Friday, February 28, 2014

Discussion Question: Do You Peek at the Ending?

My co-blogger Sheri reads the endings of books sometimes.  That makes me crazy, but lately I've found myself doing it.  Just a couple of times.  I don't do it when I'm reading on my Kindle and that's one reason that I love my Kindle (it keeps me honest).  But if I'm reading an actual book, I'll be flipping through to see how long the chapter is and a word or phrase will jump out at me and I'll read a paragraph or a page.   Or I forget how many pages the book has (uh huh) and I flip to the last page just to check how many pages there are and a word or phrase jumps out at me and yeah, I read the ending.  That happened recently when I was reading the second book in a series.  I was about halfway through and I flipped to the end and something caught my eye and yeah...one of the main characters dies (paranormal book so it's not completely over, but still).  And so I didn't even finish the book.  On the other hand, sometimes I'm so stressed out about how the book is going to end that I find myself reading so fast that I'm not even really enjoying the book.  So if I know, does that mean it's more likely that I can just relax and actually enjoy the book (assuming a happy ending)?  That's why Sheri reads the ending first.  But if you know the ending, all of that drama and emotion that's in the book may not mean as much to you.  

Do you ever read ahead or even peek at the ending?  Does knowing the ending absolutely ruin the book or does it make it easier to sit back and just enjoy the book?  


Posted by:  Pam

7 comments:

  1. I try very hard not to read the end of a book, but I've done it before. I TOTALLY understand feeling like you can relax once you know what will happen. But I'm always afraid the end will upset me and then that will carry through the entire book reading experience. Sometimes I'm much better able to face the end of a book if I get to it organically. But I love to see that people do read the ends of books, because I feel like some people look at it as an unforgivable sin. Great discussion!

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  2. I don't and get after my son if he tries to do that. I don't think the book, characters, and emotions would be the same if I know exactly how it ends. Plus, when I re-read books it brings those emotions back as I first experienced reading it because of what was going on and that I didn't know how things were going to turn out. I think it would lesson the power and emotion of a book otherwise. I also think that some books that I really liked would be a little boring if I knew the endings ahead of time. That's just my two cents on that. :)

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  3. I have to admit that I have never flipped to the end to see what happens. But I have found myself gripping my book, reading so fast I am barely taking half of it in because I NEED to know what happens. I think it would ruin it for me if I knew the ending at the very beginning or halfway through.

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  4. I could never read the ending of a book! Part of the fun of reading is not knowing what happens. However, I simply HAVE to know how many pages are in a book so I can track my progress, and sometimes I accidentally read the last sentence. I hate it when that happens, but it's like it just HAPPENS and I have no control over it, haha.
    Also, when I am bored with a book, or unsure if I want to continue, I'll flip to some later section and read a few paragraphs to see if it gets any more interesting. For some reason, every time I do this, I stumble across a romantic scene which kind of ruins the romantic suspense that was supposed to build up prior to that scene. But I still do this anyway, just so I know that a book gets better!

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  5. I never read ahead! I don't know how people do that. I really think it ruins the magic of the book. There's no more tension and the build-up just doesn't matter anymore then. Nope nope nope. Stop cheating! You can't read the ending first. That's just wrong.

    Okay, I'm calm now. Lol. *eye twitches*

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  6. I use to do this with almost every book that I read and I would get on the internet and find spoilers for not only books but tv show and movies too. Then I got my Kindle and like you said it kind of prevents you from going to the end and reading. Once I finished a book on my Kindle that I didn't read the ending to, I realized that I enjoyed it so much more so I stopped flipping to the end. Of course, it was so hard not to during Allegiant, lol.

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  7. I am guilty of the whole flip-to-the-last-page-and-glimpse-a-phrase-or-two thing but I never actually read the whole ending. Sometimes the phrases are spoilery and sometimes not. But I actually don't really mind spoilers. I am an impatient person and sometimes it eases my mind knowing what is coming hah. I know it takes away the surprise but it doesn't happen that often and I still enjoy the book!

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