This essay made me think about the experience of returning to a book I’ve read and loved.
Sometimes, in a moment of grace, I glimpse the me-of-another-time that read and loved the work enough to want to return to it again someday.
Sometimes, it’s a rediscovery, and I wonder how I ever could have forgotten it.
Sometimes, it’s a disappointment; sometimes, I have a greater appreciation that the ‘me’ of today brings to it.
It’s been said that you can’t step in the same river twice. Equally true, that you can’t read the same book twice. But you can still appreciate the view, even if it’s not exactly the same, and be glad you made the journey.