Fahrenheit 451

[NotAllThere]

I finding it vaguely depressing when I hear people say "I don't read books". Or worse - "I only read technical books".

Of all of the books by George Orwell (real name Eric Arthur Blair - any relation to Tony? ), only one has a happy(ish) ending "Keep the Aspidistra Flying".

( Just checked the facts at wikipedia (I know, I know) ... at the top of the page there is link "For the American author and writer, see George Orson Welles. " Just in case someone get's confused. Perhaps a link should be included to Orson Cart as well. )

[Troll]

Recently re-read this after a gap of many years. IMHO better than 1984 at predicting what we have become.

Do people who "re-read" books do so because:

• They fail to grasp all the nuances the first time
• Their reading method is to skim rather than fully read books
• They are unhappy with the ending and hope it will be different the next time
• There aren't any/enough pictures in them to fully convey the point the author was making
• Their memories are failing

[NotAllThere]

I re-read books because I enjoyed them the first time. Sometimes you get more out of in re-reading because you concentrate more on the writing and less on finding out how it ends. And not having a photographic memory (well I do, but I ran out of film and couldn't get the hang of the new digital format), while remembering the general storyline, I don't remember every detail. I also watch films more than once. Presumably most people do, given the popularity of DVDs

I suppose it could depend on how many books you read - if you're still on Janet and John, then yes, you might find you become over familiar with the text.

[Troll]

I re-read books because I enjoyed them the first time. Sometimes you get more out of in re-reading because you concentrate more on the writing and less on finding out how it ends. And not having a photographic memory (well I do, but I ran out of film and couldn't get the hang of the new digital format), while remembering the general storyline, I don't remember every detail. I also watch films more than once. Presumably most people do, given the popularity of DVDs

I suppose it could depend on how many books you read - if you're still on Janet and John, then yes, you might find you become over familiar with the text.

But the experience, the draw of the storyline..is not comparable because as you say you already know the ending!!

would it be fair then to say your first read is more of the skim to the end option?

[NotAllThere]

I find that I do not read everything, or take everything in at first reading. But I don't skim. Consider Christopher Lee - he reads the Lord of the Rings once a year. He must know the story by now.

Sure, the second time you read a book, you're familiar with the ending - but you're able to appreciate more the route to the end. Some books - e.g. the Silmarillion (Tolkein) or Monstrous Regiment (Pratchett), I've not really appreciated until I'd read them a few times. It takes a few re-reads before you can grasp all that is going on, and, in the case of Pratchett, some of the subtleties of the humour.

It's great when you pick up an old favourite and find something that you hadn't seen before, even on the tenth reading.

[oracleslave]

Are you the person who rings up those phone-ins to choose option 3?

"Press 1 for Yes.
Press 2 for No.
Press 3 for Don't know."

I don't know

[sasguru]

Do people who "re-read" books do so because:

Your post says more about you than anything else.

[sasguru]

I don't get the relevance that books have with the property. What books you have - or what quantity of books you have says more about the owners than it says about the property surely?

It's about how to present the property for sale, like in all the property makeovers they have on TV. Apparently books are a no-no. Shocking.

[KathyWoolfe]

I re-read books regularly. The reason I have them in my collection in the first place is that I enjoy them so much that I want to enjoy them again.

It doesn't matter that the story is familiar and I may know 'roughly' how it finishes. It's the experience of re-living the story that counts at the time.

It's the same with DVD's. Mr Kathywoolfe and I have established a Christmas tradition in that we watch all 3 extended versions of the LOTR films in a single sitting (so to speak). I still find myself moved by the same scenes as I did when I first watched them (e.g. the death of Boromir and his reconciliation with Aragorn at the end of the first film) so when that happens you know that the story still has power over you. When I come to the point when that sort of effect doesn't happen then I would stop reading/watching it.

[sasguru]

You'll have to forgive Troll - he's a limited soul and imagination isn't one of his strong points.