Friday, January 25, 2008

A Literary Mulligan?


We do so many things over in our lives. We retrace our steps when we lose our car keys. Athletes strive to repeat flawless performances. Many make the annual entertainment trek to Disney World. Well, this blog idea is part Groundhog Day (the Bill Murray cinematic classic) and part Moby Dick.

What book have you read in the past that you want to read again. Why?
I remember rereading To Kill a Mockingbird for the second time. What a difference. The first time I read the Lee's novel I was in middle school. I cared more about not losing every basketball game, like we did in football, than Scout, Jem and the rest of that crew. Years later I perused the novel during the summer and it was an entirely different read. The racist attitudes bothered me. The conclusion that I initially read only so I would do well if quizzed, now disturbed me. The novel shouldn't have ended that way. People should not allow this to happen. Oh....I see what Harper Lee was getting at....now I get it.

So what novel have you reread or would you like to reread?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The only two books I've read twice are Huck Finn and LOTF. Of course, I read them only a couple months apart (once in AP Lit, once in Novel), so there wasn't a whole lot thematically that I missed. But there were a couple points in Huck Finn that I found myself saying, "Oh, so that's what that part means"... having already read through the novel once and now knowing what's going to happen.

But my favorite book thus far in my literary studies is Grapes of Wrath. Unfortunately, I won't be reading that again anytime soon since my "unread" bookshelf grows faster that I can read them all.

Sarah said...

I guess it's technically not a novel, but I read The Diary of Anne Frank when I was about 10 for people reports back at St. Peter. I was rushing to finish it for the report, and I feel like I completely missed the powerful message found in her diary. I'll eventually reread it... possibly this summer if I'm not too busy reading The Book Thief.

JBrandt said...

You won't be too busy to read The Book Thief because you will be so engaged and enthralled with the story, description while wondering how it will end.

Andrew Fluegge said...

The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Obviously...

RobinK said...

I re-read Little Women and King's The Stand every year. It's a ritual, and one that I find comfort in. I also find King's book richer in detail and characterization every time I read it...and I find that I'm no longer Jo in Little Women. When did I become Marmee?