Do You Ever Skip to the End of a Book?

[Snarktastic Sonja]

Olga wrote: "I always peek in the end. I like to know how the story ends. The more spoilers I read in the reviews here, the better it's for me. I guess I just don't like the unknown. That's why ebooks are not t..."

Olga, Olga, Olga - ebooks are EASY! You just place a book mark, drag the marker all the way to the end . . . and read away.

NOT that I *ever* do that . . . :D

[Snarktastic Sonja]

Charlton wrote: "My daughter does this all the time.I ask her what's the point? And I didn't know so many people did it."

The point of the book isn't the destination - it is the journey. If I don't like the destination, I don't want to take the journey.

I don't like surprise road work wh en I travel cross country . . . ;)

That being said, I certainly understand why others feel differently. And, I don't always peek. Just sometimes, when a certain outcome is very important to me - and it looks like the author may go a different way.

Case in point - the Emperor's Edge series by Lindsay Buroker. I have faithfully read each book to its conclusion - without checking the end - Until the last. I so disliked the curve the story took in the 6th book - that I did not wish to go on the journey for the 7th. I bought it - and read the epilogue. The ending to the series was important to me - however, I was not content to remain for the journey.

[[deleted user]]

See,looking ahead baffles me.I understand what you're saying about the journey-destination,but I just couldn't do it.

[Snarktastic Sonja]

Charlton wrote: "See,looking ahead baffles me.I understand what you're saying about the journey-destination,but I just couldn't do it."

See - it's like this. Have you ever been on a road trip - where you get up at 4am, hop in the car, and race to your destination with very brief stops to fill the gas tank and empty the bladder? And you drive by all these really interesting things - like the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, The Black Hills - because you are so focused on your destination that you can't enjoy the journey?

This has happened to me in books. Sometimes, to actually enjoy the journey, I need to know the destination so that I can stop and smell the roses. Other times, I can enjoy the journey without knowing the destination.

My husband races. So, I get it. I understand why others think I am crazy. I am used to it. ;)

[carol. , Senor Crabbypants]

I completely get it, Sonja. Sometimes I race through--it's one reason I re-read, because the last half is a lot faster and less thoughtfully read. Sometimes, if it's late, I peek. But sometimes it's hard to get motivated again after that.

[Carly]

I tend to read mysteries, so I can't do this exactly, but I used to have a weird "cheat." It tends to really, really bother me when characters die, so when I started wondering if a character was about to be Landing Party, I'd shut my eyes till I was squinting and ruffle the pages of the book so quickly that I couldn't see anything but parts of individual words. I always figured that if a character's name popped up a couple of times later in the book, they probably made it; otherwise I started steeling myself. It's not a perfect system, but you'd be surprised how rarely dead characters get mentioned after about one chapter past their demise.
I can't do that on the kindle, which might explain why all the dying characters are hitting me harder.

[Sophie]

Carly wrote: "I tend to read mysteries, so I can't do this exactly, but I used to have a weird "cheat." It tends to really, really bother me when characters die, so when I started wondering if a character was ab..."

I've accidentally spoiled a book that way. It was some PNR, can't remember which, I was flipping through trying to find my page, and had seen a character name appear several times. A battle scene erupted and the chapter ended with a cliffhanger, suggesting one of the heroes may have died, but since I'd seen his name appear in later pages, I knew he hadn't. =/
Ended up not finishing it - it wasn't great to begin with, and that incident just killed what enthusiasm I had left.

The experience taught me the value of using a book mark, or to dog ear.

[Lauren]

I don't usually skip to the end of a book but I do tend to start peeking into the next book if Im reading a series.

Just recently I was getting to the end of a really good book & started wondering what the next book was about, so I looked it up on GoodReads & ended up ruining the ending of the book I was still reading when the first sentence revealed my hero's death.... so I skipped to the end.. (i only had a 100 or so pages left)

[Snarktastic Sonja]

Carol wrote: "I completely get it, Sonja. Sometimes I race through--it's one reason I re-read, because the last half is a lot faster and less thoughtfully read. Sometimes, if it's late, I peek. But sometimes it'..."

Carol - what is *really* interesting is that I do not do well on re-reads. For whatever reason, characters do not seem to resonate as well with me on re-reads as they do initially. That may be why I peek - it is easier for me to enjoy the ride the first time.

And, I am less likely to read ahead in a mystery - whether it be paranormal or fantasy or detective - because I like to see if I can catch the clues. It is the likely death of my beloved characters which will force me to peek. I am currently reading Bitten. I am reading it much more slowly than is normal for me for a novel that intrigues me as my reading buddy's life got in the way (How dare she! ;)) And, I have pocket theories going on as to what who and why . . . but I absolutely refuse (so far ;)) to read the end . :D

[L.Y.]

I can't peek ahead. I just can't. My mother does it all the time, and I have to say I feel like she's cheating, lol. She's not going to go through the same suspense as me and get to the ending when she's supposed to? It drives me nuts.

I think that I wouldn't appreciate the ending as much if I read it first, because there would be no suspense, no build-up, and (if you read the end before really even starting the book) not much of an attachment to the characters. Unless it's a sequel, anyway.

[R.A.]

L.Y. wrote: "I can't peek ahead. I just can't. My mother does it all the time, and I have to say I feel like she's cheating, lol. She's not going to go through the same suspense as me and get to the ending when..."

I agree with you except to say that if the characters are my 'friends', it doesn't hurt if I know what is going to happen at the end. I'm much more interested in the journey than I am in knowing how things turn out. As you can imagine, I stick with character-driven stories and skip the plot driven stuff.

[Snarktastic Sonja]

R.A. wrote: "I agree with you except to say that if the characters are my 'friends', it doesn't hurt if I know what is going to happen at the end. I'm much more interested in the journey than I am in knowing how things turn out. As you can imagine, I stick with character-driven stories and skip the plot driven stuff. "


Yes! :)

[Brenda ╰☆╮]

I don't skip to the end of a book....even if I can't/don't finish the book. To each his/her own.
:)
It's not something I would even think of doing. I really can't say why, except I like things in the proper order.

[Mina]

Only if I'm bored with it. Since I started it, I will skip to the end to see whether I think it's worth slogging through or not.

[Michael]

No, I never skip ahead. I often wonder if I should write my books so that something "not very important" is at the very end so those who do skip ahead won't get a spoiler.

[Sophie]

Michael wrote: "No, I never skip ahead. I often wonder if I should write my books so that something "not very important" is at the very end so those who do skip ahead won't get a spoiler."

Out of curiosity, what are the "not very important" parts of a book? I've had people tell me, "I only read the good parts" which I don't really understand (unless its a re-read). I would think good/important are awfully subjective anyway.

[Olga]

Michael wrote: "No, I never skip ahead. I often wonder if I should write my books so that something "not very important" is at the very end so those who do skip ahead won't get a spoiler."
Oh, Michael, don't. I hate it when writers finish the book and then tie loose ends for a chapter or two. If a reader doesn't want a spoiler, he doesn't look into the end. I do - because I want to know what happens, how it ends. For me, anticipation doesn't spoil the journey, but I want to know where I'm going.

[Olga]

Sophie wrote: "Out of curiosity, what are the "not very important" parts of a book? I've had people tell me, "I only read the good parts" which I don't really understand (unless its a re-read). I would think good/important are awfully subjective anyway."

I agree: likes and dislikes are always subjective. I wonder how other people select what parts to read and what to skip. Are there rules, like skip all descriptions or skim inner monologs? Speaking for myself, I do that with romances: I skip the bed scenes. It's pretty easy to see when such a scene begins or ends, so I scan the text until it's over. Not because these scenes are unimportant but because they seem the same from book to book and from author to author. And they often employ some rather purple prose. Don't get me wrong, I like romance as a genre, I just like it without sex. Georgette Heyer, who is considered the founder of Regency Romance, wrote about 50 romantic novels without one bed scene among them. For some writers, the bed scenes feel like a way to pump up their word count; they last for many pages but add nothing to the story or the characters.

[Robin P]

Michael wrote: "No, I never skip ahead. I often wonder if I should write my books so that something "not very important" is at the very end so those who do skip ahead won't get a spoiler."

Don't worry - If the book is written well, the ending won't give that much away. If someone skipped to the very end of your Revelations series without reading the rest (if that is humanly possible), the "surprise" ending wouldn't mean much to them.

Olga, I know what you mean about predictability. I feel like that in movies when there is a car chase. That is supposed to be the exciting part, but I feel like saying, "Wake me up when something new happens".

[David]

Michael wrote: "No, I never skip ahead. I often wonder if I should write my books so that something "not very important" is at the very end so those who do skip ahead won't get a spoiler."

I would question why a "not very important" part of a book is in the book at all and the ending, which should have as much or more impact than the rest of the book on the reader, is certainly not the place for it. Stephen King has written novels like that, where the ending is just blah and they're his worst novels.

And it occurs to me, the ending of a book is by definition, THE spoiler. People who read the ending are specifically looking for that.

I never look at the ending. I'm definitely about the journey and if I'm not enjoying the journey, I put the book down. Even when I'm reading mysteries, I just go along for the ride. A lot of people try to solve them as they go. Maybe it's because of the mysteries I like. One of my favorites is Raymond Chandler and I've heard some of his aren't solvable from what he gives you. His novels always end in fast-paced, everything but the kitchen sink type solutions. I read mysteries more for their atmosphere than solving them.

I tend to like books that take me to unexpected places the best. If the book ends how I think it will, it makes me wonder why I bothered to finish it, unless the writing style is great and the writer keeps my interest that way. I guess the best recent example of something like I'm talking about is the series Breaking Bad. I knew from the beginning it had to end badly, but things never happened the way I thought they would. The writers took so many good twists and turns, I was always happily surprised how they handled things.

[Sophie]

Olga wrote: "Are there rules, like skip all descriptions or skim inner monologs? Speaking for myself, I do that with romances: I skip the bed scenes. It's pretty easy to see when such a scene begins or ends, so I scan the text until it's over. Not because these scenes are unimportant but because they seem the same from book to book and from author to author. And they often employ some rather purple prose. Don't get me wrong, I like romance as a genre, I just like it without sex. Georgette Heyer, who is considered the founder of Regency Romance, wrote about 50 romantic novels without one bed scene among them. For some writers, the bed scenes feel like a way to pump up their word count; they last for many pages but add nothing to the story or the characters. "

Subjective is, indeed, the word! I almost always read bedroom scenes because I get a kick out of purple prose - I've even got a written list of often used phrases. And then sometimes (sadly rare) I'll find one that is spectacularly written, that adds to character and plot.

If there's anything I skip, it's rapturous description of scenery. For me, words are no substitute for the visual stimulation of nature and I dislike when authors try. Megan Whalen Turner tried this in The Thief and not only was it boring, it was incredibly annoying. This is also the reason I never got past the first three pages of Anne of Green Gables.

[ewa]

Never :). Although sometimes, when I lost interest I am going thru pages very quickly to see the end.

[R.A.]

Olga wrote: "Sophie wrote: "Out of curiosity, what are the "not very important" parts of a book? I've had people tell me, "I only read the good parts" which I don't really understand (unless its a re-read). I w..."

I agree with Olga, Robin, and Sophie. And I would like to add inner monolog to my list of things that I will skim/skip if it gets out of hand. Now days, I feel like my time is too important for a book that needs much skipping. If it isn't holding me to the page, I don't even bother to see what happened at the end. Movies are the same way. But I skip car chases more because they make me motion sick than because they bore me. Maybe if I ever watched one all the way through, I would get bored. It's hard to say.

[Olga]

Sophie, I know what you mean about the scenery. When it's too involved, it's usually when the writer starts admiring her own prose and forgets about the story. Literary fiction often strikes me this way - that's why I don't read much of it, mostly genre. I want to know what happens next, nor read pages of a forest description.

[Snarktastic Sonja]

Olga wrote: "Sophie, I know what you mean about the scenery. When it's too involved, it's usually when the writer starts admiring her own prose and forgets about the story. Literary fiction often strikes me thi..."

I agree with both of you! It is what drives me away from the fantasy novels that tend to populate the "best" lists. Sometimes I feel that in order to make these lists, the author must spend at least 3/4 of the book describing things in great (boring) detail. I completely zone out. That and the 'grey' characters. These things push me into the UF novels . . . where there are werewolves and vampires that I don't like.

And sex scenes. ;) I skip over those too. But, typically, they aren't page after page - at least and still be considered UF. :D

[Snarktastic Sonja]

Michael wrote: "No, I never skip ahead. I often wonder if I should write my books so that something "not very important" is at the very end so those who do skip ahead won't get a spoiler."

Interesting that knowing we sometimes skip ahead makes you re-think your writing style. (Don't!)

If it helps - I don't think I ever skipped ahead in one of your novels.

Or maybe I did. Another reason I skip ahead is to prepare myself for the death of a beloved character. Honestly, this can depress me for days. I mean crying in the dark, won't pick up another book or make it through anything depression. (It is for this reason I have been forbidden to read/watch the Hunger Games and I have yet to visit the final Harry Potter.) In order to protect myself, I have learned to skim ahead to see. Preparing myself helps me to avoid the depression.

[Brunnstag]

I've done it before, but always regretted it. It never fails when I look ahead in a book, it always lands on some completely shocking scene or revelation that ruins the rest of the book! Nowadays, the only time I ever read the ending before the rest of the book, or worse yet a synopsis, is when I just can't stand to read the book any longer. I finally had to do this with The Shadow of the Wind- great story! But I really did not dig the telling of it at all.

[Jalilah]

I did it recently because the book started out well, but dragged on it in the middle. The leading character was acting like an idiot making so many mistakes that it was like watching a car crash in slow motion. I could not stand it and read the end just to assure myself that ieverything would turn out okay!

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*, *good karma*]

I've done it mostly with romances - but other than that...its because I want to know what happened (in the story) but I don't have enough interest to read the whole thing.

[Troy]

Being very picky with what I read (and due to the limited time I have right now to read) I never skip to the end. Don't want to ruin the ending. I can't think of a book that was so awful that I would skip...

[Anna Maria]

If the book is uninteresting I go to a quarter and continue reading if still blah I go to middle I give it another chance then if real real bad I go to the end.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Uh, no. To me this is a big no, no, no. I would hate having the ending ruined for me. Knowing the destination before taking the journey does not appeal to me.

[[deleted user]]

Erin (Paperback Stash) wrote: "Uh, no. To me this is a big no, no, no. I would hate having the ending ruined for me. Knowing the destination before taking the journey does not appeal to me."

God,I'm glad somebody else feels the same way I do about skipping to the end.

[Robb]

I once skipped to the end of a book the others because it was so, so bad that I just wanted to see if it was worth it.
It wasn't.
In fact the ending was stupid beyond what I possibly could have imagined.

[Kasi]

Snarktastic Sonja wrote: "I do! I do! In this day and age of "realistic" fantasy, I cannot STAND for those I fall in love with to be killed off in some authorian manifest to be more "real". Deaths of characters can leave me..."

But you don't know they are going to STAY dead. I admit that I killed off a main character and love interest of the female lead at the end of a book, but he was still there as a ghost. They couldn't touch, which left them frustrated, but he was still a part of the series. haha

[Robb]

Occasionally when a book is really, really bad, I skip to the end to see if the ending appears worth reading to get to. Theoretically it might make me say "Hey, I'd love to see how it gets to that."

But so far it usually just confirms "I do not want to read this."

[carol. , Senor Crabbypants]

Ha! Me too !