You Haven't Really Read a Book Until You've Read It at Least Twice

"You haven't really read a book until you've read it at least twice."

(Down to that's as far in the post as I've read so far.)

Books I've managed to read through twice or more.

I read in High School, then later re-read with Milady, still later we read to the kids: Tolkien's magnum opus and the Wrinkle in Time series.

I don't suppose comic book series count? I re-read the original Ditko Spider-Man series (hooray for reprints) with our young kids, studying how to read, nobility of purpose, and what makes fine comic artwork.

Been a long time, but I know I read some Twain works at least twice, Tom, Huck, and Conn. Yankee fer sure. Moby Dick was much better the second time around (third, really, but I can't count the not-finishing-it in HS). Read that fat Urantia Book through, despite being hassled to do so; then I hassled Milady to read it with me as soon as we got together. The marriage and family life part helped us to appreciate those as spiritual purposes, a memo neither of us had really received. Forty years and three kids later, still learning.

As I said last week, I just finished Twain's autobio (part 1) and now I want to read it again already. So many great little things I'm trying to remember from it, but they're just a bit fuzzy. Or I want to recall the context. Or quote him on AoS.

At the moment, I'm re-reading "Will the Real Me Please Stand Up," which I think I mentioned many weeks back. As you might guess from the title is a self-helpish book. Another of Milady's thrift store bargain bin acquisitions. "25 guidelines for good communication."

It's just good, basic advice on not presuming someone means something they haven't explicitly expressed, being honest with yourself about owning your feelings and reactions, not blaming others for how you took or mis-took something they said or did. Amazing how hard some plain things can be, compared to habitually complicatin' ever'thin' with presumption and exaggeration.

When I read it before, I recommended it enthusiastically to my wife & kids, with whom and among whom communication can sometimes be, um, complicated, believe it or not. I wanted to see if the book was all I remembered. I find I'm getting different things out of it on this reading. Still, good guidelines if you can follow them.

Then there's the books I'd like to re-visit. I sometimes think about all the classic SF I plowed through when I should have been studying or working in HS & college. I can't imagine having time to re-read all of Asimov, just for one example. Bradbury, maybe...

Especially when there's so much I haven't read yet...!

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