Thursday, June 02, 2005

More about books

In her book report, Kathy said:

I read many books more than once and parts of many books even more than that. I’m not really a picky reader so if I don’t have something new to read and must read something I’ll pick up an old favorite. What I’m saying is that just because I’ve read something multiple times doesn’t necessary indicate that it “means a lot” to me.


I agree. I've read The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving multiple times, but would not call it hugely meaningful, just entertaining. Likewise Helter Skelter (Vincent Bugliosi) and The Book of Lists (David Wallechinsky, Amy Wallace).

On the other hand, some that I've read only once still resonate with me:
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
McTeague by Frank Norris
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser

Ah. That's better. I realized I had forgotten Dickens almost as soon as I posted the last entry.

1 comment:

Kathy Keller said...

Helter Skelter, how funny. I must have read parts of that book 50 times. I see it's no longer on an of my shelves. I must have donated it when Quentin came along, probably because of the pictures.