Re-Read-Ability
I don’t remember when I started reading the Murderbot stories, but it couldn’t have been more than ten days ago, and I’m on my third reread of the entire series. What I want to know is, why?
That is, what makes a story re-readable or re-watchable?
I must have read The Grand Sophy well over a dozen times. I’ve seen the pilots of Leverage and Person of Interest at least a dozen times. And now I’m obsessively reading the Murderbots. Why do we go back to the same stories again and again?
If you were hoping I had an answer to this, turn back now. I don’t think it’s character; Stephen King’s very excellent Bag of Bones had great characters and I will never read it again. It’s not a soothing plot; I just read a fun romance that was pure fantasy and enjoyed seeing every unrealistic dream come true for the heroine, but I’ll never go back to it. It’s not emotional resonance; Shadowlands is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, but it was so emotionally powerful, I doubt I’ll ever watch it again.
So I’m pretty sure we don’t re-read or re-watch just because a story is really good. So what is it?
Over to you all.
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I think it's comfort - for some reason a book or movie brings me comfort and I want that feeling again. I'm with you on The Grand Sophy and several other of Georgette Heyer's books.
I think it's some combination of comfort, connection, and predictability. In an uncertain world, I need to know that I'll be satisfied with how it ends, that justice will be served, and the characters I care about will survive. That's partly why I watch Independence Day, NCIS, Avatar, the Goonies over again, and why I re-read Agnes and the Hitman, Breathing Room, Percy Jackson, etc.
