Do You Read Books' Introductions/Afterwords?

[RandomAnthony]

Do you read the introductions/afterwords in books, if they're there? I'm talking about introductions/afterwords that are written by literary "experts", if you will, to explain and illuminate facets of the book.

I ask because I'm reading The Invention of Morel, but Adolfo Bioy Casares, and there's a lengthy introduction to the text. Similar introductions were in books I read recently by Cather and Woolf. I skip the introductions...they're too much like spoilers, really, and I want to come to the text fresh with my own perspective, not the "right" one. I sometimes go back and read them after I've finished, though.

What do you think?

[[deleted user]]

I always do. If the intro/afterwords grab my attention, I keep reading. If not, on to the text at hand.

[janine]

i almost always read the text first, but some intros have to be read before the text itself. i read the introductions and afterwords after i read the book, depending on hom long and how interesting they are and whether or not i liked the book.

[janine]

my favorite introduction and afterword were those that accompanied my edition of tarzan of the apes.

[Heidi]

I do... intro and then afterwords after I've finished the book (to quell any withdrawals I'm having). Sometimes I'll read them WHILE I'm reading the text, too... if it seems like something that might fill in the blanks for me or add a bit of relevancy/perspective.

[[deleted user]]

Not always, but more than I used to.

[[deleted user]]

There are some mud puddles in Yellowstone that are quite deep, you may be a deeper person than you realize Barb :-)

[Phil]

Yes.

[janine]

hidden depths that can't always be seen through the muddy water. makes sense.

[Sarah]

I'll read introductions by other authors before reading the book (Jonathan Carroll on Jeffrey Ford, for example, or Neil Gaiman on Ellen Klages) but if I read one by a literary expert, it will usually be after I've finished the book. That said, there was a good one in my copy of Winesburg, OH, that I think I'm glad I read first.

[Sally, la reina]

I read the introduction and afterword after I finish a book. It makes much more sense to me at that point. I don't even read the back of the book/jacket sleeve before starting. I like to form my own opinion.

[Brittomart]

If it's assigned. But no.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I'm with Sally. If it's fiction, I never read the intro or afterword first. Sometimes they have spoilers. Sometimes the dust jacket has spoilers too, for shit's sake. (Book marketers today apparently think people won't want to read something unless the entire story is known in advance.) I want to get my own sense of the text before some expert tells me what to think.

If it's nonfiction, I will read the intro first.

However, this is a gripe I have with some mass market paperbacks - they don't contain any cover, back, or inside summary of the book, or even a suggestion of what it's about. Nada. (I've noticed this with some mystery series.) The titles are so generic (In the Presence of the Enemy, Outright Deception, etc.) you can't remember if you've read it before, and reading the first few pages might not help. I need a hint, people.