Is Life Too Short for Re-reading?
A couple weeks ago, Kurt Andersen threw out a notion into the Twitter and Facebook universes:
“I’m not 100% sure, but I just realized I don’t think I’ve ever read a book (my own and The Great Gatsby aside) or seen a movie (except for It’s A Wonderful Life) more than twice. (Pre—1972 TV episodes are a different story.) I wonder how weird this is.”
Turns out, it’s weirder than he imagined; Kurt was inundated by passionate advocates of the virtues of re—reading.
Kurt called his friend Anne Fadiman (who edited a book of essays called Rereadings) for advice, and instead got a scolding. “Do you hear a Beethoven symphony just once and say, ‘OK, I’ve checked that one off my list … I better go on and do the complete works of Vivaldi now’?” she chides.
But Kurt argues that there are too many great books, new and classic, to be discovered; he can’t ignore them to spend hours with an old favorite.
Are you an avid rereader of books or rewatcher of movies? Or is once enough?
â?? Take our survey and tell us – and if you can convince Kurt your pick is worth revisiting, he’ll do it.
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