# Am I the only one who has never read a book more than once?



## brainstorm (Dec 8, 2009)

If I ever read a book twice, it's because there was an overlap between books read in high school and college, but I can think of none.

Do you wait several years between readings? I admit that, I've done that with movies. But years must pass; I can't sit still watching something I've watched before.

I don't want to take the time to read an old book when I can read a new one. 

Just wondering people's thoughts to the Subject and my comments/questions.


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## lukemallory (May 13, 2013)

Maybe it's an age thing?

I'm 25 now and find myself re-reading books I liked years ago. I do have one or two favourites, however, which I've probably read at least 3 times.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I've re-read a few books many times, simply because I enjoy reading them so much that it doesn't matter that I know how they end -- in those cases it's like listening to a favorite song over and over: even though I know the lyrics, the music draws me back over and over.

Then there are those that I re-read after several/many years, often because I've gotten into a rut trying to find anything new that really satisfies me. (I am, unfortunately, a pretty picky reader these days, and won't just read anything that's the right genre.)

Lastly, there is the occasional re-read where I forgot I'd read it before, and find myself thinking it seems familiar, until I realize I have, in fact, read it several years ago. 

All in all, I'd guess that _at least_ 10% of my reading each year falls into one of those re-reading categories


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I'll re-read books I really enjoy.  I don't obsess about all the books out there I haven't read--I'll never read them all anyway.  A good book is like a good friend--I don't want to see old friends just once and remember them fondly.  

Betsy


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Before Kindle, it was rare for me to read a book more than once.  Like the OP, there are too many books yet to read to spend time on fiction that I already know the story.

However, two of my all-time favorite authors became available in Kindle in the last 2 years and I have repurchased are re-read all of the Rex Stout Nero Wolfe books and everything available by Pearl S. Buck so they could be part of my permanent digital library.  They were all just as good the second time around.


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## Carol (was Dara) (Feb 19, 2011)

There are certain favorites I'll reread every other year or so. Then there are others I'll read every five years as I forget what happened. But no, I don't reread most books. Only favorites. It's comforting to revisit the good ones.


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## Seamonkey (Dec 2, 2008)

I've read some books multiple times.  In a series I really like that I'm reading as they are published, I have at times read back from the beginning.  I did that with Anne McCaffrey way back.  Read Dragonflight, and then reread it when the next book came out, etc.

Recently I started Bring on the Blessings by Beverly Jenkins, read the existing books and then when the latest one arrived I just went back to the beginning of the series.  I want to LIVE in her town.

I'm currently re-reading Under the Dome in anticipation of the mini-series (I read the book when it first came out on Kindle).

I'm of the age where I know for sure I'll never read all the books I own, let along all I would love to read.  Even if I live to be 100.


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

I don't re-read. I tried once or twice in the past but it just wasn't the same.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I re-read each of the Harry Potter books as new ones were released so I'd have the 'what has happened so far' details clear in my mind.

Sometimes I'll get a book and start reading and have this weird sense of deja vu -- it seems very familiar but I have no idea what comes next. That happens less often with Kindle because I'm getting better at keeping track.

I did recently re-read The Thirteenth Tale: A Novel. I'd first read it pre-Kindle -- and really liked it -- and the kindle version was recently on sale for a couple of bucks. So I figured I could get it and, since I had it, gave it a re-read. I'm happy to say it was Just as Good the second time through.  And, oddly, I didn't have the disorienting deja vu -- maybe because I KNEW I was re-reading it rather than never quite being sure! 

But, as a rule: I don't re-read -- plenty of books to read for the first time.


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## KindleGirl (Nov 11, 2008)

Like the OP, I can't think of one book I have re-read. I read a lot of mystery/suspense books and they wouldn't be the same the next time through since I already know the answer to who did it. A lot of books are in series these days, so I feel I can revisit the characters by reading the next book in the series. There are too many new books out there to enjoy that I don't want to spend time reading one that I've already read. I pretty much feel the same about movies too. There are a handful of movies that I could watch 1000 times over and still love them, but that's it. Usually once I've seen it, I'm done with it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

KindleGirl said:


> There are a handful of movies that I could watch 1000 times over and still love them, but that's it. Usually once I've seen it, I'm done with it.


Yeah. . .this too. I generally really dislike re-watching movies. We have friends who have a HUGE DVD collection and I just don't see the point. But they do like to re-watch. Me: I've seen it once, I'm done.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

I both re-read and re-watch.  I love revisiting old friends in my library, and also enjoy reading books I've not read before.  It's kind of like a blind date - if I'm lucky I've found a new friend, but if not....well, I always have my old friends to fall back on.


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## D/W (Dec 29, 2010)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Yeah. . .this too. I generally really dislike re-watching movies. We have friends who have a HUGE DVD collection and I just don't see the point. But they do like to re-watch. Me: I've seen it once, I'm done.


I feel exactly the same as Ann regarding movies. And I don't re-read books either. There are too many stories I haven't read waiting to be enjoyed.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Hah -  after a certain age, the second  read  is  just  like reading it the  first time.  I have to  keep track of what I've already read or else I  forget..


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

LaRita said:


> I both re-read and re-watch. I love revisiting old friends in my library, and also enjoy reading books I've not read before. It's kind of like a blind date - if I'm lucky I've found a new friend, but if not....well, I always have my old friends to fall back on.


A woman after my own heart.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I frequently re-read. I've been reading for almost 60 years, and I have some authors that I have re-read several times over the years. In such cases, it's the journey that counts, not the destination.

Part of the reason that I re-read books is that there's just not that much new stuff being published that interests me.

Mike


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## Sam Kates (Aug 28, 2012)

I re-read occasionally. Now and again, maybe every couple of years, I get an uncontrollable urge to re-read the Discworld books and blitz them over a month or so. If I enjoy a book sufficiently, I can never get rid of it in case I decide to re-read it. That's why my house is full of books and my wife is full of dark looks...


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Sam Kates said:


> I re-read occasionally. Now and again, maybe every couple of years, I get an uncontrollable urge to re-read the Discworld books and blitz them over a month or so. If I enjoy a book sufficiently, I can never get rid of it in case I decide to re-read it. That's why my house is full of books and my wife is full of dark looks...


I did the "Discworld Blitz" a few years ago; now it's usually just one of the story arcs -- which cuts it down to a mere half dozen books or so per mini-blitz.


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## Evelyn15102 (Feb 18, 2013)

There are many books I've reread. I've found that books I didn't like in my 20s, I have a new appreciation for later in life. Or some I loved now seem flat. If a novel is well-written, it can bring something different each time it's read. Having said that, there are many books I've enjoyed that I probably would never read again. I'm thinking mostly of thrillers. Once you know what happened, there's not much in the way of character development, etc to make me want to come back. But that's just me.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

I used to re-read the Travis McGee books at the beginning of every summer, all 21 of them in order.  It was sort of a ritual marking the season.  Then I got my first Kindle in 2008 and found that, tragically, there was no Travis in ebook form!  Now that he's finally Kindleized, I look forward to settling into slip F-18 at the Bahia Mar Marina again for my summer vacation.


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## JamesSchubring (Aug 12, 2011)

So far I have a small stack of books I enjoy re-reading every few years. Why? I get something different out of them each time I re-read. Perhaps I did a rush job the first time and the second time I was in a different frame of mind. Perhaps the third time I read it I was preoccupied with a vacation I planned to take so I got more of the exoticness of the book. The fourth time maybe I really slowed down and really enjoyed some of the language the writer used, having rushed just for the plot on previous readings.

Every time you read a book should be a somewhat different experience. The words will be the same, but you as the reader may be a very different person. You'll notice different things and value them differently.

My short list of books I like to re-read from time to time:

C.S. Forester, any or all of the _Hornblower _novels
Thomas Harris, _Silence of the Lambs_
Robert Graves, _I, Claudius_
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, _One Hundred Years of Solitude_
Umberto Eco, _The Name of the Rose_
John le Carre, _Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy_
Harper Lee, _To Kill a Mockingbird_
...and several others that slip my memory right now


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## Sam Kates (Aug 28, 2012)

NogDog said:


> I did the "Discworld Blitz" a few years ago; now it's usually just one of the story arcs -- which cuts it down to a mere half dozen books or so per mini-blitz.


Ah, I can never decide which is my favourite set of characters: the witches, the watchmen, Death (Mort, Binky, etc), the wizards... so I feel compelled to read the lot.


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## brainstorm (Dec 8, 2009)

Bordercollielady: I've kept a list of books I've read since 1978 (yikes, that's 35 years....oh, I'm sure Green Eggs and Ham must be among my first entries....). I'm sure without it, I might have re-read books by mistake and wondered why the story seemed vaguely familiar. I don't know what possessed me to keep this list; I'm glad I did, though.

Well, there seems to be a few of us "one and done" readers out there. Thanks for the responses.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Sam Kates said:


> Ah, I can never decide which is my favourite set of characters: the witches, the watchmen, Death (Mort, Binky, etc), the wizards... so I feel compelled to read the lot.


I do eventually read the lot (perhaps sans a couple of them that never really quite worked for me), just one story arc at a time, though -- and the City Watch books may get an extra re-read along the way.


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## AdamOrtyl (May 21, 2013)

brainstorm said:


> I don't want to take the time to read an old book when I can read a new one.
> 
> Just wondering people's thoughts to the Subject and my comments/questions.


I'm with you brain, I've never done it. I can see the draw for super fast readers, but I do only 12-20 books a year. At those speeds I don't have the books to spare to reread anything.


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## ElisaBlaisdell (Jun 3, 2012)

I'm one of those speed-readers, so I can spare the time to reread a book I've specially enjoyed. I have a long list of authors, from Tolkien to Georgette Heyer, who are on the 'keep and reread' list.


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## Pawz4me (Feb 14, 2009)

I think I read fairly fast (when I want to).  But I still won't waste time re-reading a book.  There are too many good unread books waiting for me.  The very few times I tried re-reading I hated it.  I don't even read samples, 'cause if I buy the book when I get to the part I've already read it bothers me.

My DH, OTOH, will watch favorite movies and TV shows over and over and over.  It drives me nuts, but he says when he's had a stressful, hectic day it's relaxing to sit down and watch something where he knows exactly what's going to happen.  Sounds like a control issue to me!


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## brainstorm (Dec 8, 2009)

Ah, speed readers. That's a good point. I'm not one of them. I _read _approximately 22 books per year, but then I listen to books to fall asleep at night on CD (imagine trying to find your place on an mp3 book) and that ups me 40% more.

Does anyone else use audible books to fall asleep?

Works like a charm for me. Something about trying to keep my mind focused--at night in the dark--knocks me out. I now understand what it's like to be a child whose parents read to at night. Almost as good as Ambien, even when the book's a thriller.


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## Valerie Alexander (Feb 15, 2013)

I'm a very slow reader, but that doesn't change the fact that some books I've just fallen in love with and have to read over and over.  I try to re-read The Great Gatsby and Brave New World at least once every five years, and try to make it the same copy so that I can see my annotations in the margins.  Many years ago, I read an amazing novel, Wheel of Fortune by Susan Howatch, and have always wanted to read it again, but it's 1,100 pages, and the list of books I still have to read for the first time is just too long.  Someday...

I'll also go back to nonfiction books now and then, generally just reading a particular chapter if new information has come out, or to see if the outcomes they predicted came true.


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## Heffnerh (Feb 1, 2013)

For school? I've had to re-read dozens of classics.

For fun? I can honestly say I've probably only re-read the Harry Potter books just for a pure enjoyment basis. You pick up little details you didn't notice before


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## Sapphire (Apr 24, 2012)

As a kid, I'd see a book in the library that I had enjoyed, pick it up, and thumb through it. Before I knew, I would check it out to take home and read again. As an adult, I've done the same thing with my own bookcase. I might be dusting or something and stop to pick up an old favorite. I'd set it on my nightstand and thoroughly enjoy reading it again. This happens only with books I really loved, never the "just OK" ones.


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## stevene9 (Nov 9, 2008)

I often will buy a SF book on Kindle that I read many decades ago as a tenneager. Also I read a lot of series. When a new book in a series that I like comes out amd it has been a while since I read the last bok of the series, I will  often reread that book to get back into the details of the series before going on to the new addition.

Steve


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## MineBook (May 31, 2013)

Year ago I never read any book twice. But this year am reading classic books second time like Jack London "White fang" and Erich Remark "Black Obelisk"...


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## Carrie Rubin (Nov 19, 2012)

brainstorm said:


> I don't want to take the time to read an old book when I can read a new one.


I'm the same way. The only book I've reread was 'The Shining,' and I just did so recently in anticipation of Stephen King's sequel to it in September ('Doctor Sleep'). I read it way back in high school so I wanted a refresher. It was interesting how different I found it this time. Less scary, and I was more focused on the actual writing than I was before.


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## Artista (Jul 22, 2011)

There are only a few books that I would ever read more than once. I guess it has to do with the author, and they way they tell a story and how it moves you.


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## chris56 (Jun 8, 2013)

I don't re-read books, either.  There are books that I've read years ago and if I pick them up and start reading them over again, the entire story comes back to me.  I like to be surprised as I turn each page and really don't like knowing how a book is going end until I get there.  That's the main reason why, if a movie is based on a book, I'll always read the book first.


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## gina1230 (Nov 29, 2009)

I never re-read. I'll probably never make it through my TBR pile as it is. 

Love to fall asleep listening to Audible. Just set the timer to 15 minutes so it's easier to find my place if I fall asleep.


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## Jenni Norris (Oct 10, 2012)

I have only reread one book - The Lord of the Rings, and read it every few years. Other books I just can't face reading twice, even if they are fantastic. A bit of shame really and quite annoying if you start to forget the plot intricacies and character names.


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## SFWriterNorm (Jun 3, 2013)

I guess I'm the strange one. Yes, I have books that I re-read. Thankfully, after three or four years they are like brand new to me. Or, maybe I just like them. The classic SF writers like Asimov and Clarke are examples. 

I found, to my surprise, 20 or 30 years ago that what I mostly remembered about my old books was the covers. The innards, for the most part, rang no bells. Sure, I may have a medical condition that allows me to read old books for new. Of course, the ones I have re-read, some more than twice are like old friends. But the ones I haven't seen in a few years are pretty much brand new. Who wouldn't benefit by a re-read of Asimov's Foundation books or Animal Farm?

Norm way down in Cowchip/AL


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## lmroth12 (Nov 15, 2012)

Some books need to be read twice in order to go back and figure out what the author did that blindsided you, as is the case with ANY Agatha Christie novel.

Others I like to read just to enjoy the prose, such as the Lord of the Rings. The last two pages of that book were so beautifully written that I remember literally holding my breath the first time I read it for fear that the spell he wove would be broken by even one misplaced word ("the gray rain curtain parted and was rolled back, and he saw white shores, and a far green country under a swift sunrise"). It may not be the greatest book ever written (in my humble opinion The Iliad claims that title) but it sure is a beatiful read.

Others I like to re-read occasionally to wallow in the atmosphere, such as Rebecca, or visit another time and place like Gone With the Wind or The Hunchback of Notre Dame or any Alexandre Dumas novel.

But modern books to re-read? Alas, not very many.


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## Ryan Sullivan (Jul 9, 2011)

I re-read the Harry Potter books up to number four (inclusive) 5 - 10 times each, I believe.


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## Mahree Moyle (Jun 19, 2013)

There are some books I could read over and over again. There are others that one time is enough. Maybe someday you will run into a book that grabs you and you have to read it again. Good luck!


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## Benjamin Grahl (Jul 10, 2013)

i typically don't repeat. too many books, too little time.


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## FreePromoRain (Jul 11, 2013)

You're not alone!


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## LovelynBettison (Aug 12, 2012)

I  wish I could speed read. I'm a pretty slow reader so I don't usually have time to re-read a book. There are far too many books on my to-read list and I want to get to them all.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

I do re-watch (if enough time has passed since the first viewing and I've forgotten what happens, or if the movie was so complex the re-watch is necessary to understand the plot), but I don't re-read. Too many good books waiting on my TBR list and reading takes way longer than watching


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## LillianB (Jul 7, 2013)

You're not the only one.

There is the author, Jean M.Auel, that I *love* and she came out with the final book in her series after ten years.  I tried to pick up the book before this last one and I.COULD.NOT re-read it again. smh

I am trying to figure out what to do about this dilemma because I want to finish the series but I don't see myself re-reading the book before this last one to refresh my memory... #readerproblems

-L


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## bhazelgrove (Jul 16, 2013)

The difference between a good novel and a bad one is that you can re-read the good novel again and again and still get pleasure from it. Something to do with the precept that art transfigures while pulp merely entertains. I have probably read some classics ten times.


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## EllaJQ (Jul 15, 2013)

I like to reread books but years will pass in between. Something will remind me of a character and then I will want to read it again. Books are like memories you can relive. My paperbacks will have fingerprint food stains and it reminds me of the wonderful times pre-baby and husband when I could read for hours uninterrupted.


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## skribe (Jul 16, 2013)

I read _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_ at least once per year and have since I was fifteen (it took me a year and three tries to first finish LotR =). Connie Willis' _To Say Nothing of the Dog_ is something I read quite often (usually every year). They're all old friends and I like visiting them every so often.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

bhazelgrove said:


> The difference between a good novel and a bad one is that you can re-read the good novel again and again and still get pleasure from it. Something to do with the precept that art transfigures while pulp merely entertains. I have probably read some classics ten times.


Exactly: if a book is truly well-written, it can still be a joy to read even if you know how it ends. 

Sometimes I wonder, though, if at least some of the people who never re-read actually read differently than I do. I essentially hear each and every word in my head (and as a result don't read any faster than I could speak the words -- albeit faster than I normally talk). From a few conversations I've had, some people I know seem to just see the words, picking up the meaning every bit as well (maybe better?) than I do, but not really "hearing" them. I wonder if that makes a difference in how much you can enjoy a well written book even though you know what is going to happen. Or I could be all wrong, just idle speculation.

Sounds like a PhD research and thesis project just waiting for someone in whatever the applicable field would be.


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## smwhite (Jul 4, 2013)

I'm continuously re-reading books. I've done it with "The Hobbit," "The Wheel of Time Series," David Gemmell novels, Conan novels, Piers Anthony. A lot of others. I think there's something to be said about books that are constantly entertaining. And in regards to "The Wheel of Time," it seems like I discover something new about the story and world after each re-read.


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2013)

There are some books that I break out every few years and reread, because they are just so exceptionally crafted that it is a new experience each time I read it or because the story was so entertaining I want to experience it again. And then there are other books which were fun the first time around, but not something that I feel compelled to read again.

I actually just started to re-read Beloved. I haven't read it since college. All these years later, I'm still in awe of Morrison's beautiful writing. Now I'm wondering why I waited so long to revisit the book.


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2013)

Any book that you've enjoyed at a certain age is a good candidate for re-reading. As life goes by you don't think the same way as before, and new outlook on life gives you a new perspective.
Personally, I like to re-read some books every four-five years. Sometimes I discover new things, sometimes I don't like them anymore.


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