Spoiler Alert

My mom, for one, ALWAYS reads the end of the book first. And yes, as implied by 'first', she then goes on to read the whole book over from start to finish.

I think she does this to avoid the anxiety of the unknown. When watching an intense sporting game (live, not on DVR) she usually leaves the room during the end and waits for our exclamations rather than watching the events unfold. Knowing the ending allows for a more relaxed reading.

Sent by John Kenny | 3:20 PM | 7-18-2007

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan since a co-worker introduced me to book 4, and I've been anticipating reading Deathly Hallows since reading the last book. The temptation to read the spoilers is overwhelming, but I've forced myself to avoid them because I want to be legitimately surprised when I read it on my own. I've found that I might as well avoid any internet page that invites public participation this week if I want to avoid spoilers, since internet bullies enjoy spoiling the surprise for shock value.

Sent by Rich | 3:46 PM | 7-18-2007

Here's a story of spoiling the plot:

I visited my sister while she was babysitting. The family she was babysitting owned a cat named Dumbledore. I unwittingly walked over to the cat and said to it in a silly voice, 'what are you doing here Dumbledore, aren't you dead?' My sister, whom had not read the sixth Harry Potter book, looked at me astonished.

Sent by John Kenny | 3:49 PM | 7-18-2007

I've never skipped to the end of a book or a movie. From the beginning-if it fails to entertain, challenge or hold my attention, I'm done with it. When it's good-book, movie, food, wine, etc.-savoring it is much of the pleasure. I've been a Harry Potter fan since the earliest book and I will isolate myself in my house on Saturday to thoroughly enjoy & cherish the end of the series, no matter what Jo does. The people who choose to hack/steal/spoil/reveal are lowlife sadists. (Bravo to The Leaky Cauldron website for refusing to even tolerate their presence!)And for those who do skip to the end, at least you're reading. Yay!

Sent by Kate Nemmers | 3:50 PM | 7-18-2007

I hate knowing the ending of a book as I read it so much that I have been known to read a book that isn't even very good just to find out how it ends.

Sent by Carolynn | 3:51 PM | 7-18-2007

I tend to read about half the book, and try to make guess to where the plot will end. If I'm feel good about my guess, I then go read the end to see how accurate I was. If the story is captivating I will then finish reading the rest of the book.

Sent by Adam Surber | 3:55 PM | 7-18-2007

I'm ADD, and I have spent quite a bit of time looking into it as well. I've never heard of reading the end of a book first being a common trait, and I certainly don't do it. It would *never* even cross my mind. (That applies to things like novels, rather than, say, a textbook.)

Reading a book for the first time is something you can never do again. I can't imagine how ruining that feeling can make reading it more pleasurable.

Sent by John | 3:57 PM | 7-18-2007

I always read a book from beginning to end, unless the thing is so boring that I skip ahead just to end the pain. I don't mind others skipping ahead, as long as they don't tell me any significant plot points. But the trend seems to be for everyone to try and spoil the plot, sometimes even publishers. I recently read the back jacket of a mystery where they spilled the beans. I couldn't believe it.

The same trend can be seen in movies. Before a major motion picture release we see so many trailers that show the highlights that by the time the picture opens there is nothing left for the viewer to discover. This is particularly annoying for comedies. Face it, jokes are only funny once.

Sent by Jon S. | 3:59 PM | 7-18-2007

Why ruin the Mystery? It is analogous to going to a play and seeing the end first.

Sent by Shawna | 4:00 PM | 7-18-2007

A classic example of giving away the plot occurred on All Things Considered. The day before "The Empire Strikes Back" opened, Mama Susan interviewed a toddler, who proceeded to give away plot twists, such as which main characters were actually siblings. Mama was huffy about listener response.

Sent by Lloyd | 4:12 PM | 7-18-2007

Maybe for some people knowing the end in advance helps make the reading experience more relaxing; for me, it does exactly the opposite. In cases where I know a spoiler, the reading experience is dominated by my knowledge of that spoiler. Instead of just reading the book, I'm anticipating the end I know is coming -- bracing myself if it's a sad ending, or maybe just wondering how we'll get from here to there. It makes reading the book much more about the ending. For some reason, this isn't a problem when I reread, I guess because rereading a book is a different kind of reading experience altogether.

I also figure that the writer chose to reveal information in a certain order, and if I want to read the book the way the author intended, I should respect that.

Sent by Janet | 4:17 PM | 7-18-2007

I find siblings to be the toughest to manage. When the last book was released, my brother walked in the room with the corners of his mouth quivering until he blurted it out during dinner. Until I finished the entire book he periodically would jump into the room and yell out the ending.

Sent by Harryj8 | 5:18 PM | 7-18-2007

I'm about as big a Star wars geek you will ever find, when we camped out for episode two my group went as far as making badge name tags that have bright red light sabers if we were "Spoiler free through Episode Three" well, for months on end before each episode came out I spent a lot of energy and time to make sure I saw nothing, no interview, no trailer, no toys...nothing. So one week before Episode 2 opened we all went to see Jay Leno when Hayden Christensen & Ewan McGregor were on and there was Hayden Christensen with his Anakin action figure and right there on screen he was playing with it and said "the coolest thing is this...my hand pops off the way it does at the end of the movie" I thought I was going to throw-up.

Sent by Hokie Cate | 6:35 PM | 7-18-2007

I will at times skip to the end of a book, mostly because I want to see if the journey is worth taking. One of my favorite books of all time "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving, is a book that I almost didn't finish. I was having such a difficult time in the middle, that I forced my friend to disclose the end. Once I found out how it ended, I wanted to see the journey. On one level, Jess has never forgiven me, but Owen Meany has become one of my all-time favs!

Sent by Deborah snell | 6:38 PM | 7-18-2007

For an interesting take on endings may I recommend Douglas Hofstadter's "Godel, Escher, Bach"--specifically the dialogue "Aria with Diverse Variations".

To quote: "Tortoise: ...in his book there will be a Dialogue in which he wants to throw readers off by making them SEARCH for the ending. ... The tension is a bit spoiled by the physicality of a book. It would be so much better if, for instance, thre were a lot of padding...to conceal the exact location of the end from a cursory glance or from the feel of the book."

To give away the ending--of said dialogue--Hofstadter ends the chapter in a like manner.

Sent by Lee Jefferis | 10:15 PM | 7-18-2007

It could be that individuals who read the ending first prefer the destinations, and those who read straight through may prefer the journeys.

Sent by Vaughn | 1:14 AM | 7-19-2007

I like to read the last page or two first sometimes, nothing more though. So you get an idea of the ending, but generally it doesn't give enough away to ruin any major plot points.

Sometimes I do it just to ease some anxiety about the fates of major characters.

Sent by Felicia | 12:21 PM | 7-19-2007

I sometimes peek. Usually it's when I'm a hundred pages into a book and trying to decide to finish or not. If the ending is going to be satisfying, then it's worth plowing on.

I don't usually mind knowing the ending ahead of time. I reread books over and over: I've re-read Lord of the Rings, the Oz books, the Narnia books, etc. dozens of times, including out loud to my kids, and each time I enjoy the journey. The first time I read Lord of the Rings I indavertently read it out of order, (book 1, then 3, then 2) and still enjoyed it.

I was intrigued by the comment that the physicality of the book is a spoiler all by itself. I'm in a writers' group where members bring their chapters one at a time to be read. We don't know, reading a certain chapter, whether the end is going to occur in that chapter or several chapters later. That does make a big difference in the way I perceive a book. I've come to notice it a lot, when reading a new book: there are only 20 pages left, so whatever happens it's going to be soon. That does affect the way the story feels. Reading a book in my writers' group is more like watching a movie; you're not sure how close to the end you are.

Sent by Karen Robinson | 5:11 PM | 7-19-2007

I LOVE to read the ending of any book about half-way through a book. I am so interested to see how an author reaches an ending through twists, turns, and character/plot development. I also find it FAR too exhausting to fight the temptation NOT to read the last page. :-)

Sent by Sarah W. | 6:51 PM | 7-19-2007

If I'm bored with a book--action moving too slowly, not sure if I like the characters or how they're portrayed--I will often read the ending. If it's unexpected, I dive back in to find out how the author got from point A to point B. If it's too predictable or doesn't make sense (or is just too pat), I don't waste any more time on it. So many books, so many time... like life being too short to drink cheap wine!

Sent by Leslie Hoy | 9:58 PM | 7-19-2007

i Just finished the book & while reading I set it down to stand up & stretch. As I was sitting back down the book fell off my couch & opened to the epilogue I bent down to pick it up & glanced one word that kind of ruined the ending for me. on the other hand it did make me more curious about how the ending progresses.

Sent by Rachel E Bolles | 2:35 PM | 7-27-2007