A couple of weeks ago (I meant to post this sooner!), I attended a show called Bookworm at the Hamilton Fringe festival, and it was 9 bucks well-spent.
In Bookworm, musician Corin Raymond recalls his childhood through books. Corin grew up with an amazing father who loved literature and passed that love onto his son. In the one hour show Corin talks about his favorite books, his love of reading aloud, Spiderman, Greek myths, and growing up in a library. He is born storyteller and I could have listened to him all night.
The one part of the show that stuck with me was Corin’s passionate argument that favorite books, like good friends, should be revisited periodically. I too like to reread my favorites, but, until now, I have always felt slightly guilty about this practice. I have a whole bookcase full of unread novels after all.
Bookworm got me thinking about my favorite books, old and new, and I want to share some of my favorite rereads with you.
Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood: this novel captures the cruel social world of preadolescent girls, and the terror that comes from being ostracized by the in-crowd at school. My stomach does flips whenever I read this novel, and, like everything Atwood does, the writing is beautiful.
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez: a masterpiece that I read over and over for its beauty and magic. This is an epic novel of family, colonization, political corruption, and love. I’ve read this four times and I still can’t keep the characters straight in my head, but I don’t think we are meant to tell them apart, and that is the point: history, for better or worse, repeats.
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger: do I even need to explain? I didn’t think so.
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: better than LOTR in my mind. When I first read this in junior high, I was terrified by Gollum, and the dragon, Smaug. The last time I read this (a few months ago), I was struck by Tolkien’s manipulation of the hero’s journey. In Bilbo, he created the reluctant hero who does not slay the dragon, but, instead, overcomes his fears. I also love that Bilbo doesn’t receive a proper hero’s welcome when he returns to the shire. Instead, his family and neighbours are selling off his stuff and seem rather put-out by the idea that he is alive and well.
Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White: I still cry at the end.
What are you rereading?
For a great review of Bookworm check out the blog “Not my Typewriter“
julie – truth be told, i re-read a number of books shamelessly. they are like old friends, transporting me back to when i first read them, and allowing me to lose myself in words and stories that i love.
i have read catcher in the rye about 35 times. honestly. it still makes me giggle out loud and cringe at the painful parts. the fact that everyone does not read this book repeatedly is one of the greatest mysteries in my life.
i also read rohinton mistry over and over. doesn’t matter which book, but i think i’ve read ‘a fine balance’ more than any of them. BEFORE oprah stamped it with her gigantic ‘o’, i’ll have you know. (and this is also the first book i read twice in a row – literally, i finished it, turned it over, and started again. i was living in india at the time, and i still own the old, falling-apart copy that i happened upon in a village in the foothills of the himalayas. love. this. book.)
as i alluded to on facebook, i have also read ‘i know this much is true’ a handful of times. i could also read anything by atwood repeatedly, although i think i’m with you on cat’s eye. i love her short stories as well.
there are many, many others…but that’s a start. i don’t want to hijack your blog with my musings…
By: mama_k on August 8, 2011
at 11:37 pm
35 times! Wow, that’s impressive. I can how it happens though. I can pick up a copy of Catcher in the Rye with the intention of reading a couple of favorite pages and the next thing you know, I read the whole book.
Go ahead, hijack the blog. I want to hear more about your rereads!
By: juliehgordon on August 9, 2011
at 6:47 am
Speaking of rereading. Katie at Cakes, Tea, and Dreams is rereading Gone with the Wind
http://katieleigh.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/rereading-gone-with-the-wind-part-1/
By: juliehgordon on August 10, 2011
at 4:07 pm