A coupla weeks ago the internet was abuzz with the study showing that knowing the outcome of a novel doesn't ruin the pleasure in reading it. I've always thought this; I've had friends who made fun of me for reading a book twice (in the case of The Grapes of Wrath, every summer.) But besides the fact that a great book can be enjoyed with repeated readings the same way a song can be enjoyed with repeated listenings, reading it a second time offers the chance to worry less about WHAT's happening and more WHY it's happening, as we peel layers off of characters and events with the knowledge of what will come later.
I also don't know why an analogy to sports was never brought up in these studies - the first thing we like to do after finding out who won a game is to watch highlights from that game, all while knowing who wins or loses, to say nothing of the fact that ESPN Classic is based entirely on watching games of which we already know the outcome. Does anyone turn the channel away when Carlton Fisk is up in the 12th inning of Game 6? Of course not.
No comments:
Post a Comment