About re-reading old favourites

I have the theory that good literature is to be re-read every decade in one´s life. A really good book will surprise you every time you read it and will give you food for thought and pleasure which have been undetected hitherfore.

For example take Leo Tolstoy.

You read "Anna Karenina"  for the first time in your teens and it is long and neverending and the lovestory really really tiring - what is all the fuss about? Mystery.
Then you read it in your late 20ies and get a grasp on the beautiful writing and the perfect locations, the great rhythm of the narration.
In your 30ies you start to get some more understanding for Anna, as you realize that her marriage is definitively not the right thing - or is her husband right, after all?
In your 40ies you start to think, if she really could not have managed all together more satisfying and better? You start to reflect on your self - what would you do in such circumstances??Mhh?
I am not yet in my 50ies, so there are some years to go until I will discover another question on the subject, but discover it I will.

Or, take "War and Peace" - not the old kitschy filmthing with Audrey Hepburn - although she looks great, especially in the famous first train scene. No wonder Mel Ferrer fell for her. You need at least 2 weeks of holidays to read this epic novel - and a good stomach too.

But the book is so much more filled than a film can ever be - there are only some very few great and geniuslike films made out of books - believe me, the older you are, the more you get out of  good literature...

This is perhaps the greatest of pleasures in re-reading the old classics: one digs deeper and deeper into the "message" of the book, discovers new things every time and the surprise to re-discover an old aquaintance always full of new facets is as wonderful as re-discovering an old friend as full of surprises, even after 35 years of knowing each other.

It is like Looking at Art - the more you know about what you look at, the more you can see.
The same principle applies to reading.

I make a manifesto here ( I love to make manifestos!) for reading and re-reading. It is not essential to read always the latest newest books - sometimes it is fun, but often those bestsellers of the moment do not stand the test of time. You read them once and that was it. The urge for re-reading is minimal.

But the cumulus of pleasure is to find someone you like and respect and who can embark with you on a lengthy discussion/conversation/exchange/contemplation about the whys and why nots in a book you both know well enough to saviour this exchange. But who has time for good conversation nowadays?
Rare pleasure indeed and one of the very great ones.