---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you've really loved a book, or a movie…"
description: "\"If you've really loved a book, or a movie for that matter, really loved it, what you want is that same book again, but as if you've never read it. And ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/michael-cunningham-1120_betrayed_if-you-ve-really-loved-a-book-or-a-movie_1820356.jpg"
---

#  If you've really loved a book, or a movie for that matter…

![“If you've really loved a book, or a movie for that matter, really loved it, what you want is that same book again, but as if you've never read it. And when you get something unfamiliar, you feel betrayed.” quote by Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/michael-cunningham-1120_betrayed_if-you-ve-really-loved-a-book-or-a-movie_1820356.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/michael-cunningham-1120_betrayed_if-you-ve-really-loved-a-book-or-a-movie_1820356.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/307/michael-cunningham-1120_betrayed_if-you-ve-really-loved-a-book-or-a-movie_1820356.jpg)

> “If you've really loved a book, or a movie for that matter, really loved it, what you want is that same book again, but as if you've never read it. And when you get something unfamiliar, you feel betrayed.”

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

When a beloved work is revisited, the desire is to experience it anew; unfamiliarity feels like betrayal because it disrupts expectation.

**In simple terms:** Want fresh perspective on cherished art.

Key Takeaway

Seek new experiences with old favorites.

Themes

art nostalgia expectation

Mood

nostalgic analytical

Type

literary reflective

When to use this quote

- reading
- watching movies
- re‑watching
- re‑reading

Key Concepts

aesthetic appreciation memory

Questions to Reflect On

- How can you rediscover wonder in familiar works?
- What makes novelty feel authentic?

A Different Perspective

Repeated exposure can dull emotional impact.

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[Betrayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betrayed/) [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Book Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book-movie-393233/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Feel Betrayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feel-betrayed-373495/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movie/) [Read Unfamiliar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/read-unfamiliar-2189627/) [Unfamiliar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfamiliar/) [Unfamiliar Feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unfamiliar-feel-2075043/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [What you want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/what-you-want/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/)

## Related quotes

> [Design is about crafting an experience that is unfamiliar enough to feel novel, yet familiar enough to instill confidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maeda/design-is-about-crafting-an-experience-that-is-unfamiliar-enough-to/)

[John Maeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maeda/)

> [I gave a helpless laugh. “Damned if I know. I think…we seem to have reached impasse. I feel betrayed by your friendship with Verlane.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-lanyon/i-gave-a-helpless-laugh-damned-if-i-know-i-think-we-seem-to-have/)

[Josh Lanyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-lanyon/)

> [The great lovers will always be unhappy, because for them love is great and so they ask of their beloved the same intensity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy-because-for-them-love-is/)

[Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/)

> [Yes, definitely I do feel betrayed, but I've got to take everything that's happened and learn from it. I accept that that's a chapter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-cole/yes-definitely-i-do-feel-betrayed-but-i-ve-got-to-take-everything/)

[Cheryl Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-cole/)

> [youth, when it is hurt, likes to feel itself betrayed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/youth-when-it-is-hurt-likes-to-feel-itself-betrayed/)

[Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/)

> [Ordinarily we are swept away by habitual momentum and don't interrupt our patterns slightly. When we feel betrayed or disappointed, does it occur to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/ordinarily-we-are-swept-away-by-habitual-momentum-and-don-t-interrupt/)

[Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/)

> [Great lovers will always be unhappy, because, for them, love is of supreme importance. Consequently they demand of their beloved the same intensity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy-because-for-them-love-is-of/)

[Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/)

> [We are all too keenly aware that those of you who supported us by purchasing the 3DS in the beginningmay feel betrayed and criticize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satoru-iwata/we-are-all-too-keenly-aware-that-those-of-you-who-supported-us-by/)

[Satoru Iwata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satoru-iwata/)

> [History shows that there is no more potent engine for reform than the passion of voters who feel betrayed by the politicians they hoped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moritz/history-shows-that-there-is-no-more-potent-engine-for-reform-than-the/)

[Michael Moritz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moritz/)

> [With others, I feel betrayed that those who had the authority in the Church to stop Brendan Smyth failed to act on the evidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-brady/with-others-i-feel-betrayed-that-those-who-had-the-authority-in-the/)

[Sean Brady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-brady/)

> [It is less painful, it turns out, to feel betrayed than to feel forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-grosz/it-is-less-painful-it-turns-out-to-feel-betrayed-than-to-feel/)

[Stephen Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-grosz/)

> [“When your parents die, Alessandro, you feel that you have betrayed them." "Why?" Luciana asked. "Because you come to love your children more. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-helprin/when-your-parents-die-alessandro-you-feel-that-you-have-betrayed-them/)

[Mark Helprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-helprin/)

> [“The truth is that life will break us and burn us at some point on the journey. This is not pessimistic or cynical but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/the-truth-is-that-life-will-break-us-and-burn-us-at-some-point-on-the/)

[Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/)

> [Im a good ass friend, but once I feel betrayed in any way, you can kiss our friendship goodbye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-a-good-ass-friend-but-once-i-feel-betrayed-in-any-way-you-can-kiss/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I would recognise myself in each of his translations and he would feel betrayed and annoyed whenever I didn't write something the way he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-would-recognise-myself-in-each-of-his-translations-and-he-would/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by Michael Cunningham

> [“Mizzy has wandered into the garden. Carole looks contemplatively at him, says, "Lovely boy." "My wife's insanely younger brother. He's one of those kids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/mizzy-has-wandered-into-the-garden-carole-looks-contemplatively-at/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [“Zoe loved Trancas's mother. She respected her exhausted and ironic hope for rebirth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/zoe-loved-trancas-s-mother-she-respected-her-exhausted-and-ironic/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [The lives great artists live and the books they write are two very different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/the-lives-great-artists-live-and-the-books-they-write-are-two-very/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [“How often since then has she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him; if she’d returned Richard's kiss on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/how-often-since-then-has-she-wondered-what-might-have-happened-if-she/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [“...a full week of their mother's quiet fury over the fun they don't seem to be having and their father's dogged attempts to provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/a-full-week-of-their-mother-s-quiet-fury-over-the-fun-they-don-t-seem/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [Oh, all you immigrants and visionaries, what do you hope to find here, who do you hope to become?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/oh-all-you-immigrants-and-visionaries-what-do-you-hope-to-find-here/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [“She wants to have baked a cake that banishes sorrow, even if only for a little while.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-wants-to-have-baked-a-cake-that-banishes-sorrow-even-if-only-for/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [“And yet, it gives Peter nothing. Not now. Not today. Not when he needs... more. More than this well-executed idea. More than the shark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/and-yet-it-gives-peter-nothing-not-now-not-today-not-when-he-needs/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [He insists on a version of you that is funnier, stranger, more eccentric and prfound thatn you suspect yourself to be--capable of doing more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/he-insists-on-a-version-of-you-that-is-funnier-stranger-more/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [The worst are full of passionate intensity while the best lack all conviction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/the-worst-are-full-of-passionate-intensity-while-the-best-lack-all/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [“And here he is, letting the massive steel street door click shut behind him, standing at the top of the three iron steps that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/and-here-he-is-letting-the-massive-steel-street-door-click-shut/)

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> [It's the world, you live in it, even if some boy has made a fool of you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/it-s-the-world-you-live-in-it-even-if-some-boy-has-made-a-fool-of-you/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [“She's had a long life. Now she's going to the Lord." "Frankly it creeps me out a little when you say things like that,"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/she-s-had-a-long-life-now-she-s-going-to-the-lord-frankly-it-creeps/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [Any other vexations to report?" he asks. "I love the word 'vexations.'" "It's the 'x.' Nice to jump off a 'v' and bite into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/any-other-vexations-to-report-he-asks-i-love-the-word-vexations-it-s/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [Dead, we are revealed in our true dimensions, and they are surprisingly modest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/dead-we-are-revealed-in-our-true-dimensions-and-they-are-surprisingly/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

[Explore all 277 Michael Cunningham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

## More Betrayed quotes

> [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office-seeking. Men of good character and impulses are betrayed by it into all sorts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rutherford-b-hayes/nothing-brings-out-the-lower-traits-of-human-nature-like-office/)

[Rutherford B. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rutherford-b-hayes/)

> [We are all too keenly aware that those of you who supported us by purchasing the 3DS in the beginningmay feel betrayed and criticize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satoru-iwata/we-are-all-too-keenly-aware-that-those-of-you-who-supported-us-by/)

[Satoru Iwata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satoru-iwata/)

> [In tragic life, God wot, No villain need be! Passions spin the plot: We are betrayed by what is false within.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-meredith/in-tragic-life-god-wot-no-villain-need-be-passions-spin-the-plot-we/)

[George Meredith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-meredith/)

> [The mantra of the new historicists was "we have betrayed ourselves." Since their emergence, there have been more or less interesting paradigm shifts having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-fry/the-mantra-of-the-new-historicists-was-we-have-betrayed-ourselves/)

[Paul Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-fry/)

> [It is less painful, it turns out, to feel betrayed than to feel forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-grosz/it-is-less-painful-it-turns-out-to-feel-betrayed-than-to-feel/)

[Stephen Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-grosz/)

> [Being betrayed by someone you love just makes you more selective and careful when trying out a new relationship/friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-someone-you-love-just-makes-you-more-selective-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Rome has betrayed itself. It knew the truth and chose violence, it knew humaneness and it chose tyranny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/rome-has-betrayed-itself-it-knew-the-truth-and-chose-violence-it-knew/)

[Friedrich Durrenmatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-d-rrenmatt/)

> [Those who are successfully to lead their fellow-men, should have once possessed the nobler feelings. We have all known individuals whose magnanimity was not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-helps/those-who-are-successfully-to-lead-their-fellow-men-should-have-once/)

[Arthur Helps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-helps/)

> [I'm a military man, I did what I did only because my country had to be saved from tribalism and feudalism. If I failed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mengistu-haile-mariam/i-m-a-military-man-i-did-what-i-did-only-because-my-country-had-to-be/)

[Mengistu Haile Mariam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mengistu-haile-mariam/)

> [To be robbed and betrayed by a fiendish underground conspiracy, or by the earthly agents of Satan, is at least a romantic sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/to-be-robbed-and-betrayed-by-a-fiendish-underground-conspiracy-or-by/)

[Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/)

> [“Cathy, don't look so defeated. She was only trying to put us down again. Maybe nothing did work out right for her, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-c-andrews/cathy-don-t-look-so-defeated-she-was-only-trying-to-put-us-down-again/)

[V.C. Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-c-andrews/)

> [When I was young, I had a favorite movie star. One day, I saw one of his movies, and it was bad, and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jai-white/when-i-was-young-i-had-a-favorite-movie-star-one-day-i-saw-one-of-his/)

[Michael Jai White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jai-white/)

> [I really had faith in you but you betrayed me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lafee/i-really-had-faith-in-you-but-you-betrayed-me/)

[Lafee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lafee/)

> [No-one is ever betrayed by true love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaufre-rudel/no-one-is-ever-betrayed-by-true-love/)

[Jaufre Rudel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaufre-rudel/)

[Browse all 708 Betrayed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betrayed/)

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