Jun 14th, 2007
Dessert first
Today’s Booking through Thursday:
- Do you cheat and peek ahead at the end of your books? Or do you resolutely read in sequence, as the author intended?
- And, if you don’t peek, do you ever feel tempted?
I never peek ahead. It just seems wrong–not necessarily because I’m worried about breaking the author’s rules, but because there is so much pleasure to be had from seeing a story unfold. In When Harry Met Sally, when Harry talks about reading the end of the book first, I just want to whack him upside the head and say, “Are you nuts?”
I’m never tempted to read ahead. That said, there are times when the drama is so intense in the spot I’m currently reading that I really really do want to know what happens. This was true for George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, which has amazing, surprising (but in an “oh, now that I think about it…sure…” way, not in a “the author is being unfair with the reader” way) plot twists. (If you haven’t read these books, go read them. Right now. And don’t go anwhere near the Wikipedia entries on them, ’cause they are full of spoilers.) My husband read the books before me, so a few times I asked him, “Can you just tell me if X dies?” Fortunately for me, he told me nothing.
OMG! I was just going to say that the ONLY time I have ever peeked ahead was in the GRRM series (book 3 I think), when Arya is running toward the castle where her mother and brother are … and The Dog comes up behind her on his horse … and he has that axe in his hand … and he swings. WHACK! Chapter over.
We are complete Song of Ice and Fire addicts in this household. The Consort keeps checking the website for updates. I think GRRM is toying with us.
I eat dessert first, I flip to the end of books, and in the days of video tapes, I’d watch my taped shows from end to beginning with the rewind/ffwd button :)
I agree, I read strictly in order. However, that’s not to say I haven’t been rooted to the spot trying to speed-read through something so I can find out what happens!! :) But I always figure I’m missing out if I skip an entire chunk. Maybe there was a clue about how things turn out in there, and I just cheated myself out of the pleasure of it all!
hi Marsha!
I’m a read-’em-straight-through no-peeking book reader. Especially when it comes to Harry Potters. Though I’m trusting myself more and more to be okay with leaving a book halfway when I’m not happy with it (lessons learned from sticking it through on Ishiguro’s _The Unconsoled_ and Eugenides’ _Middlesex_. Boo).
I like your new home and am looking forward to seeing it take shape and reflect your personality etc. (^o^)
Imperatrix: After the really big OH MY DOG surprise in book one (you know which one I’m talking about, right?), you can understand why “Does X die?” is the big question in my mind when reading those books. Martin (like Joss Whedon) is unafraid to kill off major characters. If he ever kills off Arya, though, I will never forgive him.
Linda: Well, I don’t think I’ll ever watch movies backward. Dessert first, though–now there’s a good idea!
Arianna: “rooted to the spot trying to speed-read through something so I can find out what happens”–yes yes exactly! Me too!
JD: Is Middlesex that bad? I’ve heard so many rave reviews about it that I’ve contemplated adding it to my to-read list. What didn’t you like about it?
Yes, I know who you mean. When I read that, I shouted out loud “WHAT???!!!!????!!!”
That’s why we love that series, too. (But whenever we recommend it to someone, we warn them of his tendency to kill off characters he’s invested time and effort into developing.)
Oh dear, hardly a good thing to say about _Middlesesx_: no character development; poorly paced; irrelevant/gratuitous background ’subplot’; totally unsatisfying/unconvincing ending. All in all, I came away from the book with nary a better understanding for anything it’s supposed to be about.
My roommate, who read it for a college class, didn’t like it, either; but another girfriend said she LOVED it (we’ve since learned that we have VASTLY different reading tastes), thought it was totally hilarous (do the other reviews you’ve read agree?).
Go figure. If you do end up reading it, I’d love to hear your thoughts!