I read Gone with the Wind for the first time in the seventh grade. Then I reread it in the eighth grade. Daddy fussed at me for this. “Why are you reading the same book again? You should read something else.”
I know he had a point, but I consumed it a second time, all the way to the ambiguous, 1,200-page end.
Because. I. Wanted. To.
By the way, the unsettling ending is probably one reason why I love the certainty of romance novels so much today! But Gone with the Wind is so all-absorbing and Scarlett so well drawn that I felt I knew her better than I knew myself. The second reading assured me that I hadn’t missed anything the first time. As you might imagine, because they had to leave out so much of the story, I found the movie to be a bitter disappointment.
I recommend revisiting books because in doing so, you learn much about yourself. A book that seemed incredible at one point in your life might sound silly, dated, and trite today. Or you might find that the book’s wisdom and/or story holds true.
You may have trudged through assigned reading for school with little care except to write the report or to pass the quiz. How about today? Would the same book bring you joy, or at least appreciation gained through maturity?
A man in my hometown, now deceased, read the Bible every year, well over 35 times. He said he never felt he read the same Bible twice. Why? I suspect that he was a different person each time he approached it. I notice when I read the Bible, verses that didn’t necessarily pop before jump out at me, begging for contemplation. The Bible has not changed, but I change over time. I hope for the better!
Your turn:
Other than the Bible, what book have you read more than once? Why? Were you glad you did?
What book would you like to revisit?
