lolabobs | (no subject)

I has a puppy and a suicidal bunny! Thank you

elfinessy

I also has significantly less chocolates than I started the weekend with, but I won't tell if you won't.

***
I was talking on Wednesday with a friend about reading - and he said that he always read the ending of books before he started reading them, as he couldn't cope emotionally if there was an unhappy ending. He did this always, and, if reading a series of books and one he reads has an unhapy event he skips the next book(s) in the series - as an example: a character's partner died in one series, he missed out the next two published books until he thought it would be safe to read another.

This boggled me - I can understand people liking spoilers, and I know when my Mum read Mills and Boon she would read the last chapter to see how sappy it was (which we as a family welcomed as it limited the amount of times a book went flying across the front room when she became exasperated!), I just find it hard to imagine being so vulnerable that you can't cope with a less than blissful happy ending.

For me, part of reading a book for the first time is that whole 'not knowing what's going to happen' the tense anxiety or anticipation, the 'I can't put the book down till I know ' experience. And while I will reread a book over and over, I want that first time experience unsullied!

What do other people think? Do? Like I said, I can understand the 'tease' of spoilers and anticipating how they will appear/play out, but to know the ending fully? I'm genuinely interested in your thoughts.

Threaded | Flat

If I want to know the ending, I will read a book I've already read. It really depends on the mood I'm in.

If the book is about inflicting pain on a child or something equally as horrific, I don't need to check the ending...I just don't read it. It's not my cup of tea and I know I won't be able to finish it in the first place.

A friend of mine was trying to get me to read a book about a child who was victimized by his alcoholic mother. Even though it had a happy ending, I couldn't do it because I don't want to read that sort of trauma.

My current favorite book right now is "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks". It's a biography and very compelling, too.

Edited 2011-01-31 01:15 (UTC)

I'm strange in that in fanfic, I want a happy ending. I will read the end of a story if it's not an author I know and trust. In a mainstream book, I don't need to know the end. Even if one of the main characters is killed off, I have no vested interest in them so while it might be sad, it's not emotionally hurtful. I love my boys so I want them alive and well (and happy) at the end of a story.

If you look up some of the ebook romance or erotica publishers, you'll see that many of them require a happily ever after ending or at least a happily for now ending from their authors (you can see this by looking at their submissions requirements). So you can imagine readers of current romance, at least, apparently pretty strongly want happy endings.
Personally, I don't like knowing how a book ends, but I HAVE found over the last few years I'm having a tougher time dealing with endings that unexpectedly leave me feeling sort of, well, grieving. There's an SPN fan fiction, one that's over 100,000 words, and the authors didn't warn at all for the ending (not that I expect it or anything, but I do know in SPN fandom a lot of authors give fairly specific warnings for stuff), which was WAY less than happy, and in fact near the end you think everything is going to end fine just before it all goes completely and utterly to shit. It took me days to stop thinking about it and really, just being very upset by it. I don't think the author owed me anything different, but I do felt the shock of the ending was an intentional thing on the authors' part.
Lately I read Suzanne Collins YA series and was very anxious about the ending as I got closer to it. It was all I could do not to check the end of the final book, just to be sure I wouldn't be crying in my beer:)
Still don't normally check, though - I do prefer the anticipation and normally really dislike having the ending disclosed to me beforehand. I just seem to be getting more sensitive.

My sister always reads the end of books first. She says it's like a compulsion; if she doesn't do it, she'll just keep thinking about it and be distracted from reading until she gives in. I can't understand it because I hate spoilers of any kind!

But I can understand being very sensitive and vulnerable. I find emotional books extremely tiring (I was talking about this in the survey I posted earlier actually), sometimes to the point where it outweighs the enjoyment I'm getting from the book. It's very frustrating! I was reading a really good book last year (Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner) and just as I was approaching the end I had to put it down because it was getting a bit tense and I didn't feel like I could take it given that other, real life, things were getting me down at the time. Now I really want to finish it but it won't feel right going in so close to the end, I'll have to start over again and make sure I finish it while I'm feeling strong! And the reason why I stopped watching 24 was because I was worrying too much about my favourite character. I feel like I could only start watching again if I read spoilers first, to prepare myself, except I really don't like spoilers so instead I just won't watch it anymore.

I'd never resort to spoilers to save heartache. You're right, the anticipation and "not knowing" is all part of the reading experience. When I reread, even though I know what's going to happen, I remember that thrill of reading it for the first time and so it's like I'm feeling it again. If I get really gripped by a book, I start reading faster and I have to force myself to slow down and cover up the rest of the page with my hand, to stop myself getting even a line in advance!

What a long comment -- I could talk about reading all day!

I love happy endings and hate unhappy ones. As a result, if I'm at all concerned about how a story is going to turn out, I will jump ahead and read the ending.

Hmm. Being spoilerized doesn't bother me at all. And it's not because I want to avoid an unhappy ending. If it's a very long story (something that would take me numerous sittings to finish), sometimes I peek at the ending so I can take my time and savor without feeling like I have to rush to find out what happens. It's more about the journey than the destination. :)

There are two or three beloved mystery series where, if I've heard any sort of rumour about a major character dying, I'll read the end to make sure she/he doesn't...other than that, I'm with you and I'd rather enjoy the book without knowing what's going to happen. :)

I am with you on this. I am so about the story unfolding that I actually get a bit irritated when I see people spoiling themsleves. I KNOW that's stupid of me, but can't they see they're ruining it?

I never read the ends of books before starting them. I've flicked through Star Trek and Buffy novels to catch snippets, to see if they sound good, but with original fiction, I just pick up a book and read it. I'll read the blurb, that's all the spoiler I'll get.
If there's a sad ending, then so be it. I cried my eyes out at The Book Thief though it did have a bit of a happy ending, it was still depressing, but it's one of the best books I've read.

Thank you for my lovely puppy!

As for spoilers... Depends. I think I have different expectation for when it comes to fanfic where you're expected to be warned for stuff (non-con, character death) that books wouldn't (though arguably you can deduce what you're getting from the genre/author/blurb).