Hit Replay, Read that Book Again … or not

A Guest Post by M.E. Proctor

A few months ago I decided to reread Frank Herbert’s Dune.

I’d seen an interview of director Denis Villeneuve who said the book had stayed with him since his teenage years, and it was his dream to bring that long-lasting love to the screen. It reminded me of my own fascination for the Dune series. I read all the books, I couldn’t get enough sand and spice. So, with a hint of anticipation, I dug out my old battered paperback and sat down expecting to be transported to Arrakis again.

It didn’t happen. I gave up after five pages. 

It wasn’t Herbert’s fault, it was mine. I had changed and the magic fizzled. In other words, I wasn’t twenty anymore. It was a mistake to try to recapture a long ago feeling. The same mistake we make when we go back to a place wrapped in soft memories and find there’s now a visitor center and three fast food restaurants on the premises.

Yet, when it comes to books, the “don’t revisit” rule doesn’t always apply. That’s a good thing.

I have perennial favorites. 

Connie Willis’s Doomsday Book that I reread every five years or so still keeps me enthralled (the last time was during Covid and to say the book was topical is putting it mildly).

Simenon’s The Saint Fiacre Affair is brilliant, no matter how many times I crack it open. How do you keep the reader’s interest when your main character does absolutely nothing? I admit I read it from a writer’s point of view now, but it’s still in my top three of the Maigret series.

I read Chandler a long time ago, and enjoy it more now than before. Time made the tongue-in-cheek style, the romantic cynicism more relevant. When Marlowe complains in Playback that his gun is being systematically taken from him, and why the hell does he bother carrying one, it’s funny and I feel his frustration. I doubt it struck me the same way when I was sixteen.

In contrast, my reaction to some books didn’t change at all with the replay. I recently picked up Crichton’s Jurassic Park that I read when it came out, curious to see how the movie twisted things. I was again seduced by the Ian Malcolm character (Jeff Goldblum in the film, perfect casting), then annoyed with him, before being irritated to the point of wanting to knock him out because he never shuts up. Just like the first time.

But what about the cliffhangers, you’ll ask? Can a reader still enjoy The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the second time? I gave it a go, to see how Dame Agatha managed to bamboozle everybody. Professional curiosity. The problem is that I’m a voracious reader and I get carried away. A few pages in, despite knowing how it all ended, I was having so much fun I forgot to look for the cogs that held the machine together. I might try reading it again!

When I imagined the character of Declan Shaw, my private investigator, I made him a book lover. When he walks into a room, he looks at the shelves, what do they say about the people who live there. Are the books for show, a suitable backdrop for a Zoom call, or are they used, faded, sagging a little like beloved volumes tend to do? Declan’s own bookshelves offer clues to those who can read them: Treasure Island and The Martian Chronicles, are reminders of the time before, the happy days before his life was upended; a few law books survive from when he thought he was headed to Law School, if he could scrounge the money; history books reflect his college major; spy novels are to be consumed on the sofa with a drink nearby, after a long day of pavement pounding; crime fiction echoes his love for the city streets at night, their suggestion that anything can happen. Then, on the bottom shelves, there’s a big stack of records, jazz mostly. Declan’s apartment wall doesn’t tell the entire story but the clues are all there. Love You Till Tuesday can begin.

What is your experience with rereading favorites, do you experience the same thrill, are you disappointed, or do you discover new treasures? Comment below and you can win a signed copy of Love You Till Tuesday, the first book in the Declan Shaw mystery series.

—-

About Love You Till Tuesday, A Declan Shaw Mystery

Purchase Link

The murder of jazz singer April Easton makes no sense, and yet she appears to have been targeted. Who ordered the hit and why? Steve Robledo, the Houston cop in charge of the investigation, has nothing to work with. Local P.I. Declan Shaw who spent the night with April has little to contribute. He’d just met her and she was asleep when he left. The case seems doomed to remain unsolved, forever open, and quickly erased from the headlines. And it would be if Declan’s accidental connection with the murder didn’t have unexpected consequences. The men responsible for April’s death are worried. Declan is known to be stubborn and resourceful. There is no telling what he’ll find if he starts digging. He must be watched. He might have to be stopped. He’s a risk the killers cannot afford. The stakes are high: a major trial with the death penalty written all over it.

None of it goes as planned. Because people can’t leave well enough alone. Because when given an opportunity to do mischief, some just cannot resist.

Meet the author
M.E. Proctor was born in Brussels and lives in Texas. Her short story collection Family and Other Ailments (Wordwooze Publishing) is available in all the usual places. She’s currently working on a crime series. The first book, Love You Till Tuesday, introducing Houston P.I. Declan Shaw, was published by Shotgun Honey in 2024. Her stories have appeared in anthologies and magazines like Vautrin, Bristol Noir, Mystery Tribune, Reckon Review, and Black Cat Weekly. She’s a Derringer nominee for short fiction. Website: www.shawmystery.com – On Substack: meproctor.substack.com.