Some thoughts on re-reading

I'm currently making my way through the first part of DRAGONFLY IN AMBER yet again. (Listening to the unabridged audio on my iPod. <g>) The first half of that book, up to the end of the Paris section, is by far my least favorite part of the entire series. (I'm embarrassed to admit how much I missed, the first time around, because I skimmed over large parts of the Paris section, finding it incredibly boring and slow-paced compared to what I'd come to expect with OUTLANDER.)

And though the ending of DRAGONFLY more than makes up for the slow pace of the first part of the book, I still find this book difficult to get through on re-reading. The opening "frame" with Roger and Bree and Claire in the 20th century seems to take ages to get through -- though it contains occasional delightful nuggets like the scene with Roger and Brianna's first kiss, in the chapel at St. Kilda's. By the time I get to the beginning of the Paris section, I want to yell at the book, "Get on with it already! I want to see Jamie!" <g>

I have a similar reaction to the chapter "Mr. Willoughby's Tale" in VOYAGER. I understand its function in the story (to explain Willoughby's motives for his actions later in the book), but I still find it hard to believe that Jamie understands Chinese well enough to be able to translate a very long and complex story like that. And I've found that skipping that whole chapter doesn't detract much at all from my understanding or enjoyment of the rest of the book.

So I was just wondering if any of you have parts of the books that you find difficult to re-read? And by "difficult", I don't necessarily mean just boring or tedious, but the emotionally difficult scenes as well. Some people skip over the scenes like Claire's abduction/rape in ABOSAA, or the miscarriage in DRAGONFLY. I don't personally skip over ANY scenes, no matter how hard they are to get through, but I'd like to hear what the rest of you think about this.