Any 'more each time' novels/stories?

[Craig Gosse]

I do think high school is the exact wrong time to read... [The Hobbit]. When you're younger you can be charmed by the world and bumbling little Bilbo, and when you're older you can see the interesting things Tolkien is doing with the larger & implied structure. But high school is exactly when Bilbo will read as the narrator condescending to the reader, and the whole thing will read as a loosely-strung series of random adventures. Which it's not.

As I read this, I couldn't help but agree - I've re-read JRR's work at several different ages, and each time found something new and different to take away with me.

It could be something as simple as the advance of my own understanding of the world - but, I've found, it hardly applies to all books. So, I was just wondering if any of you have discovered a similar phenomenon with certain authors/books?

As another example, I'll give you Heinlein. I started reading RAH when I was about twelve or so, and at the time found his work to be good 'action/adventure' novels. To this day, however, I can pick up any of his works and find new depths to his writing; always there to be read, but unrevealed...

[Ravenlocks]

I read the five books in Susan Cooper's The Dark Is Rising series several times as a kid, but when I picked them up as an adult to see if the magic was still there I found them repetitive and couldn't make it through them all. I realize that's the opposite of your experience with Tolkien... I haven't reread Tolkien in years. Now I'm curious about how the books would strike me if I picked them up again now.

[Shweta]

I had the opposite experience with Cooper, actually. Every time I read her books I see more there. Loved 'em as a kid, love 'em as an adult :)

Different things we're looking for, I guess?

[Sassee]

I do this all the time with just about every book I read. It drives my husband nuts that I buy so many books, but I feel it's justified, because I pick them up every few years (if it's good, a couple of months) to read again. I always get something different out of what I read. Current mood plays a big part in this.

[icerose]

I have a hard time rereading books. I have the lousiest memory when it comes to names and remembering dates and such. But give me a book I've read before and I'll start quoting entire passages before I get to them. The exception for me would be scriptures. The more I read them, the more I learn and the new things I see depending on my mood, outlook, understanding and so forth. But that, I suppose, is a religious discussion.

I have had this happen with movies, where new things will click the tenth or so time I've watched them. Maybe I'm just oblivious lol.

[Jeremy]

When I first read Tolkien’s work I was in the 6th-7th grade. I re-read them when the movies came out. I appreciated his writing so much more the second go around. When I first read them I had the hardest time with the council of Elrond, yet the second go around I absolutely loved it. My reading comprehension grew so much between reading them it was like I was reading it for the first time.

That’s really the only books I have had that experience with, others I’ve just read once.

On the opposite side of the scale though, I used to read R.L. Stines Goosebumps books as a kid. They were one of the biggest things back then. If you didn’t read the latest one, you were a loser. I loved them, and couldn’t wait to read the latest one. Well, about 5 years ago I found some of them that I own and decided to read one. They weren’t nearly as good as I remembered… I’ll just leave it at that.

[heatherleacubs]

When I was a kid, I read Flowers In the Attic (and everything else VC Andrews wrote) and thought I was so mature.

I still have them, and whenever I flip through them I feel a little sick. Sometimes a lot sick.

[Sarpedon]

Well, for me the ultimate 'more each time' book is Ulysses, by James Joyce. I've read that more or less once a year for the past 10 years or so. Always something new.

[Mythica]

I completely agree. Some of the most satisfying times I've had have been rereading a book or watching a movie again. I absolutely love learning and I love applying what I've learned.

The best example of this is watching the older Disney movies again. They just get better and better every time. :D

[otterman]

It's not a novel but I get the same thing when I read Shakespeare's Hamlet. I've taught the play for years and inevitably I find something new, powerful, and thought provoking in it. I tend to think all works of great art are capable of delivering more each time you experience them.

[Smiling Ted]

At the risk of repeating myself, I'd say some of Zelazny's fantasies, Lord of Light in particular.

CS Lewis' Perelandra - even if I don't agree with his theology, I can't deny the power of what is essentially his description of the Garden of Eden.

Kipling, imperialist that he was - Kim, The Man Who Would Be King.

More as they occur to me....

[Ravenlocks]

I had the opposite experience with Cooper, actually. Every time I read her books I see more there. Loved 'em as a kid, love 'em as an adult :)

Different things we're looking for, I guess?
Must be. I still really like the Arthurian angles and I loved Bran, but at this point they exist for me more as fond memories of childhood reading than anything else.

I have had this happen with movies, where new things will click the tenth or so time I've watched them. Maybe I'm just oblivious lol.
I had this experience with Disney's Beauty and the Beast, which I probably watched about a dozen times (in my defense, I had a little sister who loved it). Every time there was something new.

[RJLeahy]

Otterman, I'm glad I read your post first, because I was just about to say the same thing. I was forced to read Shakespeare as a lad, and it killed him for me for many years. Then, as I grew older I was drawn to his works again, but none so much as Hamlet. For some reason, I seem to reach for it when I'm feeling depressed. Maybe because by comparison, my woes seem trivial.:)

[Shweta]

I read Farenheit 451 as a kid and loved it; read it again as an adult and went :eek: because there is so much in there that I know I missed as a kid.

Ditto with Iain M. Banks' The Player of Games. That is a far creepier book than I realized when I read it in high school.

Mostly, though, I reread books when I've forgotten enough of the story to get that joy of discovery again, so I am not sure how much more I see each time. I'm pretty sure that the more I write, the more I see about story structure etc. in general, but... dunno.

[angeliz2k]

1. I'm with icerose--I have a hard time rereading things because the thought "Been there done that" won't stop going through my head.

2. I can read Jane Eyre over and over (and have done so) and still love it. Each time I find really intersting tidbits.

2. I should reread The Dark is Rising series--I loved those as a kid!

3. I had to read Heart of Darkness twice for school (12th grade and freshman year of college) and, dense as the book is, I did not really mind re-reading it. Frankenstein on the other hand . . .

4. And, no one laugh, please, but I have reread most of the Animorphs series and was pleasantly surprised by how mature and enjoyable it was. My ten-year-old self apparently didn't mind some pretty creepy stuff and some pretty mature themes.

[lute]

There is this 'children's book' called Hope for the Flowers. It's a beautiful story that I loved as a little kid-read it nearly every day. It holds much charm and wonder within it that kids can enjoy and be happy while reading it or being read to.

I hadn't touched it for a while, but I stumbled upon it once I graduated high school and it brought on a completely new meaning. I hid in my closet and cried because the story seemed to reflect my life at the time perfectly. It gave me hope (hence the title) and reassurance that growing up wouldn't be so terrifying. :) Everyone should read it.

[Linda Adams]

That's happened with me for a couple of different books.

One was All Quiet on the Western Front. When I read that in high school, some of what happens in the book had a big enough reaction with me that I still remember the reaction. When I read it, after serving in Desert Storm, my reaction to the book was "Eh."

I also picked up a couple Nancy Drew books after reading the book about them (think it was called Girl Sleuth). I'd read all of them as a teenager, but when I just tried to read one, I got only a page in. I was amazed at how awful they are!

[aonarach]

There is this 'children's book' called Hope for the Flowers. It's a beautiful story that I loved as a little kid-read it nearly every day. It holds much charm and wonder within it that kids can enjoy and be happy while reading it or being read to.

i love this book! i stumbled across it when i was about 10 and as an adult had to add it to my collection.

also, the little prince. my mom used to read me this book when i was a kid, but it wasn't until i reread it on my own later that i understood what saint-exupery was saying.

[sheadakota]

I read Atlas Shrugged in High school on a friend's urging. I was heavily into Tolkien at the time, but forced my way through the book, hating every word, but I read it because I promised her I would.

When I re-read it years later, it was like reading a completely different book- I still like Tolkien better- but really- how can you compare the two?

I'm glad I took the time to read it again.

[LilliCray]

4. And, no one laugh, please, but I have reread most of the Animorphs series and was pleasantly surprised by how mature and enjoyable it was. My ten-year-old self apparently didn't mind some pretty creepy stuff and some pretty mature themes.

There are mature themes in Animorphs? Really? :eek: I never noticed... hm... reread time...

I never really notice themes or philosophies or anything "deep" in books. I've read Twilight four times, though, and each time I caught something new about the characters--does that count?

I was really psyched the one time I read one passage that mentioned "it looked like so-and-so wasn't breathing" or whatever and I realized that he probably wasn't. I felt pleased with myself. :D

[big_black_bird]

Animorphs is a great example of books that only get better as you acquire more life experience. (Although, I still have an unexplainable dislike of Book 2. Not really sure why.)

At ten, it's cool because there are these kids and they turn into animals, and what's cooler than that? Oh, wait. Aliens.

At twenty, it's impossibly sad to watch as a group of kids learn to cope with death, and war, and growing up to fast. And somehow, Marco is still funny.

[lute]

i love this book! i stumbled across it when i was about 10 and as an adult had to add it to my collection.

also, the little prince. my mom used to read me this book when i was a kid, but it wasn't until i reread it on my own later that i understood what saint-exupery was saying.

I was going to include The Little Prince but forgot because I was busy rambling about Hope for the Flowers ;) That one too... we were required to read it my senior year of high school after we took the AP English test just to discuss and read something short and fun. Many of us were very emotional over it. So much more than a little children's book.

[Craig Gosse]

Dumas...

The Three Musketeers, (a novel about four guys with swords): Cracking good adventure story, rife with the politics of the day; yet the same each time I read it. Twenty Years After...? Something a little different each time.

This example represents not only how *I* have grown, as a reader, between exposures... but how Dumas had grown, as a writer... Makes for an interesting mix, I think.

[Moon Wolf]

Animorphs is a great example of books that only get better as you acquire more life experience. (Although, I still have an unexplainable dislike of Book 2. Not really sure why.)

At ten, it's cool because there are these kids and they turn into animals, and what's cooler than that? Oh, wait. Aliens.

At twenty, it's impossibly sad to watch as a group of kids learn to cope with death, and war, and growing up to fast. And somehow, Marco is still funny.
When I was in 5th grade, I was reading one of the Animorph books (not sure which one) in class during a break in work, and I laughed. Out loud. When the room was dead quiet.

I think the teacher thought I was laughing at her, because she gave me a really angry look and said, "Is there anything funny the class should discuss?" And then I realized what happened and said, "Uh, no, sorry."

All I can remember was that it was something about Marco driving through trash cans and nearly killing everyone. There was something especially funny about him in my 10-year-old mind. I loved him. ^^

[Aggy B.]

I never seem to get tired of reading "The Trial Begins" by Abram Tertz/Andrei Sinyavsky. And it's really short. Barely novella length. But it is such an amazingly surreal story (about the last days of the Stalin era in the U.S.S.R. no less) that I enjoy it just as much each time I read it. It always seems there's something new there too.

A lot of Flannery O'Connor's work is that way for me too. Despite the shortness of her stories there's new depth each time I read.

And Shakespeare. Though I've never been a fan of Hamlet. MacBeth and Henry the V are favorites.

[Shweta]

And Shakespeare. Though I've never been a fan of Hamlet.

...I love the writing in Hamlet. It's truly gorgeous.
I really despised Hamlet himself, though. Whiny brat. No compassion. Self-obsessed and self-indulgent. If he'd had qualities I liked, I could have seen his great inner struggle as a great inner struggle, but I just saw it as more whining :rolleyes:

I think this is the biggest reason I have trouble with really well-written works -- when I cannot empathize with the characters.

[Judg]

My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. I loved it as a teenager. I loved it more as an adult. I reread it a few weeks ago and wept through the entire second half of it. It just hit me at so many different levels at once. I was Asher Lev, I was his father, I was his mother. And the writing, my word, the writing...

[Feathers]

The best example of this is watching the older Disney movies again. They just get better and better every time. :D

Hah, I was about to say that. I never knew it, but kiddie movies are hilarious. You just don't get the jokes until you're an adult :p

-Feathers

[Ravenlocks]

I was going to include The Little Prince but forgot because I was busy rambling about Hope for the Flowers ;) That one too... we were required to read it my senior year of high school after we took the AP English test just to discuss and read something short and fun. Many of us were very emotional over it. So much more than a little children's book.
The Little Prince is an amazing book. I was mesmerized by the pictures as a kid (still love them), and fell in love with the story when I read it. I forget how many times I've read it, but it's definitely a keeper.

[KTC]

So, I was just wondering if any of you have discovered a similar phenomenon with certain authors/books?


I pick up A Separate Peace and The Great Gatsby whenever I want to be reminded of the level of perfection I want to achieve as a writer. For me, those are two of the greatest books in fiction. It's all relative, but those are the ones I jump back into and discover new depths in. SP just blows me away...the way Gene's mind just kept niggling him and his anger and jealousy and sense of wrong and right...the way all those things actually became dark and ominous characters within the novel. Knowles taught me that all the characters do not have to have names...no not need to be people. Great topic!

[sportacus]

Reading this thread has motivated me to read an Animorphs book the next time I visit my parents. I loved those books when I was younger.

[aonarach]

The Little Prince is an amazing book. I was mesmerized by the pictures as a kid (still love them), and fell in love with the story when I read it. I forget how many times I've read it, but it's definitely a keeper.

i've had a tattoo of the little prince on my forearm for about 2 yrs and i'm still surprised how many people respond to it. people from every age group see it and often tell me how the story affected them.

[Moon Wolf]

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne. I'm only 13 and I must've read that book 6 times in the last year. Every time I read it it inspires me. I love his novels, even if some of the sentences are long-winded and the names of places in French. Inspires me to learn French so I can read the original versions. ^^

[Shadow_Ferret]

But high school is exactly when Bilbo will read as the narrator condescending to the reader, and the whole thing will read as a loosely-strung series of random adventures.

See, I didn't read the Hobbit in high school. I read it about a year or so ago and this is exactly how I saw it, which is why I haven't gone on to read any more Tolkien.

[JBI]

The book that I found has contained the most depth is probably Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time (also translated as Remembrance of Things Past). Of course, it is hardly the easiest book to read over and over again, being 7000 pages.

Lewis Carrol as well seems to contain unfathomable depth. Though he wrote his works for children, I feel there is more mature content in those humorous sometimes nonsensical works than in almost all of adult fiction.

In terms of Shakespeare, the play that yields the most is probably Hamlet (not saying it is the best, but the sheer length of it makes it quite the daunting challenge to contemplate). Lear too yields quite a bit, but my personal favorite has to be Othello, simply because the character of Iago is so brilliant, so likable, despite the disgusting nature of his actions.

Gabrielle Roy, a great Canadian author seems to yield abundance as well, and, relative to many listed authors, is incredibly accessible (though not very accessible in terms of finding her books).

There are always some works that seem to yield more and more each time I read them. It's a phenomenon related to the concept of being able to read a plot summary beforehand, yet still enjoying the book. Mediocre literature doesn't yield that, enduring literature does.

[KTC]

I love Proust. I wish I could describe the physical world around me the way he could. I often revisit chunks of his work just to remind myself to describe beauty.

And Roy is also wonderful.

[Judg]

Shadow, the Hobbit was quite different from Tolkien's other works. It was composed for his children, and was more or less bed-time reading, which explains the episodic structure. LOTR is a much different work. I love it.

Another vote for Gabrielle Roy, preferably in French. Luminous is the best word I can think of to describe her prose. Even when the subject matter is rather bleak, it never feels grey. Somehow the prairie light she grew up in seems to suffuse everything she wrote.

[lfraser]

I do this all the time with just about every book I read. It drives my husband nuts that I buy so many books, but I feel it's justified, because I pick them up every few years (if it's good, a couple of months) to read again. I always get something different out of what I read. Current mood plays a big part in this.

Ah. A kindred spirit.

I keep the books I love because I read them again and again. There's always something new to discover. Over the years my collection has taken over my study and spread into my bedroom. My partner gave up years ago. He's used to tripping over the pile of Pratchetts on my study floor and just shrugs when I come home with a bag full of vintage science fiction from the local used book store.

Only, at this rate, I'll need a new house in about ten years.

[bluntforcetrauma]

We all know Lewis Carroll was the Whitechapel killer.

[Shweta]

Shadow, the Hobbit was quite different from Tolkien's other works. It was composed for his children, and was more or less bed-time reading, which explains the episodic structure. LOTR is a much different work. I love it.

My feeling is that most of Fellowship of the Ring had that same episodic structure. It was great to read out loud to my cousins at bedtime. Much better than reading to myself.

[Judg]

Shweta, perhaps, but it still has a greater sense of driving purpose than The Hobbit did. Bilbo was caught up in somebody else's adventure which he only gradually made his own. He was more or less just along for the ride. Frodo, on the other hand...

I've got to stop talking about LOTR; my to read list is already absurdly long. I don't have time for dipping into old favourites right now.

[wayndom]

Uncle Scrooge comics, written and drawn by Carl Barks.

My father read 'em to my brother and me when we were little. As soon as I could read, I recognized them as vastly superior to other "funny animal" comics. In my twenties, I briefly worked at a collector's comic book store, where I learned the name of the author/artist for the first time, and got to re-read them. As an adult, I got much more out of them than I had as a kid. One was a brilliant and impassioned environmental story (featuring a pygmy Indian tribe whose members all talk in the same verse as Longfellow's "Hiawatha") written in 1958, before the word "environmentalism" had been coined. Just one of many masterpieces from a man who cranked out masterpieces like clockwork.

BTW, Carl Barks is the person who developed the character of Donald Duck, and ultimately made Donald the most popular Disney character -- which pissed Walt Disney off, since Mickey Mouse was Walt's claim to fame. Of course, regardless of who wrote or drew the comics, they all said, "Walt Disney's" Donald Duck -- the real writers never got credited. But Barks was so outstanding (both his writing and his artwork) that kids knew him as, "the good artist," and today's collectors all know him.