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I only remember one time when I turned to the end of the book while reading it. It was when I was in High School! I was reading "1984" and the back cover had something that caught my eye and curiosity: something about this book grabs your attention from the beginning to the LAST FOUR WORDS. Well, that "Last Four Words" got to me and, after resisting for many days, I gave up and read the last four words...which totally ruined the book for me! I've never read the ending of a book early on because of that.
I rarely 'peek ahead', but if I do it is mostly because I cannot stand the suspense and have to know if it will be alright in the end (it mostly is). I do find though that since I know the outcome, the reading does become a little less enjoyable.
If I'm getting bored with a book, and feel like I might be wasting my time finishing it, I'll often read the end and then decide if I want to abandon it or not. I don't remember ever regretting it!
i'm with Rosanne, and am getting better at not feeling compelled to finish a book if i don't like it. i too read the last few pages and end the misery. Lisa, i agree with your assessment of Elizabeth Keckley in "Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker." her character was portrayed as too saintly and one-dimensional to be real. in the audio, the narrator's "accent" was non-existent and inauthentic. having said that, i am glad i "read" it b/c i learned something about the political and social context of the times, and about the Lincolns themselves. The author's historical research was extensive, and the process/progress of the various battles and passing of the 13th amendment was fascinating. i have keckley's autobiography on my "to read" list too.
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Yes! I find the read becomes different but not necessarily less enjoyable. I just couldn't wait until the end to find out if Harry Potter triumphed over the existential evil and if he stayed a nice guy or it went to his head. So I peeked. Then I enjoyed the journey a bit more w/o the suspense.
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Lisa, i agree with your assessment of Eliz..."
Yes, the perspective of a free black woman who's independent would seem to be uncommon in those times. We got a taste of what it was like but more would have really been better. Perhaps somebody w/ a bit less desire to have things turn out well will take up the story and try to get inside Mrs. Keckley's head.
Endings, however, brings me to this month's topic. I am growing very impatient with this character and author. Elizabeth Keckley here is portrayed in the most sanitized light. So much so that she is devoid of character. The real lady must have been much more complicated considering her start as a slave, the death of her son in the Civil War and the fact that both her and her son's existence were the result of rapes by white men. Not to mention her privileged yet compromised position in the White House with Mrs. Lincoln. Yet the author, Jennifer Chiaverini, presents her as a perfect being always trying to be strong and a model of discretion and behavior. I'm about 100 pages out from the end and I can't wait for the book to end!
So, I have cheated and read the ending, the epilogue and the wikipedia entry on the real life. And I'm in the process of obtaining her real autobiography which she wrote after the President's death. I'm hoping that she reveals a bit more of herself than Chiaverini with all of her one dimensional, one-sided story telling is unable to do.
No doubt about what I think about this book! My question is this: under what conditions do you jump to the end of the book before you've finished? In my case, I was motivated by boredom and impatience. Sometimes, if the book is too suspenseful, I can't stand it and must know if the character makes it or not. Perhaps you all out there have stronger wills than I do and slog it out to the end with the surprise intact. True or not?