On re-reading

Booker Prize excitement live in M10 last year

Last year, after Eleanor Catton won the Booker Prize, I read an article written by one of the Booker judges who talked about how they chose the winner.  One of their main criteria was: does the book deliver upon a reread?  And again, on a third read?  The Luminaries has so many layers to it that it could be enjoyed, and new elements discovered, each time they reread it.

This reminded me of Kate De Goldi's love of rereading (she always seems to be talking about this with Kim Hill), and mine, when I was young.  My all-time favourite book/series when I was a kid was Anne of Green Gables and all the ensuing novels.  I can't even tell you how many times I've reread each of those books.  It was as though Anne and Diana and Gilbert became friends who I could return to, almost converse with, whenever I picked up my worn, well-loved copies.

I can think of many authors I reread as a kid: Cynthia Voigt (especially the Tillerman series), Judy Blume, Tessa Duder...   Recently I was talking to a ten-year-old friend of mine who's another avid reader and rereader, and she said that her take on a good book is one that you can reread at least three times.

This made me think: perhaps a good way to encourage kids to read is to read them a novel, and then let them reread it themselves afterwards?  I'm reading Joy Cowley's latest book, Dunger, to the class at the moment.  Perhaps you could try getting it out of the library and giving it a reread?

What do you think?  Are you a rereader?

~ Amy

Do returns diminish on rereading and re-rereading? The Guardian
Rereading The Guardian