Absolutely

Absolutely!

“How long does it take you to read a book!” James said, looking at Kate, “You’ve been reading that same book for centuries!”

“Well, this is only my fifth time, maybe sixth? that’s probably why.”

“Why in Heaven’s name would you read the same book after you already read it? You know, you can get books at the library to read, for free!”

“Of course. But I’m not reading this book because I can’t get another book, I’m reading it because it’s fabulous! This is my favorite book.”

“But you already read it…”

“Yes, but if you read it again you read things differently.”

“You mean like in Spanish? Or upside down?”

“Funny… not… You notice things you didn’t notice when you read them the first time.”

“Huh? But you read them the first time…”

“Yes, but the first time I was interested in the characters and what they were trying to do. The second time I knew all that, and found myself finding the clues to how they did them, something I hadn’t really understood the first time.”

“That’s two…”

“Well then, I knew the characters better, and I started liking some of them more, and others less. And I knew already how things went with the smirky ones, so I enjoyed knowing they would get their come-uppance.”

“Come-uppance?”

“Yeah. I didn’t have to hope they got caught, I knew they were going to get caught and how.”

“OK so that’s three reads…”

“Well then sometimes I just like to see how the writer, in this case, Henry Abbott, went about getting the circumstances to work out so well. I bet he rewrote a lot to make it flow through like it did.”

“OK, I get it. When you're done this time, can I read it?”

“Absolutely!”