The Pyrenees---Southern France

The Pyrenees---Southern France

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Things We Return To

        Tonight the movie Antwone Fisher was on. It's about a writer and it's about someone searching for their family--two topics I love to explore. 

        It was halfway through when I found it on the television, which was no problem. Having seen the movie many times, I easily picked up where the movie was.

        There are lots of movies that--despite me having watched them multiple times--I choose to watch yet again. Hidalgo. Chocolat. The Out-of-Towners (the older version with Jack Lemmon). The Widow of Saint-Pierre. There are more, trust me.






        Books are the same. There are novels that I reread on a regular basis. It's not because I forget how they end. Instead, I pick them up and savor the story once more because of the writing. Too Late the Phalarope by Alan Paton is one. 

        Every summer (except for this one, probably) I go to Conception, Missouri for a writing retreat. This place calls me. It calms me. It centers me.

        Do you reread books? Are there movies that--whenever you're flipping though channels and see them--you cannot resist seeing again? Are there spots that reel you back, year after year?

        Rerun-loving minds want to know...  

19 comments:

  1. No doubt about it....I reread books and I rewatch movies. I could go on and on....one movie I never tire of is Out of Africa...another is Dancing with Wolves...and speaking of dancing, Dirty Dancing!

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    1. Claudia--Dancing With Wolves is one I've watched several times, too.

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  2. I just finished a book that seemed so familiar. I learned it had been released under a different title years ago. I enjoyed it more the second time.

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    1. Linda--I've picked up books with the SAME title--books I've read before--and start reading them, having forgotten I read them already.

      Do you think it's an age thing?

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  3. I almost never re-read books, though I have re-read "The Catcher In The Rye" and "Heart of Darkness" as well as John Galsworthy's novella "The Apple Tree". However, there are some movies I always watch whenever i see them on. "Steel Magnolias" comes to mind, as well as "The Dead Zone."

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    1. Shay--I've read Salinger and Conrad's books… "The Apple Tree" must be good, if you rarely re-read books but that was one you had. Or, was it so awful that you read it for the comic relief?

      I've never seen "The Dead Zone" but I love "Steel Magnolias."

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    2. "The Apple Tree" is an all-time favorite of mine.

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  4. I used to re-read "The Stand" every summer, until I had kids and not enough time. I also enjoy re-visiting "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." Movies? Oh, dear. There are too many to count. Just last week, I stopped channel surfing on National Lampoon's Vacation, and got my son Genius hooked. He was busy making fun of the "weird 80s fashions" until we got to the part at the farm, where Cousin Eddie's daughter pulls a shoebox out from under her bed. "Is that WEED?" Yes, Genius. They had weed in the 80s.

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    1. Val--Did he think HIS generation had invented it?

      Good grief.

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  5. If I see The Princess Bride--doesn't matter what I'm doing--I have to stop and watch it. Pretty much the same thing happens if Monty Python and the Holy Grail comes on. Ditto ANY musical. I can't watch great dramas repeatedly--the tension, the tears--I can only put myself through that once.

    I rarely re-read books. But during December, I'll usually read A Christmas Carol and The Other Wise Man, just to keep my holiday spirit in spite of all the busyness.

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    1. Oh my goodness. The Full Monty. Does that count as a musical? I love Sound of Music. What a sap I am.

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  6. If I love a book, I read it again and again. I've probably read To Kill a Mockingbird a hundred times over the years, yet still enjoy it. Movies are the same way. If I truly love it, I must own it. My DVD collection is heavy on musicals and romantic comedies--mostly old school, featuring performers like Doris Day, Cary Grant, and Katherine Hepburn. Oh, yes, and I also Love Lucy.

    Pat
    Critter Alley

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    1. Pat--I AM Lucille Ball. At least I get into the same kind of messes she did.

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  8. Okay, I tried to comment. Good grief, I guess I accidentally hit the delete button. But I was saying that I just read all your blogs that I haven't read in, well, weeks. Prolific writer you. Maybe I just think how little I've written on a blog and yours seems like a lot. Maybe not as much as someone we both know... cough cough val cough. So... I wanted to comment on all, but only have time for one and it was this because of the retreat. I wanted to ask... going to Conception? Can I go again? I want to go. Wah.
    Like Fireblossom, I never re-read books and the fact that she read Catcher in the Rye twice - ugh, what is she a glutton for punishment. Guess I shouldn't say that, but... anyway, there are so many books out there that I want to read, I don't want to waste time rereading something I've already read!

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    1. Lynn--I think I identified with Holden, so I've always enjoyed Catcher in the Rye. Sorry. ;)

      I'm not sure about Conception. We'll talk...

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  9. Too many to count, both movies and books. Books---Bride of the MacHugh and My Lord Monleigh by Jan Cox Speas; The Villa by Nora Roberts; The Best Man by Kristan Higgins, and a ton of others. I STILL love Charlotte's Web. Movies---While You Were Sleeping, Sweet Home Alabama, Sound of Music, and, yes, a ton of others. I love Space Cowboys, and the movies Major League and The Replacements are guilty pleasures. If they're on, I watch. :)

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    1. Lisa--I love the movie The Replacements. Sound of Music gets me weepy at the end almost every time.

      All those romance novels. I'm just waiting for one particular one... ;)

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  10. Add me to the frequent re-reader list. Dandelion Wine every summer, of course, along with a few other Ray Bradburys and some of the John Steinbecks. And William Golding's Lord of the Flies. I smiled at what Lisa said about Charlotte's Web, because I still love that one, too, along with Island of the Blue Dolphins. And the Jane Austens for books AND movies. And for some reason I can never resist re-watching "Groundhog Day!"

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Thanks for your comments. I appreciate you taking the time to stop by...