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Sunday, May 26, 2019

On Rereading When There Is So Much New Stuff!

My TBR pile is threatening to topple over and still I’m rereading the old stuff. It’s not that I’m not reading the new books as well. I have the habit of reading several books at once. I just get sudden cravings for the old things. I’m sure I’m not alone in this.

So, what have I been craving recently? Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures, for a start. I downloaded the audiobook, which is being read by Tony Robinson. I prefer his reading, even though it’s abridged, to Nigel Planer’s unabridged version. But it is abridged. I just had to go back and reread the book. It’s more or less standalone, though many of the characters appear in other books. Gaspode the talking dog later turns up as the thinking-brain dog of beggar Foul Old Ron. Young wizard Ponder Stibbons, a student in this book, later becomes the university’s token nerd and computer geek. Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, the man who sells sausages in a bun, becomes a movie mogul in this one.

I’m rereading Pratchett and Gaiman’s Good Omens for the umpteenth time and still laughing. The TV series will be starting soon and I think I can join Amazon Prime and watch it without wifi. If so, I will do it. It’s not too expensive and worth it just for this.

I downloaded the ebook of Game Of Thrones by George R R Martin, though I have a print copy, because it’s easier than lugging the thing in my bag, and it was only $2.99 in Apple Books. I haven’t followed the TV series, but the author has vowed to have Winds Of Winter, Book 6, on time for next year’s Worldcon, which I’d like to attend. It’s in New Zealand, so not too far for me to go. I was wondering whether I can get past Book 4 this time; I sort of gave up on it by Chapter 1 of the fifth book.  It had become too soap opera for me. But no harm in trying.

I bought T.H White’s The Once And Future King in ebook - it’s all White’s Arthurian books under one cover. The first one, The Sword In The Stone, became an animated Disney film. The rest, of course, became the musical Camelot. Why? I don’t know, I just got a craving. I think
I last read it when I was at university. I do remember I was reading As I Lay Dying for English and promising myself a chapter of T.H White for every chapter of Faulkner I managed to get through. I know, I know, classic of American literature! But not my cup of tea.

In my new collection I’m reading The King Who Had To Go, a bio of the dreadful Edward VIII. I’m also reading a book of Scottish wonder tales. I think I bought it for research while I was editing my novel Wolfborn. I’ve nearly finished that, and it will go back on the shelves soon.

So, why reread old books when there is so much great new stuff around? The trouble is, there is so very much new stuff, coming out all the time. I simply can’t keep up with it all. And rereading is something I do for comfort.

What do you go back to for comfort?



10 comments:

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Sue - I'll be back to read properly and thus reply with a comment then ... but I noticed and think it should be Edward VIII ... not the seventh? ... cheers for now - Hilary

Sue Bursztynski said...

Whoops! Fixed! Thanks. Mind you Edward VII was a bit weird too, though in a different way. They have just found a chair connected with his sex life in Paris...

Brian Joseph said...

Great post. I believe that rereading is very important. It can be done for comfort but it is also vital to gain a true understanding of a lot of works. As you say however, it is always an agonizing decision when deciding on choosing something new or rereading. I wish that there was enough time to do both.

Sue Bursztynski said...

Hi Brian! Yes, you do pick up things on a reread. Sometimes it’s that there has been a glitch you didn’t notice first time around. Others, you notice so,etching that will make sense of what happens later. For example, my reread of Game Of Thrones has brought up a bit that shows Jaime Lannister may not be so awful as painted, if not nice. A half sentence I missed the first time around!

Well, I do both. Probably I could read more books if I only read them once, but I’d miss a lot too.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Glad you fixed it ... whoops a chair for his sex life - I think I won't ask further or check your note out! at least Edward VII lived long enough as King ... in the first decade of the 20th century, when so much was going on.

Re-reading books reminds us of what we enjoyed and older eyes reads different things. I really should get into audio books ... the ones you mention sound interesting ... still I am reading - which I enjoy.

Cheers Hilary

Sue Bursztynski said...

Apparently, they don’t know how the chair was used. Something to do with the fact that he was very heavy.

Audio books are terrific. Some people use them for listening in the car. Others use them while jogging. Me, I enjoy the performance of a story I’ve already read and loved. I hope you find an audiobook you love.

Melanie said...

Ooh, well... Good Omens, obviously. The Truth and Night Watch by Pratchett (if I had to pick they're my two favourites). Pride and Prejudice. The last few years I've had a craving for Raymond Chandler so Farewell My Lovely.

But I always feel guilty rereading - but as you say, it's a comfort thing!

Sue Bursztynski said...

Ah, mostly favourites of mine! I am still having to discover Chandler. I have a copy on my TBR pile. 😏

AJ Blythe said...

Nope, not alone. I always have multiple books on the go. And I have a tall bookshelf which is my "over my dead body" bookshelf, as in, those books are never to be given away. They are my trusted go-to rereads and are very eclectic.

Sue Bursztynski said...

Sounds like we have a lot in common! πŸ™‚