What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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Re-readable book for travelling
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Another re-read favorite of mine is Ender's Game, but it is not cheerful, either. I usually end up in tears, speculating on humanity's treatment of children and species they don't understand.
Finally, there is always a Harry Potter book. I find it interesting to look at all of the literary, cultural, historical, and linguistic connections Rowling made in her stories.


D.H. Lawrence's Mr Noon. Read this last year and was transported. It's got this unpolished feeling, like the author wasn't really in control of the characters so they could surprise either of us at any point. The second half is all travel in the mountains. Some breathtaking insight into relationships if you think D.H. Lawrence is insightful about relationships.

Djuna Barnes' Nightwood. Honestly this one falls into the category of it being so obscure that I feel like I need to read it again so that I can know the end from the start. This is one of those little-known-much-adored classics with sentences so thick reading is like eating a mayo-heavy white bread sandwich. Teeth gnashing.

Deborah McKay's Eve's Longing: The Infinite Possibilities in All Things is one of the most unapologetic, weird books I've ever read, so sorry to put it on this list. But this book really forces you to take it slow. I really like surrealism and I'm willing to just go with it, though, so if that's not your thing then you should ignore this suggestion.

Virginia Woolf's The Years. The Years is like what the decay chapter in To the Lighthouse captured, but a whole novel of that theme. Entertaining, thoughtful, this book kind of gives you the feeling while you're reading up being drawn up out of the top of your skull so you can look down at the page and see what's happening. It's a treat.

If you're going for Jane Austen, though, I'd pick Sense and Sensibility. I love that book. Actually, Sense and Sensibility is one of the one books I've ever re-read, so it has that going for it. :)
The perfect book for this is Middlemarch. Great plotlines, well written, great characters.
Another possibility is The Magic Mountain. It took me months to get through it. Stay away from the Lowe-Porter translation which is kind of archaic. The one I linked to is a much more readable translation.
There's always Gone with the Wind which is a great read, although 5-10 years between rereads is probably better than a few days. I'd put The Woman in White in this category too.
The Unconsoled. If you like surreal and dreamlike, this is a terrific book.
Another possibility is The Magic Mountain. It took me months to get through it. Stay away from the Lowe-Porter translation which is kind of archaic. The one I linked to is a much more readable translation.
There's always Gone with the Wind which is a great read, although 5-10 years between rereads is probably better than a few days. I'd put The Woman in White in this category too.
The Unconsoled. If you like surreal and dreamlike, this is a terrific book.


Not sure what feel I'm going for. I love Jane Eyre because of Jane's agency—couldn't care less about the romance. Probably not going for something 'so narratively obtuse that re-reading is almost necessary to glean the plot' (though I love that description), just something that I can pull new ideas or thoughts out of with every read.


And I love your idea of a book of poetry -- cummings would be perfect, his poems are so rich!

The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov is good. Weird, but should bear up to rereads.
What about a collection of short stories? Maybe something by Flannery O'Connor. One of the smaller originally published collections could avoid the thickness problem. Everything That Rises Must Converge: Stories, for instance.
P.G. Wodehouse for sheer humor.
A Shakespeare play would have plenty of depth to bear up to multiple rereads, as well as covering the poetry aspect.

For a pre-Austen work, Evelina was a fun read. It can't quite hold a candle to Middlemarch, but still highly enjoyable.


Oooh yes. That's one I can finish, and then turn right around and start again :)



Oh, that would make good walking-travel reading, wouldn't it? Not sure about it as something to potentially read multiple times in a short time span (both because it's memoir and because I found it to be a pretty speedy read), but maybe as the second, plan-to-swap book.
Kathryn wrote: "I think reading the same book over and over would drive me batty. I know its not in the genre that you requested, but have you thought of bringing a choose your own adventure book? Then it would be different each time!"
Hah -- and then I could tie in the classics thread by taking Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure!
Definitely, definitely planning on swapping books as I go (hence bringing a second, tradable book; if swapping is super easy, I'll probably trade both books). I'm just also aware of how much and how fast I typically read, and (while I rather hope I'll be reading less next month!) there's a high likelihood that rereading will happen.

I'm quite jealous, have fun!
Books mentioned in this topic
Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure (other topics)Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (other topics)
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (other topics)
Flight #116 Is Down! (other topics)
The Stand (other topics)
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I'll be travelling (walking the Camino) through May and part of June. This is effectively a backpacking trip, so packing light is key—I'm planning to bring one book that I can trade and another that I am reasonably sure that I can reread, ad nauseam, for more than a month. (Before you ask: I do not have an e-reader and do not plan to change that. I will bring additional books for the plane that I don't mind leaving behind, but I'll only have two on the trip itself.)
Further things to think about: Current frontrunners are Jane Eyre or one of Jane Austen's books. I considered Crime and Punishment but want something a little more...cheerful. Halfheartedly considering a book of poetry (e.g., e.e. cummings). I'm thinking that the best option will be a classic work of fiction, but I'm open to other ideas.
I usually read quite a lot and quite quickly, so I'm more concerned about the re-readable book. What book or books would you recommend?