I reread my favorite books, over and over again, for a very simple reason: I love the characters and enjoy spending time with them. Maybe I grieve their loss, maybe I bargain with the text: if I read you better this time, maybe Benji won’t die, maybe Manderly won’t burn, and maybe Lenny and George will get that piece of land and have something to call their own.
It hasn’t worked yet, but I keep trying. Hermione gets her heart broken by Ron every single time he wins that Quidditch match against Slytherin.
The bus breaks down.
The debutante doesn’t escape the bad man.
The marriage falls apart.
Snape dies.
But still I read them again anad again. I love the narrators, too. Sometimes a narrator is another character, the one who sees. Maybe I rush through, even skip over parts I don’t like. Suppose Ana never tapped send? Maybe I can make it not happen this time, for this reader. But there’s no escaping fallout or consequences, which aren’t the same.
I’ll read some books as many times as possible; some others, never again. I read a collection of short stories, The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, over twenty years ago, and I’m still horrified by the depravity I met there and will never return to those pages.
Everyone rereads poetry—we even memorize it. Don’t be shy about rereading, about spending more time with characters you love; just enjoy it.
About the Creator
Harper Lewis
I'm a weirdo nerd who’s extremely subversive. I like rocks, incense, and all kinds of witchy stuff. Intrusive rhyme bothers me.
I’m known as Dena Brown to the revenuers and pollsters.
MA English literature, College of Charleston
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More stories from Harper Lewis and writers in Writers and other communities.
Stats Questions
I see posts about reaching milestones, and I’ve become curious. As some if you know, when I joined vocal (vocal+), I didn’t know about the pay per read, top stories, leaderboard bonuses, any of that. I joined for the challenges, to motivate myself to branch out as a writer. The most I’ve done with tightly structured poetry in the past is a couple of really bad sestinas and “Ode on my Senior Year”(subtitled’Apathy’), which can be sung to the tune of The Beatles’ “Yesterday.”
By Harper Lewis8 days ago in Writers
My Life On Vocal At The Moment
Introduction Since November 23rd, 2025, continuing on Vocal has been made difficult for me due to Vocal's minimal support. The music I chose for this piece is "Hard Workin' Man", written by Jack Nitzsche, sung by Captain Beefheart, featuring Ry Cooder on the guitar. The rhythm provided by a car body printing press, and the image I created for this, is appropriate.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 7 days ago in Writers
A Failed Artist, A Disillusioned Poet, An Underpaid Game Show Host
I took my son and niece to Gori, a small town in Georgia where Joseph Stalin was born. They talked me into visiting the Stalin's Museum, the largest in the post-Soviet space. I had resisted going there because I just can't stand the monster and know enough about him, or so I thought.
By Lana V Lynx5 days ago in FYI
Comments (3)
A beautiful reflection on rereading as an act of love and longing.
Beautiful Cat!
Awe it’s sad when books are taken or lost. I also love my books and I have loads of them 🦋🦋🏆🦋🦋