years or decades, have fond memories of the story, but now might be a bit afraid of rereading because it might not live up to your memories of it.
Must admit that I read J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy every year! Why? Hard to put into words, but I remember my father reading it to me when I hadn't learned to read and still feel him near when I read those books.