posted a note on Substack that asked a question I now want to ask all of you, my dear readers:
What novel have you re-read the most (and why)?
For me, it’s a three-way tie between Michael Chabon’s WONDER BOYS, Joseph Heller’s CATCH-22, and Frank Herbert’s DUNE. I’ve discussed WONDER BOYS’ impact on me in one of these weekly questions before; the book shook me, top to bottom, and propelled me back to university to study fiction rather than film. CATCH-22 is probably the grimmest and funniest book I’ve ever read and has informed so much of my understanding of the world and human beings. DUNE is…well, it’s as close to the Bible as it gets for me; I know the novel inside and out and can return to it as often as I want without ever growing tired of it.
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Easy — Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. My vote for greatest novel ever. Every time, I’m astonished that an 18-year-old woman (or maybe still a girl) pulled off that feat.
Several: Dune, of course. I first read it 45 (or more) years ago and have revisited it many times since then. Herbert's world-building is phenomenal! The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende, is another perennial favorite - her world-building and the complexity of her characters is beyond superior, and this is the book that hooked me on magical realism (one of my favorite genres). Shikasta by Doris Lessing - It's in a genre all its own as are most of Lessing's works. She was one of the great women writers when I was in college. And, of course, Ursula K LeGuin's Earthsea books and Hainish books. She was truly one of the greats. Her style was inimitable - she could, in simple straightforward words, evoke great complexity. There are many more that I've re-read over the decades, but these came to mind instantly.
I’ve probably read Good Omens once a year since it came out in paperback, and Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency a similar number of times. I wouldn’t argue that either are Important Books, but I love the style! the prose! the humour! and have basically been searching my whole life for another book or series that comes close to the joy I get from living in those worlds.
Also: At any given time I’m invariably midway through a PG Wodehouse for similarly delicious reasons. Blandings or Jeeves, for preference. It’s astonishing what he achieves in some of the later Jeeves novels. He plays the English language like Yo-Yo Ma plays Bach.
I reread books a lot more as a child so the truthful answer would probably be Enid Blyton’s “Malory Towers” series. More recently, obvious candidates are “The Outsiders” by SE Hinton (still a children’s book and sought out specifically after I watched the movie) and Different Seasons by Stephen King, particularly the stories which became film adaptations “Stand By Me” (which I saw before I read the book) and “The Shawshank Redemption” (which came later). Stephen King is my favourite author. There is just something about his work that is so absorbing and readable. His description of night falling in the woods in “The Body” is particularly memorable and has always stayed with me, even though I first read it well over thirty years ago.
The only book I've read three times is Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I greatly enjoy the concept. As a mathematician, I was hooked from the first chapter when the main character is a mathematician.
If we include short stories, then I've read many of Edgar Allan Poe's multiple times, but the ones I've read the most are "Tell-tale heart" and "The black cat". I've also read some Asimov stories many times, such as "The dead past" (my favorite), "Nightfall", and "There breeds a man". Another short story I've read multiple times is "The merchant and the alchemist's gate" by Ted Chiang. I've read many of his stories multiple times, but this one is one I re-visit often.
Though he was about ten years my senior in real life, Iain Banks somehow managed to capture all of the confusion and disappointment in the world (and previous generations) that overwhelmed many of us Gen Xers at the time. There was an honesty to his non-sci-fi writing that I fell in love with instantly, and while I've enjoyed almost everything I've read of his, nothing else comes as close to exploring that awkward space in every person's life when you recognize you're no longer a young person, but you're having a hard time finding footing as a grown-up.
The only thing that captures that same feeling as The Crow Road, at least for me, was Joachim Trier's recent masterful film, The Worst Person in the World.
Then add in a dash of mystery, knit deeply into family dysfunction and secrets, and you have, in my opinion, a touchstone coming of age novel.
I think its Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn. I read it once as I got it, again for an essay for my A-Level English Language, and then read the half of it in the past again during a read of Zahn's latest (prequel era) trilogy, and the half in the reign of the empire between the first and third book in his first canon trilogy. Hopefully that made sense. Star Wars timelines are always fun
The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi) by Herman Hesse and Stranger in a Strange Land, both the first shorter publication and the longer original version, by Robert Heinlein.
I had the answer before I even finished reading the email header. Dune. Of course. Its world building, the complexity and depth of thought put into each faction and their underlying philosophies. God Emperor would be next, if only that I had to read it multiple times at different ages to understand it with the maturity of hindsight and it still rewards a careful reader. I read the Lord of the Rings frequently too, mostly because as a deaf reader I didn’t also have access to music and television during my 70s-90s childhood and adolescence. But LotR is unreadable as an adult.
Easy — Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. My vote for greatest novel ever. Every time, I’m astonished that an 18-year-old woman (or maybe still a girl) pulled off that feat.
Several: Dune, of course. I first read it 45 (or more) years ago and have revisited it many times since then. Herbert's world-building is phenomenal! The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende, is another perennial favorite - her world-building and the complexity of her characters is beyond superior, and this is the book that hooked me on magical realism (one of my favorite genres). Shikasta by Doris Lessing - It's in a genre all its own as are most of Lessing's works. She was one of the great women writers when I was in college. And, of course, Ursula K LeGuin's Earthsea books and Hainish books. She was truly one of the greats. Her style was inimitable - she could, in simple straightforward words, evoke great complexity. There are many more that I've re-read over the decades, but these came to mind instantly.
I re-read so many of my favorites: Jane Eyre, Mary Magdalene Revealed, The English Patient, and The Shadow of the Wind.
I'm just reading Dune for the first time because I love the movies. I'm digging it so far!!
I’ve probably read Good Omens once a year since it came out in paperback, and Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency a similar number of times. I wouldn’t argue that either are Important Books, but I love the style! the prose! the humour! and have basically been searching my whole life for another book or series that comes close to the joy I get from living in those worlds.
Also: At any given time I’m invariably midway through a PG Wodehouse for similarly delicious reasons. Blandings or Jeeves, for preference. It’s astonishing what he achieves in some of the later Jeeves novels. He plays the English language like Yo-Yo Ma plays Bach.
I reread books a lot more as a child so the truthful answer would probably be Enid Blyton’s “Malory Towers” series. More recently, obvious candidates are “The Outsiders” by SE Hinton (still a children’s book and sought out specifically after I watched the movie) and Different Seasons by Stephen King, particularly the stories which became film adaptations “Stand By Me” (which I saw before I read the book) and “The Shawshank Redemption” (which came later). Stephen King is my favourite author. There is just something about his work that is so absorbing and readable. His description of night falling in the woods in “The Body” is particularly memorable and has always stayed with me, even though I first read it well over thirty years ago.
The only book I've read three times is Foundation by Isaac Asimov. I greatly enjoy the concept. As a mathematician, I was hooked from the first chapter when the main character is a mathematician.
If we include short stories, then I've read many of Edgar Allan Poe's multiple times, but the ones I've read the most are "Tell-tale heart" and "The black cat". I've also read some Asimov stories many times, such as "The dead past" (my favorite), "Nightfall", and "There breeds a man". Another short story I've read multiple times is "The merchant and the alchemist's gate" by Ted Chiang. I've read many of his stories multiple times, but this one is one I re-visit often.
Though he was about ten years my senior in real life, Iain Banks somehow managed to capture all of the confusion and disappointment in the world (and previous generations) that overwhelmed many of us Gen Xers at the time. There was an honesty to his non-sci-fi writing that I fell in love with instantly, and while I've enjoyed almost everything I've read of his, nothing else comes as close to exploring that awkward space in every person's life when you recognize you're no longer a young person, but you're having a hard time finding footing as a grown-up.
The only thing that captures that same feeling as The Crow Road, at least for me, was Joachim Trier's recent masterful film, The Worst Person in the World.
Then add in a dash of mystery, knit deeply into family dysfunction and secrets, and you have, in my opinion, a touchstone coming of age novel.
The Crow Road by Iain Banks
I think its Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn. I read it once as I got it, again for an essay for my A-Level English Language, and then read the half of it in the past again during a read of Zahn's latest (prequel era) trilogy, and the half in the reign of the empire between the first and third book in his first canon trilogy. Hopefully that made sense. Star Wars timelines are always fun
The Glass Bead Game (Magister Ludi) by Herman Hesse and Stranger in a Strange Land, both the first shorter publication and the longer original version, by Robert Heinlein.
It's tie between Swann's Way by Proust, and Blood Meridian by McCarthy.
Probably Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I re-read it every couple of years.
I had the answer before I even finished reading the email header. Dune. Of course. Its world building, the complexity and depth of thought put into each faction and their underlying philosophies. God Emperor would be next, if only that I had to read it multiple times at different ages to understand it with the maturity of hindsight and it still rewards a careful reader. I read the Lord of the Rings frequently too, mostly because as a deaf reader I didn’t also have access to music and television during my 70s-90s childhood and adolescence. But LotR is unreadable as an adult.