Friendship is not just grabbing coffee once and never seeing or interacting with the person again. It is engaging with a person over and over — through time spent together or the thoughts shared back and forth.
As with friendship, a good book or movie should not be interacted with once and then never again.
It is fairly common to hear book nerds or movie geeks describe their favorite works in a way one might a close friend or family member. They can tell you what is said in the work, what happens and what the characters might think about a specific issue. Why wouldn’t you want to spend more time in the fictional world with your friends?
Not to sound too much like your third-grade teacher, but books are an avenue to experience anything in the world. They provide insights into time periods, people and events in a way that television or movies can never do. But that is not to say books are innately superior to other media.
Film and other forms of cultural material can have just as much personal impact. Rewatching any media — whether it’s a childhood favorite movie or retro video game — can have the same effect as with books. Given the rate at which media production changes, rewatching visuals can also make one feel incredibly old. It is fun to see how far graphic design, animation and movie compositing have come.
Outside of just enjoying the story again, this can have many benefits.
First, returning to a favorite story or world allows for further discussion and better understanding of the contexts. Each read-through highlights new ways to see the text.
Author C.S. Lewis said “We do not enjoy a story fully at the first reading. Not till the curiosity, the sheer narrative lust, has been given its sop and laid asleep, are we at leisure to savor the real beauties.”
So much of the first time through is seeing simple plot points or just the main facts of the story. Returning to the story allows for the reader or viewer to see the nuances of the work, and to have a deeper appreciation for the talent of the creators.
