Is Life Really Too Short To Read A Book Twice R Books Reddit

Brett • January 29, 2019 • Last updated: September 26, 2021 Given the fact that there are over 130 million books in existence, it’s easy to despair of ever having the chance to read even the smallest fraction of them. And given how little headway you’ll ultimately make on that number, even if you’re a regular reader and live to a ripe old age, it can be hard to justify reading the same book,... But I think there are several good reasons to do so. The first is that each time you read the same book, you come away with new insights. You get different things out of a book when you read it at 36 than you did at 16 (and you’ll find different things at age 76, too).

Second, even when you’ve learned and affirmed the principles of a personal development or philosophical-type book, you have to revisit them regularly to keep them at the forefront of your mind. Humans are slothful, forgetful creatures; even when a book’s insights initially made your spirit soar and unlocked a new dimension in your thinking, without regular reminders, you’ll be taking them for granted in a... Do you read the same book multiple times? If so, why, and what does that say about you? With Dr. Carl Sagan’s help, I’ve made the point before that the human lifespan is too short to read all books ever written.

You can’t hope to read a tiny sliver of a percentage of them all. Therefore, time spent re-reading a book is time not spent enjoying a book you’ve never read. Re-reading a book is different from ordering the same meal at a restaurant or re-watching a favorite TV show or movie. Reading a book is a significant investment in time—many hours or days—repeating something you’ve already done. At this point, you might ask, defensively, “So what? Since I can’t read them all, why not re-read a few I enjoy?

And since it will take a few days, why not spend that time doing something I know I’ll like?” Fair points. Also, I must say, you avid re-readers are in good company. Here are the thoughts of some famous authors on this topic: I am not sure how many books I have reread, but perhaps it is fewer than the average person. For me, the pleasure of rereading is a newly discovered one.

Though the source material, of course, is not. I used to take the same approach to books as I did to travel (and they are similar in myriad ways): don’t go to the same place twice. Life is too short. There is so much to read and so much to see and experience. Then I realised that the fact that life is short might work the other way around, too: if you know you enjoy something, or somewhere, immensely, then why not return? It makes sense when we have finite amounts of time.

Recently I reread Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. I was inspired to do so when reminded of how he’d respond when people (rudely) asked him why he’d never written anything as good: “Who has?” Catch-22 pretty much saved my life when I first read it. I was a supremely depressed 17-year-old, had dropped out of sixth form twice, didn’t leave the house at all; didn’t have a life. It felt as though I hadn’t laughed in such a long time – me, a person who loves laughing – because I hadn’t. I believe it’s much more useful to read good books twice than pouring over many books.

In this brief article, I explain why you should read good books twice (or rereading multiple times). About one year ago I moved from a house to an apartment. I try to keep physical possessions to a minimum and this philosophy made all my possessions fit into just one big van. My only problem was my huge bookshelf, in addition to books stored and placed at different locations, even different countries. When I put my books into the boxes, I realized I couldn’t even remember what most of them were about. In hindsight, what a wasted time of reading!

Isn’t time better spent on reading books that either give you goosebumps, insight, knowledge, or excitement? The greatest books have more knowledge and insights than you can absorb in one reading. Based on this I made a promise to myself to read good books twice instead of “diworsifying” my reading list. The Lindy effect, indicating that a book’s life expectancy is proportional to its current age, can serve as a guide where to focus the reading. Rereading is a guilty pleasure for many people. Patricia Meyer Spacks calls it a “sinful self-indulgence” in her book On Rereading (14).

How can a dedicated reader abandon their “To Be Read” pile (TBR), full of new stories waiting to be discovered, and waste time with a book they already know? At the same time, the act of rereading has been heralded by academics throughout history as the only way to truly understand a text. When confronted by someone who has “read that book a dozen times,” the serious reader feels a twinge of inferiority. An examination of the pros and cons of rereading should be undertaken to appreciate its worth and, perhaps, therefore to alleviate the uncomfortable feelings in either situation. Why reread? The answers are as numerous as the reasons for reading a book the first time, enjoyment chief among them.

However, rereading can also give the reader a sense of comfort in the stability and unchanging nature of a story or nostalgia as it brings back beloved memories. It can even be a social experience when rereading a story to relate to someone reading it for their first time. Academics most often discuss the benefit of rereading as a way to gain better understandings of complex texts and of the self. Teachers of early reading-age children agree with foreign language teachers that rereading improves comprehension beyond basic words, to understanding what is happening, to appreciating details, and finally to taking analytic steps (Perez, Foreign). For adults, especially in the academic environment, rereading is indispensable to understanding a text well enough to build good critical arguments. This is so important that works of literature have occasionally been defined as such by their re-readability.

If they feel the need to do so, the answer is yes. However, even if there is no urge, reading the same books twice or even more times can produce multiple unexpected benefits. Reading a book twice can offer valuable benefits and insights that may not be fully grasped upon the initial read. Here are some reasons why people should consider reading books twice: Reading a book for the second time allows for a deeper comprehension of the content, themes, and nuances that may have been missed on the first read. Returning to a book can deepen your appreciation for the author’s writing style, character development, and plot intricacies.

With each read, readers can uncover new layers of meaning, symbolism, and connections that enhance their overall understanding of the book.

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