Yes

I've been a re-reader since I learned to read at age 3! Any book I really love is fair game, fiction or non. Therefore, my favorite re-reads have ranged from the Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables series to The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, Catcher in the Rye, Confederacy of Dunces, The God Delusion, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and my all-time favorite ---

Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins! It not only gave me the desire to be immortal, it made me feel as if I can.

Same with movies. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure has been in heavy rotation lately, for example.

kalen

seattle, wa

Yes

I love to re-read Michael Ondaatje's book "In the Skin of a Lion". This is because this book is haunting, dream-like. It is short series of related tales that weave through each other in surprising, delightful ways. This book is prose that reads like poetry.

Lisa Haglund

Seattle, WA

Yes

Why reread or rewatch? Soon after the initial read/viewing: to catch stuff that you missed the first time through. Long after you read/watched the first time: to gauge how you have changed. My favorite book to reread is 'The Razor's Edge'.

Alan

Bainbridge Island, WA

No

Between reading slowly and having limited time, I'd rather use my limited number of page turns on new books. I do have three books I've read several times: The Master and Margarita, The Ugly American for some reason, and, ironically, War and Peace. I haven't seen my perceptions change over the years, I just happen to like inhabiting those books. Others, I just get impatient and skim them to death. I at least like to think that my joy at reading a new book overwhelms any comfy sweatpants feelings.

Shalyn

Arlington, TX

Yes

Books - Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, Watership Down, 1984.

In the Hitchhiker's Guide, nearly every sentence is a clever twist on something, or contains a subtle gem that you'll miss if you read it too fast or only once. But most of all, there is so much of Douglas Adams's personality in these stories that, as fun as the plot is, you mostly end up reading it just to be able to make a connection with the man himself. Sure, Shakespeare and Dickens were geniuses, but their writing has never made me desperately want to get to know them. When I read the Guide, I feel like I've just met Douglas Adams, and would give just about anything to have been able to meet him in reality.

Watership Down has a fundamental gender problem, but I find the story so compelling and the protagonists so sympathetic that I simply don't care, and couldn't possibly just read this a single time. Rabbits, you say? Every time I read this I find myself wishing I was a rabbit.

Come on Kurt, you want us to believe you've only read 1984 once? Not very likely.

Movies - Anything on Mystery Science Theater 3000, but that's mostly for the commentary, not the movies themselves. I've probably watched more bad movies repeatedly because of that show than good ones. But for a real answer: the LOTR movies, the Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, the Star Wars movies (4-6), the Christopher Guest mockumentaries.

I understand Kurt's premise, but once I start listing movies I find that it can't be absolutely true. Surely he, like every adult in America, has seen Oz and Star Wars several times. But Casablanca is the one that really stands up to repeated viewing. There's so much going on underneath the dialogue, and there's so much about the story that is wrapped up in history and wartime mythology, not to mention Bogie and the rest of the cast just absolutely clicking, that you can't possibly watch this, what most consider the 1st or 2nd greatest American film (with Citizen Kane), a single time.

By the way, has Studio 360 ever done an American Icons segment on Casablanca? If not, please consider that a suggestion.

Christopher

Portland, OR

No

I should say 'mostly no'. With the advent of YouTube though I do find myself cheating by reviewing scenes or occasionally rewatching a better film if it happens to come on TV not because I went to rent it. I've rarely reread a book. I took this point of view prior to seeing Terry Gilliam's paradoxical stream of consciousness film 'Brazil' when it first came out. I felt that I should suspend disbelief so wholly that my experience is as close to the discovery in the real adventure known as life. That if I knew I would let myself see or read something again that it will inhibit the depth of the experience. I pretty much adhere to this and rely on my memory to piece together aspects of the story I may not have appreciated in the first and hopefully last viewing. Like life. First, last, now, forever.

Mike

Dallas TX

Yes

"A Clockwork Orange" -- both the book and movie. For the same reason. The use of language. Burgess invented a whole new language the the antiheroes use. It's musical and poetic

Philip Stephens

Dallas, TX

Yes

As a teen, I reread Lloyd Alexander's series of five books based on Welsh legends, which starts with The Book Of Three. I recently reread A Year in Provence because I was wondering if my son would enjoy it, and I had forgotten much of the detail. I probably learned the habit from my grandmother, who reread Jane Austen almost daily. She had copies by her bed that were held together with clothespins. Every time I reread Pride and Prejudice I feel close to her. My children frequently reread their favorites--they say they like rereading at bedtime b/c they know when anything upsetting or scary might be coming up. Rather like a favorite blanket.

Sarah

Swampscott MA

Yes

Re-watching / Re-reading something really simple is so easy to go to that basic emotion. I am 34 yr old IT professional who is a wife and a mother. I am embarrassed to say I usually rew-atch / re-read terrible romance items that are so basic that the first watch/read wasn't really that good. I can re-read Twilight or re-watch Love Actually and instantly feel that the world will be OK and that love does exist and will triumph over all.

Del

Fort Worth, TX

Yes

I'll often rewatch Dream a Little Dream, Walk Hard, and Back to the Future series I & III just because they're so enjoyable.

Jon

Orlando, Florida

No

I totally agree with Anne Fadiman that the true pleasure of a Beethoven symphony only comes after repeated listening. But with books, because they require such an investment of time, there's more of a cost-benefit tradeoff than with music. Every book that I re-read comes at the expense of discovering other great literature. There are some books I loved so much that I've promised myself I'll read them again, but for the meantime, there's just too much great stuff waiting to be read.

However (and call me a purist), I disagree with Anne's premise of making literature "ours" by skimming, reading out of order, etc. Of course, we're all free to do it, and it beats not reading at all, but I'm of the mind that authors have a lot to teach us, and that the very best literature is much more than one exciting episode after another. I think we do their work a disservice (and we ourselves miss out) by only reading passages that we think will hold our attention and skipping the rest.

Mike

Washington, DC

Yes

I reread books I love. Childhood books that take me away to simpler times. Almost every year since I was about 15 I've re-read Little Women right around Christmas time. It's my happy escape during a joyful, but definitely hectic holiday... and with three sons, all those girls are so refreshing!

Marnie

Menoken, ND

Yes

It's an indulgence, kind of like comfort food. Sometimes it's for inspiration like The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, or Lord of the Rings, which I've probably re-read 8 or 9 times. I've also reread Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy a number of times because even though it's very violent, the use of language is sumptuous and the ideas cut to the heart.

jim

Charlotte, VT

Yes

Brideshead Revisited and Prayer for Owen Meany are my rereads. I wait just long enough fore the details to get fuzzy and then read them again. Over and over. The movies I savor repeatedly are too numerous to list. With movies, it's more about matching a mood I'm in. Maybe I need to laugh or cry.

Barbara

Williston, VT

No

It would be YES, but there are so many other good and wonderful books & movies that I could be reading/watching. I can't justify the time spent to reread or rewatch. The only reason I would is if it had some special meaning, as if it were speaking directly to me. My wife enjoys rereading and rewathching because it's fun. Note: Old Man and the Sea was the first novel I chose to read. Loved it. It has a special place in my heart and soul.

Jeffery

Tampa Florida

Yes

I'm a librarian & have never reread a book. But I've seen the film version of "Chicago" & "All the President's Men" & the stage version of "Miss Saigon" at least 5 times. Go figure.

Judy

St. Petersburg, FL

Yes

I used to feel guilty about skipping passages so I could get to the good parts of a novel. Now I understand that this was really a good thing. For the reread, the good parts were even better and the skipped parts were delightful additions. Reading The Sun Also Rises at 13, I didn't have enough like experience to appreciate at least half of the story. At 18, the reread was great. At 23, wow. As I pick up my copy for a fourth read, I wonder what my 62 years of experience will bring to Jake and Brett and bull fighting.

Then there are movies. They have always inspird me to read books. That's actually why I read The Sun Also Rises at age 13. The movie was over so quickly --only 2 hours at most to live in Jake and Brett's world. I knew the book would be better and I could enter their world when I wanted and stay as long as my mother let me.

To Kill a Mocking Bird, Of Mice and Men, A Christmas Carol, Lord of the Rings, and so many more are movie/book companions. I never get caught in the "apples/oranges" argument that the movie isn't as good as the book. Instead, I let a wide range of movies lead me to a treasure of books that often get better the second/third/fourth...... time around.

Marlene

Cincinnati, Ohio

Yes

Like you, Kurt, I have many books in my home library that I have yet to read. I have a growing list of books I want to buy and, I am a slow reader. I also love children's books. As for re-reads and re-viewings:

BOOKS
"The Catcher in the Rye," J.D. Salinger
"Eloise at Christmastime," Hillary Knight (illustrator)
"The Lonely Doll," Dare Wright

SHORT STORY
"Desiree's Baby," Kate Chopin

MOVIES
"The Banger Sisters" (I watched this several times a week during the last weeks of my mother's earthly life.)
"Rachel Getting Married"
"The World of Henry Orient"

DOCUMENTARY FILM
"Pie in the Sky: The Brigid Berlin Story" (I discovered this while surfing Hulu. I've watched in more than a half-dozen times.)

TELEVISION
"Charlie Rose" - Charlie's interview of Norris Church Mailer" on her latest book, "A Ticket to the Circus." I found something soothing about the sound and rhythm of Ms. Mailer's voice.

Why do I reread or re-watch the above? I suppose because I see (visualize or hear) some aspect of myself in the characters or situations depicted, and therefore, in some way, feel a sense of validation which, in turn, creates a grounding emotional satisfaction, a sense of calm and an injection of inspiration - feelings that occur too infrequently in my daily personal interactions.

Shelley

Prairie du Chien, WI

Yes

I can't believe how quickly I ran to my computer to comment when I heard your interview with Anne Fadiman. YES! YES! I re-read often. I was especially thrilled to hear that she had read the Lord of the Rings trilogy to her son. I did too and my son and I often reminisce about it.
I regularly re-read James' Portrait of a Lady and Tolstoy's War and Peace. A favorite scene in Portrait of a Lady: Isabel, caught in a dreadful marriage, meets her old lover who asks if he may at least pity her:
"Should you like that?" Isabel asked, trying to smile again.
"To pity you? Most assuredly! That at least would be doing something. I'd give my life to it."
She raised her fan to her face, which it covered all except her eyes. They rested a moment on his. "Don't give your life to it; but give a thought to it every now and then."
Every word in the novel is part of an exquisite whole!

Valerie

Watertown, MA

No

I'm too neurotic to re-read--Like Kurt, I'm ever aware of the great books from the past I've never read, and the new ones coming out daily! But once or twice I'll pick up a book I read a long time ago and re-read it (this is usually only for a second time) and the experience is nearly always revelatory. So I wish I could bring myself to re-read more. Also, given how short my memory is, this whole neurosis is ridiculous. I recently re-read the Mill on the Floss, after 30 years, and it was like reading it for the first time. I didn't remember a thing.

Robin

New York City