Yesterday I had a conversation with a family member who shall remain anonymous about "cheat reading". This person is reading Gone Girl and wants to read the end of the book. I am completely against reading the end of any book before you reach the natural end. My sister agrees with me. A debate ensued.
Her side is she wants to know what happens at the end of a book so she can decide whether or not she wants to continue reading or stop wasting her time.
My side is probably a bit long winded because I got on my high horse about this but basically reading the end of the book ruins the rest of it, you are losing potentially quality material by cheating not to mention you may not fully understand the ending when you skip over a few hundred pages. Any suspense or twists the author had intended may be ruined and thus the book doesn't have the same effect on a cheat reader as it does on a reader who reads the whole book straight through.
If a book doesn't grab you after a few chapters (or whatever your timeline), I don't see how reading the end of the book makes you want to continue slugging along when you are not invested in the story. If you really like the book, (as this person likes Gone Girl) why in the world would you do such a thing? Ok, I can understand if you really like the book, getting that feeling of needing to know because it has happened to me, but for me it's a rush of blood and heart pounding excitement to find out what happened. I don't get the urge to flip to the last page, that is part of the thrill of reading a book and the mark of a good writer.
So what are your thoughts on cheat reading. Have you done it or not? If you have, why?
I don't exactly cheat read, but if a book drags in sections, I tend to skim until the story picks up again.
ReplyDelete