Reading last chapter first

[Pavonis]

Apples and oranges are both fruits, and you can juice both of them! They're not that different. Anyway, I don't have a boat. Don't sailors have to file plans with an authority? Can they just wander around the seas endlessly? Isn't that a recipe for disaster? Not knowing what you're reading is a similarly bad idea, IMO. You think you're going to read a comedy, but it ends up being a tragedy, which you would've seen coming and avoided if you'd checked the last page first!

 

[thestrangequark]

^The point is that I, and many others, enjoy the unpaved road. It's fun not to know where you're going. It's also fun to know, but a different sort of fun. Is it really so hard to understand that one might prefer the former adventure to the latter? Or that one might sometimes be in the mood for an apple, and other times be in the mood for an orange?

 

[Mr Awe]

^ Case point, a place where I love to return is the rain forests of Central America, where there are no paved roads!

But, totally agree. I can see why people would like to reread novels even though it's not my personal cup of tea.

Mr Awe

 

[Pavonis]

^The point is that I, and many others, enjoy the unpaved road. It's fun not to know where you're going. It's also fun to know, but a different sort of fun. Is it really so hard to understand that one might prefer the former adventure to the latter? Or that one might sometimes be in the mood for an apple, and other times be in the mood for an orange?

It's not hard to understand. I think we understand each other just fine. Reading a book unspoiled is the unpaved road; reading a book spoiled is the known destination. We're all on the same page, so to speak.

On topic, I don't read the entire last chapter, just the last page, or the last couple of pages. Sometimes I'll open a new book to a random page and read a bit. If the story hooks me, I'll stop and start it from the beginning before getting too far into it. I figure a good story should hook me at whatever random point I start it, and a really good story should have re-visiting potential. I do the same with movies and TV shows. If I think a movie or TV show is "re-watchable", I'll purchase it for my collection.

 

[iguana_tonante]

I have a relative who likes to read the end first. Her rationale is that if she's wondering how a book ends, she'll read too quickly and miss a lot of detail. By getting any suspense out of the way first, she can savour the details as she goes along.

I actually do this sometimes, and for exactly the same reason. I am more interested in the voyage than in the destination, so to speak.

 

[Emher]

I used to like read the first sentences of the last chapter, or at times the last few sentences in a book back when I was a teen. Spoiled a bit of Harry Potter for myself that way.

These days, never. Why? I'll let this quote from the opening post help me demonstrate it:

Annie also notes that perhaps one reason she always reads the end first is because “my life is so full of unknowns that to truly escape I have to know exactly where I’m headed.”

The unknown is the whole fucking POOOOIIIIIINNNNNTTTTT!!!!!!

Yes, it's about the end, but more often it's about the journey! I love not knowing what will happen. Why read the book if I know how it ends? And yes, I know I just said the journey is more often the point, but if I know the end of the journey the first time around, I rarely seem to enjoy the journey as much.

I have reread books, yes, and enjoyed them more the second time around. Just like I've seen my favorite movie about 40 times. And I keep finding more stuff to enjoy in that movie.

Bottom line: I love storytelling. In any form. A well told story is an awe inspiring thing. I don't care if it's simple, if it's told well I love it. Probably a reason why I'm so fond of mythology.

 

[thestrangequark]

^The point is that I, and many others, enjoy the unpaved road. It's fun not to know where you're going. It's also fun to know, but a different sort of fun. Is it really so hard to understand that one might prefer the former adventure to the latter? Or that one might sometimes be in the mood for an apple, and other times be in the mood for an orange?

It's not hard to understand. I think we understand each other just fine. Reading a book unspoiled is the unpaved road; reading a book spoiled is the known destination.

Yes...that is the metaphor I just used.

We're all on the same page, so to speak.

I assumed so, but your effort in arguing otherwise prior to this post was what prompted my response.

 

[Pavonis]

Yes, I repeated your metaphor to emphasize that I understood you.

 

[thestrangequark]

^Congrats?

 

[Pavonis]

Thanks? I sense an unnecessary argument coming on...what did I say to antagonize you?

 

[thestrangequark]

Thanks? I sense an unnecessary argument coming on...what did I say to antagonize you?

It was the intentionally obtuse attitude that was really getting on my nerves.


I've had a shitty day and something that normally wouldn't have annoyed me so much just did. I apologize for being catty with you, though, you didn't deserve it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I don't read the last chapter first, no.

I did used to work in a movie theater (my first job) and as part of my duties, I would have to hang around at the end of every movie so as to deal with the crowds. So I ended up seeing the end of every movie before I could get to it myself!

 

[Kirby]

Obviously in When Harry Met Sally Harry used to read the end of a book just in case he died while he was reading it.

That was the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread.
I've never read the last chapter first, it just kills any suspense built up from the rest of the book.

 

[JarodRussell]

Reading the end first saves a lot of time. I hate it when main characters are wasted or when the characters journey goes nowhere. That goes especially for long running TV shows that I haven't seen yet and am about to watch. I always check first if it's worth investing precious time on it.

 

[Brit]

I always read the last few pages before I purchase a book. I like to know where the author is going before I invest time or money. While I know that many times authors are anticipating the reader's surprise (and actually working hard to construct it), I don't think that many understand that the book they imagine never matches what springs into the reader's imagination when they read his/her book.

Marion Zimmer Bradley used to tell the writer's that she mentored, that the book the writer writes is not the book the reader reads.

I think it's kind of the same as riding roller-coasters, some people crave the excitement, the exhilaration, and other's don't at all because their emotions don't match those of the people that do love roller-coasters.

According to an estimation I saw, as many as 40% of readers admit to reading the ending first. That's a pretty hefty minority.

 

[J.T.B.]

Reading the end first saves a lot of time. I hate it when main characters are wasted or when the characters journey goes nowhere. That goes especially for long running TV shows that I haven't seen yet and am about to watch. I always check first if it's worth investing precious time on it.

How can you evaluate the character's journey without reading the whole story?

 

[trekkiebaggio]

I don't read the last chapter first.

 

[JarodRussell]

Reading the end first saves a lot of time. I hate it when main characters are wasted or when the characters journey goes nowhere. That goes especially for long running TV shows that I haven't seen yet and am about to watch. I always check first if it's worth investing precious time on it.

How can you evaluate the character's journey without reading the whole story?

If the plot for example is "character fights to survive" and eventually dies, there's no point for me reading it.

If Lord of the Rings ended with Frodo failing and Sauron winning, I'd thrown the book away.

 

[thestrangequark]

^That is extremely stupid.

 

[J.T.B.]

How can you evaluate the character's journey without reading the whole story?

If the plot for example is "character fights to survive" and eventually dies, there's no point for me reading it.

If Lord of the Rings ended with Frodo failing and Sauron winning, I'd thrown the book away.

How would you even know what the plot is supposed to be? It seems pretty presumptuous to assume that reading the end of the book is sufficient to make an informed judgment about everything that went before. For example, if you read just the end of Moby Dick, how would you know how much of what happened was Ahab's fault?