I was recently talking to Christina about the idea of rushing through books. This discussion was brought about because we had just gone to see the Times Talks interview with Philip Pullman on The Golden Compass and she had been rushing to finish the last of the His Dark Materials trilogy so as not to have the ending ruined at the discussion. It happens that she did not have the time to finish the book and the ending was revealed during the question and answer portion of the evening. I later asked Christina whether she was bummed about having the ending spoiled, and she said that she actually was not because she could now savor the rest of the book without the mad dash to finish it. We agreed that the fear of spoilage was a little too familiar after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this summer.
No obsessive Harry Potter fan that I know went to any of the Deathly Hallows release parties (or left their house on July the twenty-first) out of fear that the long awaited conclusion to the series would be spoiled. There was outrage at the New York Times for printing their review of the book two days before its release date. And fans the world over finished all 759 pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before the sun rose on the twenty-second of July. Personally, on Saturday, July twenty-first, I went swimming at the public pool and baked cookies to pass the time before my copy of the book arrived at 3:30 in the afternoon. My original plan was to read through the night, but I ended up pacing myself. I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Monday the twenty-third. I would have liked to give myself a week to really savor the experience, but my fear of spoilage was too great.
But, by rushing, had I spoiled the experience anyway? I had discussed in depth the idea of the literary carnage left in a speed reader’s margins with my friends who were also Harry Potter fans. Next to plot spoilage, not being able to really digest the book was my biggest fear. There is the argument that you will never absorb everything in a good book on the first reading and your relationship with the book grows by rereading. I read an article (forwarded by Andrea) from Time’s website entitled “Harry Potter and the Sinister Spoilers” by Lev Grossman and Andrea Sachs that defends spoilers using this rational. The writers claim that if knowing the ending of a Harry Potter book ruined the reading experience, fans would not read the books multiple times. Grossman and Sachs actually go so far as to say that “spoilers are a myth.” I agree that prior knowledge of a novel’s outcome has no affect on the literary merit of a book, but spoilers can affect your reading experience.
Plot is the victim of spoilers. Plot is the stuff that gets your heart rate up, causes a flush in your cheeks, and renders you totally unable to put the book down. Plot belongs to the first breathless reading of a book when you have no idea what is going to happen. It is not plot – what happens in a story as opposed to how it happens – that causes the discussion, obsession, and even derision that is necessary for longevity. A story endures because of well-developed characters that grow as they are rediscovered over and over again, but the suspense created by a well-plotted novel is spellbinding and can only be experienced once. The Harry Potter books are both character and plot driven. An entire book was written debating the duality of Snape (The Great Snape Debate). Another book, Mugglenet.Com's What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love and How Will the Adventure Finally End, theorizes about both character and plot. But to discuss spoilers is to discuss plot, and J.K. Rowling is a genius when it comes to plot. Rowling’s ability to surprise no matter how much fans hypothesize beforehand is magical. And to spoil a book is to take away the magic of first discovery.
So what do you think? Is it more important to savor a good book or to find out what happens? Do you agree with Grossman and Sachs that spoilers are a myth? Even if spoilers do not affect the literary merit of novel, I still prefer to experience a book for the first time as the author intended it. I will sacrifice time with the characters to experience the magic of plot. As to whether that is an even trade, I can only say that I can reread Deathly Hallows as many times as I want, but I can never read the novel for the first time again.
No obsessive Harry Potter fan that I know went to any of the Deathly Hallows release parties (or left their house on July the twenty-first) out of fear that the long awaited conclusion to the series would be spoiled. There was outrage at the New York Times for printing their review of the book two days before its release date. And fans the world over finished all 759 pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before the sun rose on the twenty-second of July. Personally, on Saturday, July twenty-first, I went swimming at the public pool and baked cookies to pass the time before my copy of the book arrived at 3:30 in the afternoon. My original plan was to read through the night, but I ended up pacing myself. I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Monday the twenty-third. I would have liked to give myself a week to really savor the experience, but my fear of spoilage was too great.
But, by rushing, had I spoiled the experience anyway? I had discussed in depth the idea of the literary carnage left in a speed reader’s margins with my friends who were also Harry Potter fans. Next to plot spoilage, not being able to really digest the book was my biggest fear. There is the argument that you will never absorb everything in a good book on the first reading and your relationship with the book grows by rereading. I read an article (forwarded by Andrea) from Time’s website entitled “Harry Potter and the Sinister Spoilers” by Lev Grossman and Andrea Sachs that defends spoilers using this rational. The writers claim that if knowing the ending of a Harry Potter book ruined the reading experience, fans would not read the books multiple times. Grossman and Sachs actually go so far as to say that “spoilers are a myth.” I agree that prior knowledge of a novel’s outcome has no affect on the literary merit of a book, but spoilers can affect your reading experience.
Plot is the victim of spoilers. Plot is the stuff that gets your heart rate up, causes a flush in your cheeks, and renders you totally unable to put the book down. Plot belongs to the first breathless reading of a book when you have no idea what is going to happen. It is not plot – what happens in a story as opposed to how it happens – that causes the discussion, obsession, and even derision that is necessary for longevity. A story endures because of well-developed characters that grow as they are rediscovered over and over again, but the suspense created by a well-plotted novel is spellbinding and can only be experienced once. The Harry Potter books are both character and plot driven. An entire book was written debating the duality of Snape (The Great Snape Debate). Another book, Mugglenet.Com's What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Falls in Love and How Will the Adventure Finally End, theorizes about both character and plot. But to discuss spoilers is to discuss plot, and J.K. Rowling is a genius when it comes to plot. Rowling’s ability to surprise no matter how much fans hypothesize beforehand is magical. And to spoil a book is to take away the magic of first discovery.
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So what do you think? Is it more important to savor a good book or to find out what happens? Do you agree with Grossman and Sachs that spoilers are a myth? Even if spoilers do not affect the literary merit of novel, I still prefer to experience a book for the first time as the author intended it. I will sacrifice time with the characters to experience the magic of plot. As to whether that is an even trade, I can only say that I can reread Deathly Hallows as many times as I want, but I can never read the novel for the first time again.
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