Thursday, May 21, 2009

Booking Through Thursday--A Second First Time?

Here's today's Booking Through Thursday question:

What book would you love to be able to read again for the first time?

(Interestingly, I thought that I had thought this one up myself, but when I started scrolling through the Suggestions, found that Rebecca had suggested almost exactly this question a couple months ago. So, we both get credit!)

Good question. I guess books that made a big impression on me would be the one's I'd like to have a clean slate "do-over" for, so I could have the thrill again. I don't think I could narrow that down to just one, so here's a (fairly short) list:

1. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

2. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

3. Middlemarch, by George Eliot

4. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy

5. Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

6. Beloved, by Toni Morrison

7. Midnight's Children, by Salman Rushdie

8. Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner

I'm sure I'll think of others later--there are so many books that made a big impact that I'd like to read for the first time again. Thinking about them makes me want to read them again, period.

What's on your list of best "first time" reads?

14 comments:

Desert Rose said...

Yeah I have quite a list too :) although we don't have any favorites in common :)

gautami tripathy said...

Some list!

:D


BTT: Second a first
Kill Word Verification

Nise' said...

A couple of yours I re-read every few years.

My BTT.

Brooke from The Bluestocking Guide said...

Pride and Prejudice was on my list as well.

Here is A Second First Time

Gentle Reader said...

desertrose--the more I think about it, the longer this list gets!

gautami--I love your list, too. Cold Mountain is a really good one!

Nise--I like your list, as well. I've never read Cold Sassy Tree, but I hear it's great! Thanks for stopping by :)

Gentle Reader said...

Bluestocking--I love your list! I agree, some of the childhood greats would be wonderful to read again for the first time--which also include, for me, Anne of Green Gables, A Wrinkle in Time, the Narnia books...good answer!

JoAnn said...

Pride and Prejudice was my answer today, but you have a great list. Crossing to Safety is one of my all-time favorites!

Anonymous said...

Books that have surprise ending or a twist would be refreshing to me. I also read my favorite books, like Name of the Rose and The Master and Margarita.

All the titles on your list would do for me! I just got The Satanic Verses...and Morrison is down for many re-reads!

Anonymous said...

Have To Kill A Mockingbird on mine.

Also, have Middlemarch, Midnight's Children and Cloud Atlas on my TBR list. Can't wait to read 'em.

Happy BTT!

And yup - I ended up with a list of 20 books.

Gentle Reader said...

JoAnn--okay, if I had to pick just one, Pride and Prejudice would probably be it!

Matt--I plan on reading The Master and Margarita over the summer :)

anothercookie--Happy BTT to you, too. I hope you enjoy Middlemarch, Midnight's Children and Cloud Atlas--let me know :)

litlove said...

What a lovely list! I'd have to think about one of my own, but I reread du Maurier's Rebecca last week and it wasn't the same as the first time. I did wish then I could have had the experience back, properly.

Gentle Reader said...

Mary--thanks!

litlove--I think that's what the question prompted for me--that wistful longing for first-time experiences that can never be recaptured!

Ilsa Setziol said...

At this moment, I'd say
Crossing to Safety
Mrs. Dalloway
Seamus Heaney Collected Poems
Brothers Karamazov
King Lear
Uncle Vanya
Emily Dickinson Poems--what if we hadn't be taught how to read them in high school?!
The English Patient
A Passage to India
Enduring Love

Gentle Reader said...

Ilsa--I love all your choices, and now that I think about it, Passage to India should be on my list, too. And Mrs. Dalloway. Great list!