Why do some novels draw me back year after year, while others – perhaps even more worthy – do not? Maybe, as the NPR commentator noted, returning to books read multiple times is like having a drink with an old friend: a mixture of welcome familiarity and suspicion that time has brought changes. Or, possibly rereading allows us to see the deeper meaning in the story – to notice what the author left out, which can give the experience a different cast. Or, it might just be the pleasure of an inside joke: apricot-colored skin indeed! What a perfect color for a villain!
Pym, Barbara. Excellent Women. Perennial Library, Harper & Row, p. 128.