That's
what I heard from my family years ago at Disney World after first
riding the Thunder Mountain Railway. We'd enjoyed everything about
it, so let's do it again.
Often
if I've enjoyed something, I like to repeat the experience. Vacation
destinations, restaurants, favorite movies, novels. Especially
novels.
But
with books, I usually let some time pass before re-reading. Until
this weekend, I can remember only one book besides the Bible that, as soon as the ride
ended, I immediately returned to the front of the line.
The
book that prompted that response was Stephen Bly's Paperback
Writer. The
tale was so quirky, so audacious, I immediately re-read it— “Just
to see if it ends up the same way the second time,” I said. It did,
but it still left me amazed.
Nine
years later, it happened again. Saturday I finished the novel, then
re-read the conclusion—and decided I needed to read it again.
Sunday I started back into the book.
The
first time I read it too quickly. I wanted to see what happened next,
and next, and next. A few times I took note of some aspect of the
craft—a new subplot or a fulfillment of some foreshadowing. But the
story was too well told for me to read it analytically. This time I
want to savor the tale more slowly.
There's
an old saying that a bad book can't be too short, or a good one too
long. This time the latter certainly applies, though Stephen King's
11/22/63
weighs in at nearly 850 pages. Already the second time promises to be
just as good.
Have
you encountered other books worthy of an instant replay?
