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| 21 APR 2003 at 11:31pm |
AndromusGuild Master
Posts : 5538
Joined: 6 NOV 2002
Status : Offline | Rereading books after a long period of time can be a risky thing sometimes. Books you had fond memories of are sometimes revealed as being ordinary or worse, but sometimes a book you disregarded after the first reading shows new depths after a later read.
I was pleased to find the latter with a reread of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles over the weekend. I had last read it in my teens, and at that time all I could see in the book was gloom and despair. Now, after this reading, I see I was completely wrong. Oh, the darkness is still there, but there's also a lot of wisdom about the human condition, as well as some hope, if one looks hard enough.
Now I ask myself, what other books have I disliked over the years that deserve a second chance? Richard Adams' Shardik comes to mind, as well Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books. Rather than only reading new books, I may have to consider revisiting old ones passed by over the years.
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| 21 APR 2003 at 11:37pm |
MichalNGrand Inquisitor
Posts : 7058
Joined: 14 SEP 2003
Status : Online | A few years ago I found a new depth in Robinson Crusoe. As a kid I read an abridged version which was fun in its own way. But the real deal with Robinson's travels through Asia and Europe I found very interesting. Kind of makes you realize that in many ways the world hasn't changed all that much in the last 300 years - and especially the people are the same old, same old
I forgot my sig.
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| 21 APR 2003 at 11:47pm |
| Deleted User | I re-read many of my books. I always find something that I hadn't noticed on the first go-around. Mabey our perceptions change with more life experiences.
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| 21 APR 2003 at 11:50pm |
| Deleted User | I'll throw in a stupid after-thought. My ex-husband used to curse me out three-ways-to-sunday when we had to move and he had to haul all my books out to the rented u-haul. I now have all my beloved books - minus husband - which is a good thing!!!
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| 22 APR 2003 at 12:24am |
AndromusGuild Master
Posts : 5538
Joined: 6 NOV 2002
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Siren (21 APR 2003 11:50pm)
I'll throw in a stupid after-thought. My ex-husband used to curse me out three-ways-to-sunday when we had to move and he had to haul all my books out to the rented u-haul. I now have all my beloved books - minus husband - which is a good thing!!!
I remember on my last move thinking to myself after lugging box after box of books up a set of stairs , "Why do I have all these books?" Of course, after I had them all in place, I couldn't believe I had even thought a terrible thing like that!
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| 22 APR 2003 at 12:32am |
| Deleted User | Waaay true, Andro!! I can live without a husband, just don't take my books away from me!!
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| 22 APR 2003 at 1:05am |
SusieIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 12
Joined: 14 JAN 2003
Status : Online | I re-read my books many times! I moved 2 years ago and was shocked (and dismayed) about how many books I have. I just installed shelves in the closet of my home office to store some of them!
I love to re-read books, because I keep finding things that I missed before. The first time I read a book, I read as fast as I can, the second time I read slow and enjoy it as much as the first time!
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| 22 APR 2003 at 1:08am |
| Deleted User | I know what you mean, Susie. I have bookcases, boxes, floor-to-ceiling storage for my books. Can't bear to give/throw any away. I'd be lost without my books!
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| 22 APR 2003 at 1:09am |
| Deleted User | By the way, do any of you have books on tape? I love listening to a story on the way to work.
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| 22 APR 2003 at 1:14am |
SusieIntergalactic Janitor
Posts : 12
Joined: 14 JAN 2003
Status : Online | Nope! I prefer the written word. I'm afraid I'd get distracted while driving and run over someone. Then my husband would kill me and take away my car keys!
The closet is full of books, I also have more bookshelves in the room! I even have a bunch in the bedroom!
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| 22 APR 2003 at 1:18am |
AndromusGuild Master
Posts : 5538
Joined: 6 NOV 2002
Status : Offline | Originally Posted By Susie (22 APR 2003 1:14am)
The closet is full of books, I also have more bookshelves in the room! I even have a bunch in the bedroom!
Ah, then it's not just me. All my bookcases are filled, and I have a number of boxes filled with books as well. I'd like to sit down and catalog everything, but I'm not sure where I'd put all of it after that.
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| 22 APR 2003 at 1:21am |
| Deleted User | Andro, my dream was to have floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in my basement so I could release all my books from captivity of their cardboard boxes. All to no avail. Well, when I'm dead and gone, my kids can "discover" all the gold that I left behind.
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| 22 APR 2003 at 6:09am |
JoGuild Master
Posts : 3313
Joined: 3 NOV 2002
Location: AU, Qld.
Status : Offline | Gosh you're right about moving with lots of books! It really can be a nightmare - we've had so many moves over the years and have had to shed lots of paperbacks on the way (but always careful to only give away ones we didn't care for much in the first place). Made the mistake last time of giving away a set of 1976 encylopedias! Well O.K. they were old and of course we have CDRoms with them as well, but I still prefer to pick up a book rather than use a CDRom when looking things up. We were just so tired we weren't thinking straight - will know better next time.
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