The joy of rereading

The joy of reading is in the rereading; this is where you get to know the world and characters in deep and rewarding fashion.

Walter Mosley, By the Book, edited by Pamela Paul

This statement by mystery writer Walter Mosley qualifies as overstatement, for most readers can find joy in reading a book the first time. If not, why bother reading it a second time? And how often do most readers reread a book anyway?

Even so, Mosley's statement contains a good deal of truth. Rereading can enhance the joy to found in books, or at the very least repeat the joy or perhaps remind us of the joy we once felt reading it, even if, now at a different stage of life, we no longer experience the same joy.

Mosley compares a reader rereading to a writer rewriting. Most authors do rewrite their work, or at least some of it, even if just changing a few words here and there to make it better. Even the best writers don't always get it right the first time. In much the same way, readers don't always get it right the first time. We miss things, such as symbolism or foreshadowing that becomes more apparent on a second or third reading.

It is much the same way with movies. The first time we watch a film, we are mostly just interested in the story. We may not notice certain details that become more significant in subsequent viewings. Last week, for example, I watched an independent film called The Station Agent for the third time. Only then did I catch the significance of the title or realize what a train symbolizes in the film. Never before had I experienced the same joy in watching the movie. I think this is what Mosley is talking about.

He also compares reading a book for the first time to a first date. On a first date, you do little more than get acquainted and discover whether the relationship is worth continuing. With respect to books, that "second date" may take years to come about, although a few people make it a point to reread a favorite book once a year.

Second dates can sometimes be more disappointing than first dates, of course. This summer I reread Wild Times, a sprawling western saga by Brian Garfield, and found it not nearly as enjoyable as I had remembered it. The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis seemed more intellectually challenging than when I read it in college, although it still offered joy and I was glad I had returned to it.

In recent years I have reread such fiction as J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey, Graham Greene's Monsignor Quixote and Jesse Stuart's The Land Beyond the River, as well as such lighter fare as Donald E. Westlake's Dancing Aztecs and James Grady's Three Days of the Condor. Each rereading brought joy at least equal to the first time.