Kell Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Do you often work out the end of a book long before you get there? Does it annoy you when you work things out far in advance or do you get a kick out of beig clever enough to work it all out? Does it only happen occasionally and does it affect your enjoyment of the book? Or do you usually get to the end and think, "I never saw that coming!" when you put it down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I don't usually do one or the other - it depends on the book. I didn't see the twist at the end of Gentlemen and Players like Prospero did, for example, but I guessed something fairly major in the first and only Bond book I've read. It didn't particularly spoil it for me - I was just rather stunned that I worked it out and Bond didn't! I can't think of any other examples at the moment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I don't like figuring things out too far in advance. When that happens, I find the rest of the book boring as it plays out predictably, or I just don't finish it. Sometimes it is nice to have a sense of what's going to happen, though. Still, I like being surprised! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I am with you Echo, I like not knowing so I'm still gripped at the end of the book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mad Leprechaun Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I just read books for mindless escapism mainly so I don't try and figure out what is going to happen. I just go along with the story till the end that way it doesnt get spoiled for me. I dont mind either if I do work it out in advance either though as I said before I just read books mainly to escape the dull drudgery of school and revision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshman Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Sometimes I like to pit my mind against the author - can I find the twist before s/he tells me. Then if I am right I am one seriously clever bunny and if I am wrong I have the excitement of not expecting it. Either way I win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I worked out a book calld 'The Babysitter', it was a free book I got with a magzine when I was about 19, I can't remember the author but you knew it was babysitter despite the 'exciting twists' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mia Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I think I only spot really obvious things, so if I work something out it makes me slightly disappointed in the author's skill! The last thing I worked out (and fairly early too) was a major revelation in Trudi Canavan's Voice of the Gods trilogy. I was slightly pleased to be proved right, but it did spoil the books for me that I'd sussed it so soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 If someone reads a book for mindless escapism, that's too passive for my liking. Why not just watch the tellybox if you don't want to use your brain? Because, as we've discussed lots of times on here, everyone reads for different reasons.. and no reason is right or wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inver Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I like to read to the end not knowing what is going to happen, although it doesn't always work. Nothing more annoying/exciting though when you think you have it worked out and it heads off in the complete opposite direction I don't try to work it out. It does put a feather in your cap though if you figure a tricky situation out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I like not knowing, it makes reading more fun I think Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I can't read a book and not try to work out the ending; if you're that into it surely you'd always be thinking of it, wondering what happens next? An extension of that would be not just trying to get into the characters' heads but the author's too, and asking, "What would they have happen?" I casually wonder what may happen ahead of time but hate to spoil the book for myself. I don't ever wonder what the character's would have happen. Not ever. I think you're weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I do have the tendency to wonder about the character after I finish a book, what will happen next for he/she? I still think about 'Snowman' in 'Oryx and Crake' by Margaret Atwood:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Ignoring your errant apostrophe (and the fact I was talking about what the author would have happen)...does that mean you don't look at the characters as real people then? You don't think they have their own personalities and free will? Well. No-one's ever said that to me before! Who put that apostrophe there? I do look at the characters as real people, but I don't think overthink what is happening. It's only if one of them appears to act totally out of character that it jars with me. Maybe I just thin-slice them (I just had to correct five typos in that post before submitting. I think I need more painkillers. Or something) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergran71 Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I must admit I do try and work out what is going to happen as I am reading a book and I also am pleased if there is a twist that throws me off course completely. What really niggles me is when the characters or some of them are left in the air. One of Jodi Picoult's books did that (cant remember which one now) and when I emailed her about it, she said she sometimes likes to leave it to the reader to imagine what happened next, particularly as she feels she leaves clues. I have just remembered it was Salem Falls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 I do have a bit of a habit of thinking several steps ahead of the action (I do the same with films too) and often come up with the ending before I'm edven half-way through a book. However, it's often quite intuitive - I subscribe to the theatre theory that "if there's a gun on the table in act one, smoeone has to fire it by the end of the show", so I pick up on the little "incidentals" here and there. With crime novels, I often get an instinctive feel for who the guilty party is, even if I'm not sure of the motive behind their actions. Some genres are easier than others too - for example, if I'm reading a Jane Austen novel, I can pretty much pick out who will end up with who by the end, but I enjoy the meandering journey the author takes ther reader on to get there. I'm like that with most chicklit and lighter fictio, and of course, sometimes with fictionalised historical accounts (but only if I know a little somehing about the events beforehand - I only do my research afterwards if I don't already know!). If the book is a good one, I don't mind being able to work out the end and/or some of the twists (and also spotting the red herrings!), as it makes me feel quite clever that I've worked it out and I can still enjoy the writing and the story. If I don't find the book entertaniing, though, or if the end is way too obvious, I end up feeling a bit jipped, as I don't feel my mind had a proper work-out - I do like to be challenged occasionally when I'm plot-bustnig! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NiceguyEddie Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I like guessing whodunnit in Agatha Christie' & P D James's mysteries. I almost always get the right one. I have a simple method of deduction. As I read or listen, at one time or another I will think every character dunnit. Never fails. I do like that genre of closed detective stories. Where it's someone in the room or firm or island or any closed group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spooncat Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I never work it out Love the Agatha Christie ones and I think the aim is to get you thinking it is anyone of them= they all could have done it - usually I find it impossible to work it out - but thats the fun in being surprised at the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted May 24, 2008 Share Posted May 24, 2008 I don't usually try to figure out what's going to happen. I just enjoy the ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esiotrot Posted May 25, 2008 Share Posted May 25, 2008 I am always subconsciously thinking ahead and often figure out the ending of a book before I reach halfway, although this sometimes leaves me feeling disappointed. I actually enjoy the book more when the author dupes me and it goes a different direction - makes my brain work. This is the reason I have only re-read a handful of books, I love the discovery. Kx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 If someone reads a book for mindless escapism, that's too passive for my liking. Why not just watch the tellybox if you don't want to use your brain? I do read for mindless escapism sometimes. It is totally different to watching telly for same reason. And if you have ever picked up a magazine while waiting at the dentist's, you have done so too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 If I had a dentist, I'd take my own choice of book or magazine with me. You don't have a dentist? Ewwww. Nasty There must be some time when you are caught without suitable reading material surely? I know you are pretty well house-bound but even that has limits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 LOL...I don't have a dentist either, and I also carry a book (or two) with me absolutely everywhere. But not everything I read is meaningful or intelligent. Sometimes I read a collection of For Better or For Worse or Calvin and Hobbes just for something amusing. Better than TV!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~V~ Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 LOL...I don't have a dentist either, and I also carry a book (or two) with me absolutely everywhere. But not everything I read is meaningful or intelligent. Sometimes I read a collection of For Better or For Worse or Calvin and Hobbes just for something amusing. Better than TV!! I mourn the day Watterson hung up his crayons. I adore Calvin and Hobbes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 I'm another one who carries a book wherever I go, but sometimes, when I know I've only got 5 minutes, I can't be bothred to get it out and will pick up a waiting room magazine and laugh at how out-of-date it all is because it's been sitting there for the best part of a decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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