Marissa LingenFeb 7, 2023

Okay, here's my #ReaderQuestion of the day:

At what point or with what criteria do you determine that you read a book too long ago to be a useful source of information about it?

For example: I plowed through Anna Karenina when I was 12, Les Miserables when I was 13. And not since. At this point if I read them, I promise they will NOT feel like rereads.

Show threadLgbookwormFeb 7, 2023
@MarissaLingen I think it’s a combination of how long it’s been, how intensely the book affected me, and how clearly I currently remember the details. Also probably the subject matter of the text. Oh, and how much personal growth I feel like I’ve experienced in the meantime—that’s not a constant rate, and it affects my view of some things more than others. Hm. This is probably not a very useful answer for you, but I think it’s a complicated question.
Show threadMarissa LingenFeb 7, 2023
@lgbookworm What I wanted was interesting answers to complicated questions, not a number to average, so it's all good!
Show threadLgbookwormFeb 7, 2023
@MarissaLingen Books that deeply affect me “expire” sooner than ones that didn’t, because that kind of intense emotional response is so specific to a time and place and situation. I feel less confident about my memories of those books because I think the experience would be very different on a later reread. A “you can’t step in the same river twice” kinda thing.
Show threadMarissa Lingen
@lgbookworm That is the opposite of me, which I find FASCINATING, thank you for elaborating.
Feb 7, 2023 at 5:58pmWeb
Show threadLgbookwormFeb 7, 2023
@MarissaLingen I worry about the Suck Fairy visiting those books more, because I can’t tell in retrospect how much of the experience was the actual book and how much was in my own head while I was reading it.
Show threadMarissa LingenFeb 7, 2023
@lgbookworm That's fair, sometimes the reader's 50% is more like 80%.