Last night, I noticed my daughter curled up on the couch, engrossed in a book. Not an unusual sight. I could see she was only about ten pages or so from the end, so I grabbed the book from her and threatened to read the last page aloud. (This was a frequent form of torture used by my father when I was growing up.) To my surprise, Natalie said, “That’s okay, I already know what it says.” She peeked! I couldn’t believe it – how could I have raised someone who would want to spoil the ending of a book by reading the last page while still in the middle of it?
But, then, I started to wonder if maybe I am in the minority in my refusal to ever peek ahead in a book. I thought an informal poll was in order. How do you feel about peeking?
Twitter: Wordlily
says:
I never, ever peek. I tried it once as a child, and I regretted it. Never again.
I only peek on the rare ocassion that I need to know if anything bad happens to an animal in the book. I need to know these things ahead of time or I am affected badly. If no animals are involved, I never peek, not at the end, not a few pages ahead, nothing.
Lezlie
I’m not a peeker either.
Not me too!
I do it a lot.
I figure if I read the last bit and can;t figure out what happened in the middle, then it’s a well-written book.
(the one exception is a romance novel – we ALL know how they end.
)
I never peek, although I do like to know the structure of the book beforehand (as in how many chapters, sections, etc. does it have). So I do often look through the book in advance without reading in advance, if that makes any sense!
I admit it, I’m a chronic peeker. I read the end of just about every book I pick up. My daughter always yells at me when we’re reading a book together. She doesn’t want to know the ending before we get there and she knows it’s a habit of mine.
I only peek occasionally but I did it all the time as a kid!
Twitter: SavvyVerseWit
says:
I try not to peek, but in some cases if I want the ending to be resolved….I will look. Usually if I’m frustrated by the actions of a character because they are flighty or indecisive.
I never peek. If I peek what’s the point of further reading? I can’t do it. I like to be surprised.
Twitter: lakesidemusing
says:
The title of this post made me laught out loud! I never peek.
I confess…I do peek sometimes!! Bad, I know, but curiosity gets the better of me sometimes :0)
Hah! Rubi is a last-page peeker too.
Drives me nuts
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Word Lily – I will say in my dad’s defense that he only ever threatened; he didn’t actually do it.
Lezlie – LOL I am so not an animal person. Though I did cry while watching Marley and Me.
Kathy and Gautami – two votes for me!
Andrea – Somehow I think I figured you for a peeker. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!
Avis – I know exactly what you mean – I have to know how many pages there are so I can figure out the midpoint. I know, I’m weird.
Carol – I’m with your daughter – I hate it when Natalie reads a book before me, cause then she always wants to tell me what’s going to happen!
Ladytink – you’ve grown out of it, eh?
Serena – I can see peeking if you’re not liking the book and just want to know how it ends…
Vasilly and JoAnn – I’m with you!
Obsessed – you know what curiosity did to the cat? And what about Pandora?
Kev – ah, so opposites really do attract.
I totally read the last few pages of a book before I start it. But, my short term memory sucks and I never remember anyway by the time I actually get to the end.
Twitter: youvegottaread
says:
I never never peak, but I’ve seen my daughter do it as well. I guess good for her, if it doesn’t ruin it for her. Now in a series (such as Outlander), I KNOW that Claire and Jamie aren’t going to die, so it does give me a certain amount of peace when I have a general idea of where the plot is going. Still…
I don’t peek, but I will if I don’t like the story and decided to give it up.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Brianna – I guess that’s not a bad thing, then, since you don’t remember. But then how do you know you peeked?
Sandy – yes, that’s true – but we have no idea how she’s going to end the series. After all, Jamie and Claire can’t live forever. I actually hpoe she ends the series before they die – I don’t think I could take that.
Melody – that makes sense!
I’m completely ambivalent about peeking. If it’s a book I like, I’m not tempted to peek – I like the journey. If it’s a book I’m not enjoying, I’ll often go and read the end to see if there’s any reason to continue. Mostly I use it as a last ditch effort to find a reason to keep reading a book I really don’t want to. It is, however, rarely helpful, but once in a while…
For instance, New Moon, I would never have finished it if I had read ahead to make sure Edward came back into the picture. He is the reason I read the whole series.
Perhaps “ruining the end” doesn’t bother me because I’m a chronic rereader. I’m more likely to read a book I know I love at any given time than a new book. Even though I know the end.
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Stephanie – yeah, the first part of New Moon was hard to get through. I never understood the whole Team Jacob thing.
I just couldn’t dream of peeking at the end. It would ruin the whole impact of the book, as far as I’m concerned. There would be such an “Oh, that” feeling at the end if I already knew what happened.
All the later readings of the book will have that lack of suspense, so there’ll be plenty of time then. But there’s only one First Reading, and I would never want to spoil it.
LOL I would have GASPED, too!
I am definitely NOT a last-page-peeker!
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Phyl – I feel the same way – there are some books I would love to be able to read for the first time again, to have that experience of not knowing.
Joy –
My daughter just rolled her eyes at me.
I am not a peeker, however, Emily is! Grr…
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Lisa – maybe it’s an age thing? Aren’t her and Nan about the same age?
I know I’m late in commenting on this, but I’m catching up on your blog and laughed out loud to read this!
My husband could not believe I read the last page of Deathly Hallows when I was only about 1/3 of the way into the book! He still comments on it!
His opinion of me is forever changed. I still reserve my right to peek, however!
Twitter: booksandmovies
says:
Tina – that’s funny! I read Deathly Hallows so fast, because I couldn’t wait to find out the ending. I need to read it again more slowly so I can really enjoy it.