I was talking with an acquaintance yesterday. I’m not sure how this topic came up, but he mentioned that there were two books that he re-read at least once a year. One was Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning
The other was A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean. My friend read them to be reminded of principles he wants to live his life by. Believers in religious faiths, of course, re-read their sacred texts often. But there are other books that deserve to be re-read as well. As our life experiences change us, as our circumstances change, some books speak to us in a different way each time we read them.
For me, as I’ve mentioned before, it’s Antoine de St. Exupery’s Night Flight As I said in my last post, it’s hard enough to find time to fill in the gaps of unread books in the oeuvres of our favorite authors.
To find time to re-read meaningful works is also a challenge. But they don’t have to be long works. None of the three I’ve cited here are long. It can be a poem or story. It can be any work that re-focuses our attention on our values, our goals, our vision for ourselves, or what’s most important in life. If you, reader, have any book that does this for you, I’d love to know what it is.
Lida Bushloper 
I identify with your sentiments, Lida. For me the reread is very often Wallace Stevens: “Of Mere Being” for confirmation of what it is that enlivens me:
OF MERE BEING
The palm at the end of the mind
Beyond the last thought, rises
In the bronze decor
A gold-feathered bird
Sings in the palm, without human meaning,
Without human feeling, a foreign song.
You know then that it is not the reason
That makes us happy or unhappy.
The bird sings. Its feathers shine.
The palm stands on the edge of space.
The wind moves slowly in the branches.
The bird’s fire-fangled feathers dangle down.
by Wallace Stevens 1954
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Wow, Jo, this is one I was not familiar with. Which is why I kind of wanted to do this post, to find works outside my own current experience. Thanks for reading and responding. Lida
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