Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Read It Again Sam

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I just finished rereading Endurance by Alfred Lansing.  Endurance is the true story of Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic expedition, which took place about a hundred years ago. The first line of the book: “The order was given to abandon ship at 5 pm.” 

Every three or four years I just feel like reading Endurance so I do. And I totally enjoy it every time. I savor the words and the story. And I love the characters—all twenty-eight of them.

The same is true for Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. 



And Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.


Every three or four years I pull them off the shelf and read them. I’m not sure why I reread them. I’m sort of pulled toward one of them every so often; our paths cross and we hang out for a while.

These stories are my friends. And since I’ve changed as a person since my last read I bring a fresh mind to a familiar story. The new things I discover may not be profound but they sure are enjoyable, even if it’s just getting to know a character a little better or discovering new details. Give me Endurance, Hatchet or Tuck Everlasting every three or four years and I’m like a kid with his favorite ice cream.

Do you reread books? Why/Why not? If you do, what are your favorite books to reread?

13 comments:

  1. I love Endurance--one of my favorites, too.
    I tend to re-read Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger every few years. Can't quite manage to live without it for too long.

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  2. I used to re-read The Lord of the Rings, every spring, when I was young. All three books. I no longer have time for such indulgences, alas.

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  3. A lot of the re-reading I do is with my boys (sharing with them books I've loved). They fill in for the students I read with for all those years! :)

    Revisiting a book is both connecting with an old friend and examining personal growth. We never come to the same book in the same way. I love this about the experience.

    I have a Shackleton book on my shelf that I think is called Journey to the Bottom of the Earth.

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  4. I actually have never read Tuck Everlasting (I know, terrible) but I definitely find that the books I read as a young child, the ones that resonated with me, are ones that I reread -- for example, Jack London's White Fang and A Call of the Wild. But yearly I add new books to the list of books that must be reread; these are all books that I know will make me feel good no matter when I read them, like a pick-me-up. :)

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  5. I reread books that made me want to be a writer. I just reread Watership Down. It inspires me to be the best I can be and hopefully create rich characters such as Hazel, Woundwort, and Bigwig (he's my fav).

    Awesome post, Paul!

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    1. We love Watership Down around here! I so see why you would, too. xo

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  6. I reread some passages in a thousand plateaus, sometimes feeling stuck in the net, spun about me as of such a populated world as that of Deleuze and Guattari's hiveminded authorship. Especially the year 0 section about faciality makes me fuzzy.

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  7. I am a big re-reader. Partly because I have a horrible memory and partly because some books are just so good that I want to revisit their worlds!

    I regularly re-read LM Montgomery's novels, The Lord of the Rings, and many non-fiction favorites. I reluctantly re-read mammoth fantasy series that haven't yet concluded, because I need a refresher!

    P.S. I can't wait for my boys to read Hatchet for the first time!

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    1. I L-O-V-E-D sharing HATCHET with my boys.

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    2. I'll probably use HATCHET this year with my class.

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  8. Look at all you rereaders! I'm impressed.

    I've read Harry Potter a number of times, but that was because my children were clamoring for a read-aloud. Otherwise, the only other book I can remember reareading was Pride and Prejudice.

    I was just complaining to a pal the other day that there were so many books I had still to read. And not enough hours. That's my dilemma.

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  9. Great topic. As a teacher, I read one book with students every year, THE OUTSIDERS. Otherwise, I read a few books every so often to remind myself why I love reading/writing. Sometimes, I feel like I get lost about what my original motivation was to begin with when I decided to become a MG writer, and that is to write MG stories that take me away and completely captivate me. Those books are: LIGHTNING THIEF, ARTEMIS FOWL, FREAK THE MIGHTY, THE GIVER, HOLES.

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    1. I've read The Outsiders a few times too--with students. Great story.

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Thanks for adding to the mayhem!