I seem to have missed doing Sunday Salon for a few weeks. Somewhere Sundays got busy, or at least got filled with things which were not reading. But I’m back.
Hi, Saloners!
This week I’ve been reading Dorothy L. Sayers‘s wonderful Gaudy Night. Sayers was a mystery writer, Christian thinker, translator, playwright, and general all-around scholar. Mostly I’ve read her mysteries, because they are delightful. They are also so very, very British.
Gaudy Night, I think, is the best out of all of them, and certainly out of the Lord Wimsey series. This novel takes Harriet Vane back to Oxford, her alma mater, to try and solve an ongoing mystery. Staff and students have been receiving anonymous and very ugly letters, which soon become coupled with outbreaks of vandalism. When Harriet calls Lord Peter in to assist, about halfway through the book, a further element of romance is also injected into the story.
It’s been interesting reading this book, because I have read it before. It’s been at least three or four years, but I do remember who the culprit is, and even why they did everything (although I don’t really remember the “how” of what they did). But I don’t remember how the mystery is solved, and the vast bulk of the story is new to me again. So it’s worth reading even if I know whodunit (which would otherwise be the point of reading a mystery novel, or at least a large part of it) because the way Sayers gets to the end is so wonderful. And a story is more than the plot, of course. How and why the narrative works as it does is also important.
Do you or can you re-read mystery novels? Does remembering whodunit ruin the rest for you? Do you read with only the mystery in mind, or is the rest equally (or more) enjoyable?
I have only read one Dorothy Sayer mystery, one I read last year as part of a group challenge. Gaudy Night was the one most recommended, but I decided not to read it because at the time I was a stickler for starting series books from the beginning, whether they could stand alone or not.
I rarely reread books in general and can count on one hand the number of books I have reread over the years. None are mysteries. I do think I could reread a mystery though without too much problem. I usually am able to figure out the whys and whodunits pretty early on in most books or can guess at the twists coming up ahead. It’s not something I do on purpose–it is just the natural direction my mind goes when I am reading a mystery. I still love reading mysteries, however, because it’s not so much about the whodunit for me as it is about the process of getting there. I love the story as a whole as opposed to just the ending or outcome.
I hope you have a good week!
For me, re-reading a mystery depends on the rest of the story. Agatha Christie’s mysteries are always good for a re-read, as are Susan Wittig Albert’s books, especially the China Bayles series.
I can re-read a mystery if it is well-written. In other words if it is worth reading for something other than the plot. This is certainly the case with ‘Gaudy Night’, which is definitely my favourite of the Sayers. Not only is it well written, but I also love the characters she has created. They are worth spending time with over and over again.
Like Literary Feline, I’m a stickler for reading series in order. In fact, some might say I’m uber-obsessed. If our local library doesn’t have the next book in the series, I try to find it through interlibrary loan.
Like Samantha and Ann, I think it depends on the author and if it is well-written: Agatha Christie, especially Hercules Poirot mysteries, are especially good for re-reads.
As for reading with the mystery in mind, usually I do. But in some series, for example, the Roma Sub Rosa series by Steven Saylor, I wasn’t just reading for the mysteries, because much of it is already determined by history (his books are set in ancient Roman, with characters like Pompei and Caesar). How he gets there, though, is more than half the fun.
Dorothy Sayers: I have a copy of the Nine Tailors, which I am looking forward to reading as part of one of the couple challenges I have recently joined.
I love Gaudy Night and I have re-read it many times. Knowing “who did it” doesn’t bother me in the least. For me the interest in the book is first, the love story (*sigh*), and second, her treatment of the topic of women balancing career & family — as relevant today as it was when Sayers wrote it.
In general I don’t care for mysteries that much unless they (like Gaudy Night) have something else to offer, such as beautiful writing, an interesting setting, well-drawn characters, etc. And since it’s the “extra” that attracts me, I have no problem re-reading the good ones.
I’ve read non-fiction by Dorothy Sayers and I watched the Lord Peter Wimsey series on PBS years ago (the 80s?), but I have not read Sayers’ fiction. Great oversight on my part! I’ve got Whose Body on my 1st in a Series list, so will definitely be getting to her fiction this year.
I don’t usually get around to re-reading books since I have so many I want to read, but I’m not opposed to it. I’m probably a good candidate for mystery re-reads since I will most likely forget whodunit after a year or so. There is one expception to the re-read for me and that is Ray Bradbury. I read Something Wicked This Way Comes about every other year in October. It’s an atmosphere thing.
There are so many mysteries out there not yet read, and I’d rather move on to the next one instead of going back and re-reading. At some level, though, I’ve always thought that Raymond Chandler’s books are worthy of a re-read. I’ve just never done it. He may not count, because it’s his writing style that’s the draw, not necessarily the mystery element.
I must admit to not having read Sayers, although repeats of old BBC dramatizations of the Lord Peter Wimsey books come on the radio fairly often, and they are always enjoyable.
I have re-read mysteries on occasion – PD James and Elizabeth George come to mind. I read Gaudy Night years ago, and would certainly re-read it as well…now you’ve inctited me to head to my basement bookstack and look for it!
I almost never re-read books. Sometimes when I have no recollection of the book I will read it again. I am doing that right now with A Wrinkle in Time. But when I remember reading a book, even if I don’t remember the details, when I sit down to read the book it cames back to me in flashes and the next 10 or 20 pages feel like a total waste of time because I remember every single word. Sometimes I do re-read books in an attempt to extra favorite passages but that is much more like skimming.
I generally do not reread books, as my TBR pile is always growing with new books just crying to be read, but it does happen on occasion. I have a select group of books that are my “comfort friends,” books that I know I can turn to, even though I’ve read them numerous times, to help me out when I’m having a particularly bad day.
As I’ve really just discovered the joy of the mystery novel (specifically Agatha Christie), I don’t know what rereading would do to the story, but I think that knowing what was coming would be fun in being able to see how the mystery was pieced together throughout the story,
Depends on how well it was written. Sayers is one I can reread. But like many I’d probably rather be reading something new since I’ll never read everything I want.
On re-reading mysteries – yes, I do, but only certain authors as others have noted. Certainly Sayers is worth re-reading. If you read enough mystery books you stop remembering whodunit. Really – trust me on that one. It may come back as you read, or if you read one particularly often you may remember. But the ones you re-read are the ones where it does not matter because there are other things going on and other reasons to re-read besides plot.
Interesting that many people are still hooked on Agatha. I dropped her a while back, all too much the same – there are other British women I prefer: Minette Walters, D.L.S. of course, P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, Val McDermid.
Haha I admit that I reread the mystery books I own. It’s interesting to see the clues I missed the first time around