I have been thinking about the habit of rereading books a lot lately. Until this year, I have been a massive rereader. I has read almost all of the books that I owned many times, some of them I was rereading 3 - 4 times a year (the most reread being the Harry Potter series, the Lord of the Rings series and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier). I have always been a rereader because I love to read the books that I know that I love.
Yesterday though, I had a disappointing rereading experience.
As a teenager I loved the Tomorrow, When the War Began series by John Marsden. I read it many many times, particularly the first three books in the series. I loved the thought of camping out alone with adult supervision. I loved the description of the bushland too. I grew up in a house very close to a national park and spent many years growing up bush walking with friends. I loved the way that angst of teenage-hood was dealt with; trying to develop grown up relationships for example. The concept of an invasion too was unique, although I think that honestly back then I was a little to apolitical to give much thought to the social and cultural messages contained in the series. The movie adaptation of Tomorrow, When the War Began is set to be released here in Australia in September and so I decided to reread it before I saw the movie.
It was the first time that I had reread it since I was a teenager and I have to admit that it just wasn't the same for me. A book that used to take me a couple of days to read only took 3 hours for a start.
I had trouble putting my finger on the bigger problem - but I think that it really comes down to the genre. Reading this young adult novel as a young adult was a wonderful experience and one that i loved experiencing over and over again. I remember that feeling very fondly. Yet reading it again as an adult it just wasn't the same. There was no avoiding the fact that it was written for young adults and I just couldn't appreciate it like I used to. The language was aimed at the wrong age group and the content was aimed at the wrong age group.
I still enjoyed the trip down memory lane, and I am glad that I have refreshed my memory of the book before I see the movie. Unfortunately, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I remembered.
What about you? Have you ever really loved a book, and then felt a bit disappointed when you have reread it? Are you a rereader or do you mainly read new books?
Originally posted 20 August 2010 Page Turners
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