Rereadabilty

Yesterday, I found myself at home with nothing to do. There was nothing good on TV and my computer wasn't working, and for a while I was bored out of my mind. But then I stumbled upon the 6th Harry Potter book, and started rereading it. For the 5th time.

Everyone has those books that they love to reread. Personally, I love rereading Harry Potter and the Inheritance Cycle (the one with Eragon). There are other books that I like more than these, and yet these are the ones I go to when I'm bored and need something to read. What makes them different from, say, Brave New World or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, two of my favorite novels?

I think it's a combination of factors that contribute to this phenomenon. The most obvious reason I can think of is that they are all "easy reads", so to speak. They are certainly more commercial than literary, and I don't have to think too hard to understand the plot, the characters motivations, or the overarching themes. Though I do love hard reads, when I'm looking for a book to take my mind of off things, I want something I can just lose myself in. Which brings me to the 2nd factor- entrapment (for lack of a better word). Books like Harry Potter satisfy a child-like fantasy craving inside of me that longs for a character that is both Homeric in nature and easy to understand and relate to. I wish I was Harry Potter, and reading about his adventures allows me to truly lose myself inside of his stories. The last factor that I notice on my list of rereadables is that of series. When I find that perfect book, I enjoy it so much that I never want it to end (see one of my first blog posts about "Good Fiction"). With long series like the Inheritance Cycle, my fantasies can be indulged for much longer than a simple read-through of Brave New World would do.

Here is an article about rereadability that I found interesting. It lists some other factors that make a rereadable book: http://www.whoatemybrain.com/2011/06/rereadability.html