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| “Lesendes Mädchen” – Gustav Adolph Hennig |
It has come to my attention that not everyone reads books chronologically. You know, starting on page one and finishing at The End.
Reader Sabrina wrote me to say that she starts at the beginning, then skims and checks out the end to see if she wants to read the whole thing, then keeps going.
What about you. Do you skip around, peek at the ending, or do you go straight through? And as an author/reader, do you think there’s something wrong with reading a book out of order or all is fair in love and reading?
It never even crossed my mind that people would skip around in a novel. Seriously?
When I'm deciding to buy a book, I look at the beginning and several pages inside. Once it's mine, I read it straight through. Same with audio books. Listen from beginning to end. Same with Kindle books. I'm hopelessly old school.
I admit, sometimes I do skip to a random part later in the book. If there's something coming up that's going to break my heart, I want to be prepared! But generally I do read books chronologically.
I only skip parts when the writing or story is a little boring but I want to find out how it ends. I'll skip the middle and read the last third. I don't do it often. Usually I read straight through b/c I'm just like that.
If the story hooks me at the beginning, I'll read straight through to find out what happens. That's part of the thrill of reading for me!
I used to have a problem not finishing a book once I started, even if I really didn't like the book…but now, pffft. (Okay,I'll skip to the end, sometimes, to see how a bad book ends.)
That is SO cheating.
I read straight through.
When writing I tend to skip around, but reading??? I read straight through and agree with Alan, never even thought that people would do that. How can you understand the story and how it reaches the end?
I always read from beginning to the end. I do not peak. I only skip to the end if it's a really really bad book and I want to finish with it.
Okay, I admit I skipped around in MOBY DICK back in college.
I don't think I would ever read a book out of order. The few times I have done that I've accidentally come upon major plot twists, so that took all the surprise out of them.
I will read the end of the book if its a thriller and I need to go to work the next day, I will read the end. That way I don't have to stay up all night trying to find out who did what. I can enjoy the book at my leisure the next day,
I often skip to the end and read the last few pages. But only if the book isn't keeping my attention. If the ending is good, it might convince me to keep reading the rest of the novel.
My sister always reads the last few pages first, and it drives me insane. She doesn't like all the suspense of not knowing how it ends, it makes reading too stressful.
Why spoil a book like that? Crazy readers!
I read straight through. Sometimes if I'm really concerned about the welfare of a character, I'll skim later pages just to see if their name comes up.
OK, I'll be the lone dissenting voice. I do sometimes read out of order. For two reasons: One, I'm bored, but want to find out how one plot twist ends, so I skip around to find it. That's a sign it's time to put the book aside. I'm not really enjoying the journey.
Two, I am so anxious about what happens to a specific character that I have to skip around and find out, or I've got a question that I can't wait to resolve. That's a good sign. I'm enjoying the book. When that happens, I'll find enough to satisfy me, then go back and read chronologically to that point to see how the writer gets me there. I can enjoy the writing more because I'm not impatient to get my answer anymore.
May sound odd. But it works for me.
This is madness. I would never do such a thing. It's like sacrilege to me. I get angry at myself if my eye even jumps down the page.
There is magic in books, and I don't want it dispelled, not for anything.
I, also, am scandalized at skipping to the end. But not shocked. I have friends who do it, and we have argued about it. Also annoyed when people don't read prologues and epilogues.
Maybe it's author empathy? Like I KNOW that the author wrote the story this way because he or she wants it read this way, and I'm a writer. So automatically I side with the author and want to read it the way it's supposed to be read. I want to experience it as an oeuvre. I think I would feel selfish and guilty for skipping ahead. I would imagine the author hovering above me and glaring at me and saying "I see you. I SEE YOU."
The only time I do that is when I don't like the book I'm reading. If I'm having trouble maintaining my interest, I might skip to the end, or ahead, to see if it gets better. But I always regret it.
If I'm enjoying the book, I trust the writer to take me on the trip s/he intended.
The first completed story I wrote was in high school and I told my friend to make sure he didn't peak at the ending, because it had a surprise ending. He then turned to the last page and read the ending right then. So, yeah, I know people do that.
To each his own, really. Personally, however, I cannot do this. I wouldn't have thought of doing that at all.
I enjoy seeing how the author reveals the story, as he/she intended to do it.
My stepmother ALWAYS peeks at the ending. My younger sister has picked up the habit from her, I'm afraid. My father and I, on the other hand, are in opposition to them. I think it is a sickness! (Kidding, but not.) Why would you do that to yourself? I get upset if a page falls open to the back and I accidentally glimpse a revealing word! And as a writer, I would definitely like my readers to read the story the way it was presented. How else can the plot unfold before them? If you already know how it all resolves, where's the emotional investment in the reading?
I definitely read my books all the way through. The only reason I won't is if I'm having a hard time getting into it for some reason. The author wrote the book in a specific order for a reason, and I feel like I would be doing their work of art a disservice if I were to skip parts – no matter how tempting.
Plus, I like the mystery. =D
Nope…can't do it. I'm a very OCD person when it comes to reading a book. AND I never look at the ending first. Most time, if a book doesn't catch my attention in the first few (or ten) chapters, I put it down and move on to another one.
I definitely read straight through – but I don't think that reading ahead is necessarily 'cheating' anymore (I definitely used to.) There have been a couple recent studies that've shown knowing the end actually makes the story more enjoyable. (Here's the one that Science Daily talked about in August: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110810093735.htm )
Hey. You're reading. I don't have any desire to critique HOW you're doing it. I'm just glad you're doing it.
I read straight through, although if I reread, I might skip some passages or go straight to my favorite parts.
Which is maybe a question for another day: how often do people read a book more than once?
I start at the end of a book, then decide if I will read it or not. I know it's weird, but I can't help myself.
Nothing frustrates me more than bad endings. No matter how good the book was before the end, if the ending is bad there goes my enjoyment for the book. I rather know what's going to happen and then read the book with the peace of mind that I know I will get the end and I will not throw the book at the wall.
For me reading is not about how many times, or how much, I can be surprised. Reading is about entertainment and how much my attention can be kept even when I know what's going to happen. One of my favorites movies is Alex & Emma because she actually put into words what I had been thinking for years. I quote that line of the movie a lot!
Oh and my family thinks this habit is absolutely bizarre!
I read it straight through. To the very end. Unless I get bored. I try to finish all of the books I start, but some just don't engage me, so I move on to something else.
BOTH! HAVE A GOOD TACO WEEK!
NO…don't do that! Straight through–thought you meant, without stopping. This I do try, but those damn kids of mine, always demanding my attention.
I read straight…but if the book looses me, I put it down and forget the end. The end has come.
For non-fiction I may skip around, but novels I will always read straight through. the only time I skip ahead is just to check how many pages are left in a chapter or to find a suitable stopping point.
WORD VERIFICATION: hobledu. When one is in need of hobbling, like the writer in MISERY who made Annie mad.
Hah! LOL at Rick.
I do skip around at times when reading a physical book, especially if it's one I've been looking forward to and am eager to find resolutions within. And I'm not ashamed to do so, since a book is meant to be enjoyed and can be taken in however somebody wants to read it. However, e-books don't really lend themselves to skipping around, so those ones I faithfully read straight through.
Oh, yes, I skip ahead. I have to make sure my fav characters live, or that I'm prepared to let them go.
If it's a series, I skim later books of that too…
I think my father thought about disowning me when he learned of this habit (I'm KIDDING). He decided, instead, to blame it on my mother since she confessed guilt of the same crime.
I have found my kindle makes it a bit harder to feed this habit.
It also makes it harder to flip back through pages when I'm piecing together subtle bread-crumb clues for a big reveal or twist.
If I get a "bad feeling" about a book, I will look at the end. usually my gut is right and I am finished with it. :O)
I have a soft heart/weak stomach. I stopped reading the Kite Runner. If I come across, a graphic rape scene in a novel, for example, or some kind of animal cruelty I feel bad for days or weeks or longer. This is probably the effect the author is looking for or at least to cause a strong emotion but it is not what I want in the books I read. At least not a strong negative emotion.
I enjoy meaningful, well-written books but I choose them carefully. Fortunately, in the book world there is something for everyone.
I read books as the author intended them to be read. I can't see doing it any other way.
Eek! That's like, UNHOLY, isn't it? O_o. I always, always read in order. I have a cousin who peeks at the endings, but why? Whhhyyyyy?!!!
I may or may not read books straight through. It all depends on whether I trust in the writer's ability to keep me interested.
If I trust the author, I'll read straight through until the end. But if I don't, yeah, I'll skip to the end to see if the journey to it is worth the effort.
Straight through! And it really irritates me when there's an introduction that gives away the whole story (the case with The Modern Library edition of The Age of Innocence, which I'm reading right now).
I don't generally read ahead, but I will skip a scene if it's dragging on too long. I skipped through half of the final fight scene in The Maze Runner because I felt it was repetitive. But I do enjoy reading a novel straight through.
Wait, wait, wait…you mean…people actually skip around? Huh.
I always read straight through–I don't want to ruin any plot twists or accidentally stumble upon a spoiler…what's the fun in that?
I wouldn't jump around — it would ruin the story experience for me. Funny, though, I was just reading a YA thread where, because of the love triangles inherent in the genre lately, they jump to the back so they "know who to root for." Several people posted about that.
Yes, I do read a book from the beginning, but I skip boring prologues.
If a book is dragging, I will sometimes flip further ahead to see if the boredom continues, but unless I don't have time to finish it, I don't read the ending BEFORE its time. Books are like wine, to be savored.
Skimming is a good way to read the news, but as for fiction, IMO, if you have to skim it, the book was probably a bad selection in the first place.
As an writer, yes, I do think it's a strange way to read/judge a book. Instant gratification is a side effect of our times, where patience is a skill best nurtured.
In novels I'm usually a straight through reader, but there have been a few times in my life when I was so caught up with a character, whose situation was so perilous, that I couldn't stand it. I had to flip to the end and see if they were still there.
In non-fiction, I read what I'm looking for in whatever order I want to.
I never skip around. I like the build, the excitement of reading straight through. Even if I stall out, or don't particularly like the book, I'll just put it aside. I don't bother reading the end to see what happened. If I pick it up again a few months later, I can often get past the glitch and finish it.
I sometimes do like Sabrina does, skip to the end. Not all the time though. It depends on the story. If the there's something in the story that interests me, the characters or the plot, but it still doesn't somehow grip me…I'll skip to the end.Sometimes, it's to see if a certain character survives (I know I'm bad!) because if they don't…I don't feel like being invested in it. Or, even if they don't survive…but I still like the ending, I'll keep reading. It all depends.
But skipping ahead is something I do only occasionally. Most of the time I resist the urge.
When I was a kid, I used to be really bad about peeking at the end. I think reading mysteries cured me of that – you can't find out the solution and then still enjoy the detective process. Now I read straight through. But if I'm really not sure a book is something worth my time, I may glance at a few pages near the beginning or middle to get a sense of it.
I sometimes skim a paragraph ahead, but that's a bad habit I've picked up from reading fiction of questionable quality online. (Not that online fiction is bad, but I'm just not always sure about how good it'll be when I jump in and tend to skim a bit.)
When reading published books (in physical book form or ebooks) I avoid skipping ahead, to the point where if I want to know how many pages are in a book (so I can judge progress) I blank out all the words on the page because I don't want to know what happens until I get there.
There was a Robert Jordan book that I did this with. Book 9 or 10 in The Wheel of Time series. It had become so cumbersome to slog through the endless pages of minor forgettable characters that I simply skipped till it was back to one of the main three characters.
This is the only book I have done this too, and I have not bought any of the others that have been released since.