Holiday re-reading?

The Parker Pen Company recently ran an advertisement pointing out that their new fountain pen was much cheaper than a computer 'mouse'. Books are probably cheaper than the telephone bill for the internet and can be put in your pocket and taken on holiday. Above all, books can be kept and re-read.

What books are worth re-reading? I have just re-read the seven-volume Life of Hudson Taylor by Dr. A.J. Broomhall. But although I enjoyed it hugely, I am not sure whether I can recommend it as it is out of print. But what a fascinating read as Hong Kong goes back to China.

Hallesby on Prayer is worth re-reading. My copy dates back to student days but I still read it from time to time. The language may seem dated but that does not destroy its worth. The very fact that it comes to the subject at an unexpected slant makes us stop and think, and reconsider just what prayer is and how we approach it.

Some secular books are worth re-reading. Such a one is My name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. Chaim Potok was a rabbi and a painter before becoming a novelist. His account of the Brooklyn Hasidim, who produce an artistic genius and do not know what to do with him, is fascinating. All the problems that Christian artists have had are mirrored there.

Do you re-read the classics, like Jane Austen and the great Victorians? If you do, let me tell you about Is Heathcliff a murderer? by John Sutherland (£3.99 from the OUP's World Classics series). It is all about puzzles in books.

What was Heathcliff doing in the years he was away? When Sir Thomas Bertram went off to the West Indies, what estates did he have there? Did he own slaves? Was there really apple blossom in June in Emma? Such questions as these are the concern of John Sutherland, who presents 34 conundrums on Victorian fiction and offers his own solutions. 'Combining erudition with bold, imaginative speculation,' says one critic in the blurb. What is more, it fits in the pocket and costs less than floppy disks.

Cheating?

Does it count as re-reading to go back to books you have never read right through in the first place?

An experienced visitor to a study can recognise the row with unsullied dust covers gracing the shelves. What about the latest edition of The New Bible Commentary? When a book like this comes out, the reviewers do their best but the only real way to find the worth of such a book is to use it. Even if it is used with a daily reading, it takes a long time. Even now I could not claim to have read every word. But what richness is here. It is a splendid one-volume commentary. How did they choose the authors? I suspect that when it came to the Psalms and Isaiah, Derek Kidner said: 'I have done the Psalms elsewhere' (a favourite TNTC), 'let Motyer have a go.' And Motyer said: 'Let Kidner have a go at Isaiah.' Either way, they are excellent.

That leads us on to Isaiah. Do you remember Motyer on Isaiah? How many of those volumes bought at the Evangelical Ministry Assembly two years ago have been read? All of them perhaps. But it is a book that can only be read in small doses. It is not the book to go into overdrive and cruise through a chapter before bedtime. Even if you miss out the footnotes on the use of the niphal etc., it is still one for slow reading and digesting a bit at a time. But how rewarding when you get down to it.

Books that are recommended for re-reading

Cheating?

John Marsh

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