Rereading

Among the many ways of reading, the classification I find most compelling is the distinction between horizontal reading (you consume one book after another) and vertical (you dig into the same books again and again). This separation implies that Shakespeare’s grandeur may be linked to the limited works he had access to, that his only possibility was to be a rereader. If the world hasn’t produced a similar genius since then, it may be down to the invention of the printer. 

‘I use the word reader very loosely. Curiously enough, one cannot read a book: one can only reread it. A good reader, a major reader, an active and creative reader is a rereader,’ said Nabokov. Like many authors (particularly straight white male authors), Nabokov could only understand and perceive at the world as a writer. At some point of their careers, novelists encounter a dilemma, when they must choose the type of writer (and possibly human being) they want to be. Either delving into the uncertain paths of creativity or intellectualising their vocation so much that they detach from the world. 

Nabokov’s definition is exclusive for many reasons. First, the snobbish insult in differentiating between good and bad readers, but he also ignored the many reasons humans have for returning to a book. Comfort, pleasure, an unexpected illness, or becoming a different person. All of them, precisely, the same motives for reading them for the first time.

The reason for this article is (again!) being sick at home and finding (again!) comfort in the beautiful ‘Normal People,’ by Sally Rooney.