The joy of reading and re—reading

文婕

Abstract：Immersed in the modern fast-paced and digital life， I feel great joy through reading and rereading to enable me to escape from the difficulties of real life into more enticing fictional world. As citizens， we should leave a little space for everyday meditation and everyday reading or re-reading. Its good for us， for our creativity， for our soul.

Key words：joy；reading；rereading

Having finished reading Some Thoughts on the Pleasures of Being a Re-Reader， Im quite touched.

Combining with his own reading and rereading experience， the author unearths the importance of rereading and also the benefits that we can get through the process. Rereading is not simply repetitions. In stead， the real one is more like savory rereading， which means that we enjoy our own reading pace as much as we can， and every time we revisit them， we can still find something new. According to the author， there are two obvious aspects of the fun of rereading. On the one hand， when we are rereading， we are no longer bothered by the business of finding out what happens. We are just busy engaging ourselves in the language itself. On the other hand， that is no matter how much our life has changed in the meantime， when we pick up them again， we are still strangers to them since the characters and the words never change. For this reason， whenever we reread， we read with pleasure， with different minds.

As far as Im concerned， I quite empathize with what the author says and how he feels about reading and rereading. For myself， I quite enjoy the quiet moments being alone with one favorable book spreading on my lap. With the hustling and bustling everywhere， our modern fast-paced and digital life has placed us in an awkward predicament： we are too busy and distracted to concentrate. We feel empty and lose touch with ourselves. Religion， yoga， tai chi and long walks are all ways to meditate， to reflect， to get in touch again with ourselves. For me， being in a quiet place and reading serve as a retreat and harbor to stay in touch with myself. I feel as if I could visualize the characters in the book， getting into their lives and witnessing their experience. Reading gives me great joy and enables me to escape from the difficulties of real life into more enticing fictional world.

When I was in high school， I read the Great Gatsby in English. After reading this， at that time， I had just two feelings. One was for Daisy， the heroine. I hated her and wondered why she was so cruel and snobbish. Was her heart made of steel？ Has her ever really fallen in love with a man？ When she lived with her so-called husband， did she really happy？ Did she have any moments of regrets towards the deceased Gatsby？ The other was for Gatsby， of course. I sympathized with him and also felt indignant for him， for he shouldnt have deserved such a life. He was so excellent and diligent. All he had done was for his unworthy passionate love.

Since its such a sad story， I didnt reopen the book until two months ago， when I worked as a TOEFL assistant in Beijing alone. And I felt a lot more. Since Ive already known what happened， I focused more on the language. I found that through the words， their tragic destiny seemed to be inevitable. Throughout the novel， there were descriptions about Daisy like “Her voice is full of money”， about Gatsby like “Once in a while I go off on a spree and make a fool of myself， but I always come back， and in my heart I love her all the time.” Besides the feelings I had before， I found something new. I began to appreciate the friendship between Nick and Gatsby. Nick was the only one who truly understood Gatsby. It seemed that they were destined to be friends， even it was their first meet： “It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it， that you may come across four or five times in life….It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood， believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself， and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that， at your best， you hoped to convey.” Besides these， I also empathized with Nick. He said， “At the enchanted metropolitan twilight I felt a haunting loneliness sometimes， and I felt it in others.” In that big city， everyone was busy living. “There are only the pursued， the pursuing， the busy and the tired.” Experiencing his friends death and the desolate funeral， he felt hurt and finally left the city. Maybe if I hadnt lived in such a big city in Beijing， I wouldnt have empathized with him and felt the loneliness in his heart.

Both reading and re-reading give me great joy and unique life experience. In the modern society， people are too busy to notice that we are busy——being stuck in the busy rut. Were more and more alienated with others. Try to slow down and calm down. Leave a little space for everyday meditation and everyday reading or re-reading. Life is an unknowable landscape to be explored. Different stages that were engaged in and the different things weve experienced determine the different minds that we have in specific time under specific circumstances. Like the children， we should enjoy the pleasures of being re-readers whenever we like. Its good for us， for our creativity， for our soul.

【References】

[1] Verlyn Klinkenborg. “Some Thoughts on the Pleasures of Being a Re-Reader”.

[2] F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby[M]. Wordsworth Editions Limited， 1993.