Book Blogger Hop
This prompt was submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer:
Have you ever skipped ahead to read the ending?
To quote one of my favorite Flight Of The Conchords songs:
Why? Why? Why?
What?
Why exactly?
What? Why?
Okay, in some non-fiction works, I can see reading the conclusion after the introduction so you get an idea of where the argument is going—I had a professor tell us that was the way to read a book (I think he was drawing on Mortimer Adler’s lousy book). I will do that occasionally (well, I’ll skim the last chapter) to help me focus on the bigger things the book focuses on.
But that’s not what the question is talking about, is it? Nah, this is about novels—glancing to the end to see if the butler really did to it, and so on. I know it’s done, but I don’t get it. Sure we all want to find out what happens at the end of the book–but what’s the point if you know that Wade Watts wins James Halliday’s contest if you don’t know how he won it?* It’s great to know that Mark Watney gets rescued, but the point is to know how he survives. We know that whatever guy that Stephanie Plum is hunting down will be captured/killed/cleared—the pleasure isn’t getting there, it’s the mishaps along the way. I feel like I should be going, but I think the point is made—and I’m having a hard time finding well-known examples to give without spoilers.
* Also, we’re told really early on that he wins, so maybe that’s not the best example. Or maybe it is.
Yes, the endings are important. If only to motivate you through some dull/problematic parts so you can find out the ending. But if all you want is the ending to the book—check out wikipedia or some other website. Even if you know and enjoy learning the ending, you can’t fully appreciate all of it unless you’ve got the context of the rest of the book. Novels aren’t just beginnings and endings—they’re about the work as a whole. It’s the stuff between the first and last chapters that makes them worth the time and effort—why cheat yourself?
It just seems rather pointless to me.
Unless, of course, you’re Harry Burns, who has one of the weirder boasts in cinematic history:
When I buy a new book, I read the last page first. That way, in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends. That, my friend, is a dark side.
I dunno, maybe I can be convinced—not convinced to try, but convinced that people who do this aren’t missing something.
Am I out to lunch here? Let me hear what you think!
Peat
Ah, but is there any party like your Nana’s tea party? That’s the real question.
In any case, I’ve done this a few times when feeling very impatient and realising I’m just not going to finish the book without looking. Sometimes looking lets me get through the muddy middle… and sometimes it just tells me to put the book down.
But I only do that when it’s that or just put down the book there and then.
HCNewton
I worked hard to get to get something about Nana’s tea party into the post 🙂
I can see where you’re coming from with that explanation. It makes sense.