There is something very comforting about rereading a book.  Do you not think so?  I am aware that some people will consider it a waste of time.  But, for me, it is like reacquainting myself with an old friend.  Better perhaps.  Because rereading has a large element of selection about it.  I mean, I am not so likely to reread a book, which I disliked on first encounter.  With friends, there might not be the same degree of choice.

Of course, a book––like friends––can change over time.  Or, at least, our responses to it.  A book that I read and enjoyed as a teenager might seem very different returning to it in middle age.  Sometimes, I am a little nervous returning to an ‘old favourite’, scared that what once appeared a joyous encounter might have soured with the advent of time.

As well as established classics, other books that I return to repeatedly are favourite detective stories.  Now, these might seem to be the most unlikely books to want to read a second time, because… well, surely you already know whodunit?  The fact is that I rarely do.  Either the author has sowed sufficient red herrings, or my memory is gradually fading, but I can usually reread a detective story and still be surprised who the murderer is.

Other books do linger long in the memory, though, and I might simply want to return to them in order to discover new elements that I missed on a first reading.  Once being familiar with the plot or story of a book, it is sometimes then possible to focus more on the language, or the characterisation, or the author’s skill in unfolding the narrative.

I have found as I have got older, I have also returned to some of my favourite books from when I was a child.  A second childhood?  Senile regression?  I think more, it is a question of comfort.  Like Linus’ security blanket, it is like finding a safe space, and settling down to sentimental reminiscences of a time when things seemed more innocent. 

Of course, there is one kind of book, which I most enjoy rereading.

The ones I have written myself.

© Fergus Longfellow

Fergus Longfellow rarely misses the chance to plug his own writing.