How many people re-read books?

‘There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it’— Bertrand Russell

I love reading. I for one am the happiest reading.

Apps. like Goodreads keeps track of the books we have read and want to read. They even have reading challenges, book clubs, and discussion panels. A few on Goodreads read more than 100 books in a year. I can read a maximum of 50 books in a year. The best part about being part of Goodreads is that we get to read reviews of many people.

Some books are fast-paced and easy reads. Some are tough reads with not only difficult phrases but with highfalutin words. Reading is a very enjoyable yet lonely activity which can be made very interesting when a book club is involved.

There are book clubs like that of Oprah’s or Reese Witherspoon’s which give book recommendations. To keep oneself abreast with the latest trends one can check what they recommend.

Some of the editions are beautiful

I have a few friends who buy different editions of the same book and take photographs and post them on social media. Some of the editions are beautiful. Having read a classic, they wouldn’t mind rereading it many times. I often wonder how many people re-read books.

I reread a few books and I observed that most often we tend to forget a lot from a book and when we revisit, we admire the finer nuances of the book, grasp the sheer beauty, and pinpoint all the points we had missed earlier.

We once read a book that all of us in our book club found very tough. The book is Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. We had to postpone the book club meeting as we were unable to finish it. Despite postponing it, some of us finished reading it and some still didn’t.

Five stories stop on a cliffhanger, only the sixth one is complete and then the five stories are narrated in the reverse order. Every story had a different style of narration. The writer is brilliant but readers like us find it difficult. I think to be such a writer, one needs to have a brain that can visualise stories in many dimensions.

I read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov a few years ago and the book haunted me for days. Some topics can be heart-rending, gruelling, and can be draining, mentally. Unless one makes up one’s mind, one cannot read such books.

Another book club had recommended ‘A Gentleman from Moscow’ by Amor Towles. All of us just loved the book. It is a classic of the current times, though the story is set during the Russian Revolution time, one gets transported to that era.

A sense of achievement

There are two advantages to reading tomes. One it gives a sense of achievement, that you finished a voluminous book, second once you finish it can be used as a door stopper. Books like Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy), Gone with the wind (Margaret Mitchell), etc come under this category.

Two contemporary tomes that are my favourite are 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (magical realism/fantasy) and ‘Pillars of Earth’ by Ken Follett (Historical Fiction). I started reading ‘In Search of Lost time’ by Marcel Proust, (the biggest door stopper) I did not finish it. He wrote in sentences that wouldn’t finish two pages later. I often had to reread from the beginning of the sentence. I am hopeful of finishing it.

On some days, a certain book might not be very appealing although many people would have given rave reviews. It is our frame of mind that needs to be blamed.

Some books are easy reads and one can finish them in one sitting. Books like Verity by Colleen Hoover (thriller/suspense) and Henna Artist by Alka Josh (historical fiction) have simple yet very interesting storylines and lucid writing.

Reading is a rich experience wherein not only do we gain knowledge but reading fiction often makes a person more understanding of people and more empathetic. Reading is fun, motivational and it reduces stress. If not anything else at night one can doze off within minutes of opening a book.

Anuradha Sharma is a freelancer based in Abu Dhabi