HRadford

Love this article, I am a chronic re-reader. In terms of David Galef’s gain-loss phenomenon, for me that is the clinching consideration in deciding whether to re-read. Some adrenaline-fuelled books full of plot twists I have not re-read because I know the experience would be less than full. In contrast, I am always dawn back to re-reading whole books or certain sequences that I am sure will never lose their potency. I was just re-reading a chapter about a mid-war bush hike from one of the Tomorrow When the War Began books. I return to things like that because something about the vivid nature of the world and characters means that every time you cast your net back into the story, the catch is always the same (or better!). The integrity of those kinds of works will never be in danger. Thanks for the great article, it really makes you think about why we do return so often to the books we love!

This is a fantastic article! I think this is one of the reasons I loved Sherlock Holmes so much – the central relationship was a friendship between two men that was purely platonic. So true today that romantic relationships often take centre stage leading to a dearth of deep, healthy and loving friendships on television.

I was actually discussing this the other day with a group while watching the old Hornblower series. It’s incredible because the first episode was made in 1998 but there’s something so real in the depictions of the boats and the sea battles. I looked it up and they used actual replica ships and a range of models including a 1.4 tonne model with working cannons fired by remote control! It’s funny that I’m so much more impressed by the look and feel of Hornblower, made in 1998, than the new Jungle Book with it’s colourful collection of CGI characters. Thanks for the great article, it’s interesting to know so many others also see today’s reliance on CGI as something of a step-down in film making.