Not too long ago a study was released that said reading, or knowing the end of a book would actually not detract, but possibly enhance the reading experience.
As bloggers, we avoid falling into the overly deep play-by-play of a book for fears of falling into the spoiler bear trap. Not that is hasn’t happened, we slipped once but never again.
Still, as a reader, have you ever skipped ahead to the last chapter or the epilogue to catch a glimpse at the story’s conclusion?
If you have jumped to the end, why? Is it raw curiosity? Rapatious anticipation? What was the book and did it alter how you perceived the book?
Maybe you haven’t intentionally read the ending, but have you heard a book’s spoiler and read on? Or maybe you bailed?
Polling the B3 chums and comrades, we were hard pressed to find anyone admitting to spoiling their own read. But we suspect it happens a lot more than people fess up to.
So, what about you, have you skipped ahead to the end?
I don’t often “spoil” my reading by peeking ahead, but I am a chronic re-reader and I usually seem to appreciate a book more on its second or third time through. Those practices aren’t exactly the same– because I suppose half the fun of spoiling the ending of a book is then reading to figure out how it gets there– but I’d imagine they’re pretty connected. Why the appeal of “knowing” where a book is headed? Is a it a security thing (we know that despite any shenanigans in plot, the characters will end up in a particular place); or do we like the feeling that we “know better” than the characters as they navigate their own stories? I wonder..
I once attended a John Irving talk at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. He described part of his method for writing novels was to write the last sentence first. He needs to know the ending of the story to start writing and completing the novel. I will read the last page before starting to read John Irving novels. The “Last Night in Twisted River” is in my reading pile at the moment. I didn’t do this for his earlier works and don’t plan to do it for any other authors because I think it does influence your reading of the novel. I really don’t want that influence to potentially interfere with my reading of the book. I also think about that let down feeling I have when a book I love ends, why would I want to have a premonition about the ending while reading? But there are classics I have had trouble reading and after watching a movie version of the story, with those pictures in my head I was able to finish the novel. I guess this is a different way of knowing the ending and it not interfering with my ability to read and enjoy the book. So for me whether to read ahead or not, depends on the book.