My copy of The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis…and my hand!
C.S. Lewis said that you have not really read a book unless you’ve reread it.
The older I get (almost sixty), the more I enjoy rereading books that have been most formative for me. I won’t ever do what Spurgeon did in reading The Pilgrim’s Progress 100 times, but rereading is enriching, especially when it comes to great books.
I recently reread The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. It is a little over 120 pages, but I made over 100 marginal notes. When I first read it, all I did was underline. This second read through was more active.
Augustine said that attention is necessary for reading, and reading aids attention. Being distracted is nothing new. Augustine was writing about the distractions of life over 1500 years ago.
Christians ought to be the best of readers, so how about reading, or rereading a good book?!
That is certainly affirming to me at age seventy…it seems less ‘sticks’ during the first read. Knowing that others need to reread is comforting!
Yes, indeed. Great books have too much in them for any person to glean everything there. And since we change over the years what we appreciate about a book we’ve read before may change…sometimes dramatically.