That is the opening line to The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, which I reviewed last year after reading it for the umpteenth time. I know the first two lines as well as I know my own name. I can't recite the whole book, as cool as that would be, but there are certain lines that pop up in my memory from time to time; the extent to which I know this book is the equivalent of the way I recite dialogue from The Lion King II as I watch it. (I can't do it with the original Lion King, strangely enough. I can only do this with a few select movies, and I couldn't tell you why that's one of them.)
I have this thing where, once I experience something that I thoroughly enjoy, I want to relive it over and over and over again. I listen to my favourite songs on repeat for days. I once watched Tangled three or four times in a row over the course of a day. (That wasn't even on purpose--I put it on while I was doing homework, and it just...stayed on. And kept distracting me. Turn off the TV, kids--yet another life lesson from Yours Truly.) In the 8th grade, after having read The Truth About Forever once and deciding to use it as the focus of my book report, I read it eight times in a row. I'm not kidding or exaggerating here--I'd read it constantly, during breaks at school and in my free time at home. Once I finished the last page, I'd just flip the book over and start from the beginning again. I did that for the entire time that I was working on my report, and when all was said and done, I had read the novel a solid eight times. (Not including the first initial read through, before being assigned the report.)
Not everyone understands why I do this. Some people get annoyed after I blare my new favourite song for the seventh day in a row (to the point where my dad came into my room and shut off my stereo himself, once). Some people consider watching a movie once a year to be sufficient, even as I proceeded to watch Frozen six times in theatres. I mean, I love watching a new movie or reading a new story as much as the next person, but everyone else seems to quickly bore of the old stuff, always ready to move on to the next, whereas I need a couple evenings to properly cry and mourn the end of one of my television shows. (I don't cry because it ended poorly or too soon, but because it ended at all. There are two different reasons to yearn for more story, and mine is the latter.)
The words that fill my favourite book are familiar--almost comforting at times. Even though I know what's going to happen, and there's no chance of being surprised, I know I'll still enjoy it. I won't get bored or restless, even as my mind begins to form the words before they appear on the page. The characters will still have life to them, even though they're just acting out the same story I've read a million times. The fact that people are satisfied with only experiencing a story once is mind-boggling to me. If you love a book, why wouldn't you want to go back in time and relive the experience? The writing will be as good as it was the first time, the characters will be just as lively, the plot just as well crafted. Why does something have to be new to be interesting?
I love my well-worn, scribbled in, spine-cracked copy. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
What about you? Do you reread your books after finishing them?
Until later,
- Justyne
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