[greyhavener]

I'm a LOTR & Jane Austen fan also. I never really examined why.

I find that rereading something I know I enjoyed is comforting. My time is valuable to me and sometimes I'd rather reread something I know is worth my time. Besides, as Child of the 7th Age explained so well, each time I read it my perspective is different because the place I am in my life is different.

I can't tell you all how much I got out of reading LOTR aloud to my eight-year-old. True mythology began as a spoken communication and I think hearing it and speaking it brought to both of us that quality of myth that Tolkien intended.

It is the mark of a great work of literature that it is fresh every time.