The really good stories have to be read more than once. That is what makes them really good stories. They’re full of depth and imagination. It’s impossible to catch everything on the first time through. I think the writers intended that way. They want you to come back and visit them again and again. To discover new layers that you didn’t notice before. To really become a part of the world that they have created.
I have experienced this first hand with my favorite deities of books: the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. I have these books on audio. I have listened to each one more than 100 times. They are read by some the most amazing vocal actors there are. The first time through the books you spend just listening to the story. The next time or the next few times you listen or read, you start to pick up on all of the nuances of the story. You notice all the little things that they put in to entice you and move the story along. The world that they’ve created starts to come alive because you know the story and now you can pay close attention to the details.
I’ve also read books were the details of the story feel forced. It’s hard enough to get through the book the first time much less to pick it up again. The characters don’t act as they should. The plot turns and twists in ways that are unnatural. The world that the author creates isn’t enticing at all. How these books get published is a mystery. How people make it to the end of them is a greater mystery.
Do you agree? What books are you in love with? Which ones have you read over and over?
David Willis 