Re-reading (was re: Mr. Weierman's post)

[Joe Varo]

On Tue, 6 May 1997, Greg Montalbano wrote:

> [...]
> one of the most common occurrences of mutual incomprehension between me
> & those other folks is their amazement at my reading a book twice - let
> alone ten times.  "Why would you read it again when you already know how
> it comes out???" 
>
> My usual response it to point to their tape- or cd-player & ask why they
> listen to the same music twice;  "You already KNOW how the song goes;  why
> listen to it again?"}
> [...]

Damned fine retort...wish I'd thought of that connection myself.  A lot of
folks just can't fathom the notion of re-reading a book, specifically a
novel.  The attitude is usually that since you already know how it ends,
why bother.

Sure...some good books are like that:  Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany"
is one of my all time favorites but it just doesn't merit multiple
readings...it's a hell of a tale but once you know the ending, in this
case, it is pretty much all done.

People don't seem to find it quite so odd to re-read poetry; usually just
prose.  Myself, I just don't care much for poetry, or at least very little
of it.  Most poetry has always just seemed, well, "affected", to me.
Seeing someone put language through its paces in prose form has always
seemed more powerful, IMHO.

But I digress...

What is it about music and prose narrative which makes people listen to a
particular album/cd/tape over and over yet think that it's a bit senseless
to re-read a novel?  A difference between the "viscerality" of music and
the "intellectuality" of reading?  

Joe