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The Joys of Re-Reading
Mar. 25th, 2019 04:04 pmI have just come back from another glorious reading retreat, which I approached a bit differently this time. Instead of cramming as many new books into three days as I could, I selected a few choice favourites to reread - and I wasn't disappointed.
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel:
This was a Family Book Club book a while ago, which I remembered enjoying but not in any great detail. It's about a post-flue-pandemic world and follows the fates of multiple characters, weaving together their back stories and their post-apocalypse fates in a very clever way. It's a very human story, focusing on tales of individuals much more than the global situation, and I think much better for it. I loved spending time with the Travelling Symphony again, and the hope and intrigue provided by the ending was just as thrilling.
Railsea by China Mieville:
China Mieville doing Moby Dick with steam trains and giant mole rats was always going to be gloriously bonkers. Again, I remembered loving this, but not much about the details of the plot, so I loved rediscovering this marvellous world of intersecting tracks, obsessive captains and enormous tunneling creatures. It was just pretentious enough to be very pleasing to me (though I got caught out by the annoyance of the & for a second time) and I perhaps didn't find the revelation of what lies beyond the railsea quite as satisfying as before. Still lots of fun, though.
The Martian by Andy Weir:
This I remembered quite well, but still very much enjoyed again. All the science was a little more wearing than the first time around, but still generally interesting, and Mark Watney does an excellent job of making it all very amusing and appealing. The climax had me on the edge of my seat, despite knowing the outcome, which is impressive, and reading the book made me want to watch the film again. There are perhaps a few too many bit characters introduced rather too late and too fleetingly, but the core cast are all great and the plot doesn't let up.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern:
This was my saved-till-last book, and the one that turned out to be even more wonderful than I remembered, rather than slightly diminished by familiarity. It's so immersive and so achingly beautiful. The fandom aspects are truly wonderful and I love all the characters. I'm going to knit myself a Reveur scarf (of course there are patterns specifically for this on Ravelry) and I'm going to play the game on Story Nexus. And I've just discovered that Morgenstern is finally bringing out a new novel in November - can we all say HURRAH!
I also finished listening to The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi on the way home. It's the second in his Interdependency series, read by Wil Wheaton, and I mostly enjoyed it. I love the setting, the world-building, the characters and the narrator - but the writing is a little clunky in places. There's a lot of repetition - of words and phrases in close proximity, and also of information that the reader already knows. But it's a good story overall and I'm looking forward to the next one, though it's not out until next year.
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel:
This was a Family Book Club book a while ago, which I remembered enjoying but not in any great detail. It's about a post-flue-pandemic world and follows the fates of multiple characters, weaving together their back stories and their post-apocalypse fates in a very clever way. It's a very human story, focusing on tales of individuals much more than the global situation, and I think much better for it. I loved spending time with the Travelling Symphony again, and the hope and intrigue provided by the ending was just as thrilling.
Railsea by China Mieville:
China Mieville doing Moby Dick with steam trains and giant mole rats was always going to be gloriously bonkers. Again, I remembered loving this, but not much about the details of the plot, so I loved rediscovering this marvellous world of intersecting tracks, obsessive captains and enormous tunneling creatures. It was just pretentious enough to be very pleasing to me (though I got caught out by the annoyance of the & for a second time) and I perhaps didn't find the revelation of what lies beyond the railsea quite as satisfying as before. Still lots of fun, though.
The Martian by Andy Weir:
This I remembered quite well, but still very much enjoyed again. All the science was a little more wearing than the first time around, but still generally interesting, and Mark Watney does an excellent job of making it all very amusing and appealing. The climax had me on the edge of my seat, despite knowing the outcome, which is impressive, and reading the book made me want to watch the film again. There are perhaps a few too many bit characters introduced rather too late and too fleetingly, but the core cast are all great and the plot doesn't let up.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern:
This was my saved-till-last book, and the one that turned out to be even more wonderful than I remembered, rather than slightly diminished by familiarity. It's so immersive and so achingly beautiful. The fandom aspects are truly wonderful and I love all the characters. I'm going to knit myself a Reveur scarf (of course there are patterns specifically for this on Ravelry) and I'm going to play the game on Story Nexus. And I've just discovered that Morgenstern is finally bringing out a new novel in November - can we all say HURRAH!
I also finished listening to The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi on the way home. It's the second in his Interdependency series, read by Wil Wheaton, and I mostly enjoyed it. I love the setting, the world-building, the characters and the narrator - but the writing is a little clunky in places. There's a lot of repetition - of words and phrases in close proximity, and also of information that the reader already knows. But it's a good story overall and I'm looking forward to the next one, though it's not out until next year.
