The Spoiler Question

[sartorias]

Are you a weenie-reader, too?

Looking at different kinds of readers, and a little bit at why we read.

Comments

[ravenedgewalker]

ha! I knew I couldn't be the only one out there - I almost always read the end of books before I've read the middle - though not usually before I've read the beginning - I have to have some knowledge about what's going on in order to understand the end, and to begin to care about the characters.

It never spoils the book, and usually improves my enjoyment greatly. I read the Hobbit when I was maybe 7, and parts terrified me (the spiders). At that point the only reason I finished it was because I knew what happened at the end.

[sartorias]

I really enjoy seeing the structure unfold.

[breathingbooks]

I only check the ending if I think the book is a possible wolf in sheep's clothing. I like happy endings in fiction, and while I'm usually good at telling from various clues what sort of story it is, occasionally I get a book that makes me suspicious - so I skip to the end. Likewise, I appreciate trigger warnings (I will never, ever forgive Bridge to Terebithia), but any other spoilers, however minor, drive me insane.

I reread a lot though, so I don't fit your theory.

[sartorias]

Interesting, that! Thanks.

[coneycat]

Bridge to Terabithia: I read that for a course on children's librarianship, and I was TOLD the ending. And I got so involved in the book that I forgot! I can't remember crying so hard over any book since (spoilers) Where the Red Fern Grows.(/spoilers)

[sartorias]

That was another that kids generally didn't like, but it persisted on the required reading list.

[kalimac]

I peeked ahead during my first reading of The Lord of the Rings. I was eleven, and hadn't quite developed the patience for such a long book. I've read the book again any number of times since, but I had one and only one chance to be surprised by the ending, and I blew it. Always been sorry about that.

[sartorias]

Heh. I knew the end because the friend who wanted me to read it told me, but that just made the anticipation stronger.

Re: sauron & morgoth

[sartorias]

Oh yes! I remember dreading meeting sauron, and finding it infinitely better that we never did. Somehow Sauron was the more frightening to be kept at a distance.

[barbarienne]

I am the complete opposite. I don't want spoilers at all, and I love "jumps," even if they make me cry.

[sartorias]

I'm married to one--hates spoilers, wants the jump.

[eglantine_br]

Oh, always read the last page first. The best sign for me is when it appears happy, but makes no sense. Then I can relax and let the book take me there.

I don't think I have missed out on much, by doing this. Some times I read a page from the middle too.

[sartorias]

I love that too, when it seems happy but makes no sense--then I suspect that the middle isn't thoroughly predictable.