# No Reason to Read the Book except it's a good story



## EmmaSohan (Feb 12, 2015)

What is your favorite book that you can't skip to the ending? Or movie I guess, since I just reviewed Ground Hog Day.

Really, there are thousands of books where you can skip to the end, find out what happens, and be done with it. Or at least spoil the book. Do they fall in love? Who was the murderer? Did he catch the fish or not?

It's typical to have a hook. A goal where we read to see if the MC accomplishes the goal. A problem to see if it gets resolved. I happily put these into my books. But . . . always?


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## EmmaSohan (Feb 12, 2015)

I just read _Thirteen Reasons Why_. I could not set it down, one of the best books ever for me.

The MC gets tapes in the mail and has to listen to them. The tapes are the story of a girl and her fall into depression and hopelessness. Um, we find out at the start (!) that she commits suicide. So, no point skipping to the end to find out what happens.


Interleaved with this is a second story of him listening to the tapes. It's brilliant. We get commentary, he fills in missing parts, his emotional responses are interesting. Um, the second story doesn't even have a plot.


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## InstituteMan (Feb 12, 2015)

Hmmm . . . I have a lot of these. _Breakfast of Champions_ is one. I'm always pimping Roger Zelazny's _Lord of Light_, and it certainly qualifies. _The Handmaid's Tale_ and _Neuromancer _​qualify as well.


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## Terry D (Feb 12, 2015)

Why would anyone skip to the end of a book? I read for the story, for the journey, not just to see what happens at the end. If what happens between 'It was a dark and stormy night' and 'the end' isn't good enough to hold my attention, then I don't care about the end.


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## popsprocket (Feb 12, 2015)

I have never skipped to the end of anything. If something doesn't interest me enough then I'll stop reading or watching it, but I've literally never just gone "okay, time to read the last chapter now".

Like Terry said, the middle is the bit I come to see, the end is just the payoff.


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## TJ1985 (Feb 12, 2015)

popsprocket said:


> I have never skipped to the end of anything. If something doesn't interest me enough then I'll stop reading or watching it, but I've literally never just gone "okay, time to read the last chapter now".
> 
> Like Terry said, the middle is the bit I come to see, the end is just the payoff.



I totally concur. If I'm not impressed and interested in the writing of the middle, I'm probably not going to care about the ending anyway. It goes back on the shelf as a book with an unbroken spine. In my books, that's not a good thing.


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## Riptide (Feb 12, 2015)

I skip to the end a lot. I get so into the book and invested into the main characters, it starts eating at my soul if I have to read fifty more pages until the ending to find out if she survives, so I read the last page and feel much better about myself.

You see, the story ties together at the end. It concludes and it leaves a mark, but really, the story leads to a point and that's always the end, where everything comes together. In my opinion anyway, and I think if the author made me so involved that I want to read the ending halfway through to see how this could possibly turn out then I think they did a good job.

Anyway, I don't skip to the ending and drop the book, I keep reading from where I left off, but am left as ease.

My name, Riptide, is a favorite book of mine. It's a mystery that if I had skipped to the ending it wouldn't have helped me at all, especially this ending because it concluded by tying up a side plot and not the major one which ended a few pages back


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## Jeko (Feb 13, 2015)

> Anyway, I don't skip to the ending and drop the book, I keep reading from where I left off, but am left as ease.



You're adding additional anachrony to the story and going against the author's intentions. The delay that precedes the finale is paramount to storytelling's overall purpose. I not only see this as harmful to the reader, but harmful to the aspiring writer as well.

I don't skip to the end if books because I can't skip to the end of life. I wouldn't be appreciating either as much as I should if I discarded the journey for my own satisfaction.


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## cinderblock (Feb 13, 2015)

I agree with the majority. I too have never skipped to the end of any books. I'm one of those who hates, hates spoilers. If I can't wait for the ending, then it's a fantastic book, and I cherish the hell out of the experience, because it's extremely rare for me to ever feel that way about any book. Most times I can't wait to be over and done with a book so I can move on lulz.  

That said, my mother loves spoilers. She will start a TV series and go on the internet to find out what happens in the last episode. And then she'll proceed to finish the series. I personally never understood that behavior, but to each their own.

PS: I also don't like skipping to the end, because I'm always trying to predict the author's next move.


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## TJ1985 (Feb 13, 2015)

cinderblock said:


> I'm one of those who hates, hates spoilers.



I hate when the back cover of the book gives away the whole story! It's why I might glance at the front cover, but never the back. Some may need to hear a condensed story, but knowing how the story goes essentially tells me all I needed to know. Why read the story? I just did.


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## Firemajic (Feb 13, 2015)

](*,)  ....OH why would anyone skip to the end of a book...if you want a quickie--read a comic book...just sayin'...sigh...


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## Boofy (Feb 13, 2015)

Firemajic said:


> ](*,)  ....OH why would anyone skip to the end of a book...if you want a quickie--read a comic book...just sayin'...sigh...


Couldn't agree more.


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## JustRob (Feb 13, 2015)

Sorry to bore you but in my novel (no, please keep on reading, at least to find out how this post ends.) I tackled as many of the quirks that readers have that I could fit in. For the benefit of those who look at the end of the book I put it right at the beginning. In fact the very first words are THE END so that people like that don't have to waste any time at all reading anything else, even to find out what the book might have been about if they had read it. Surely the destination isn't as important as how one gets there. 

The only people whom I have met with a different opinion were a local community of strict baptists. Many years ago we went to a friend's wedding at a strict baptist chapel and the theme seemed to be that life is short and miserable and God will have mercy on us and end it soon enough. Maybe some people do view marriage that way, but I would hope that the majority regard it as a worthwhile journey without wanting to skip to the end. I'm not knocking strict baptists, but just citing one event that we were invited to witness and that is the feeling that we came away with.

I only skip to the end of a book if I've already decided that it's not worth reading from what I've already read and just want to confirm that the ending is the one that I anticipate before I dispose of it, or otherwise that it's one to which I would be indifferent. I can't quote any examples because I have little reason to remember them. Good books always have sad endings because one is obliged to stop reading them there, which is the reader's own sadness. One has to say goodbye to the acquaintances that one has made while reading. If the book is up to Oscar Wilde's standard then one will start to read it again from the beginning and if it isn't then maybe one has to agree with him, that it was barely worth reading in the first place. 

In each of the six stories in the series that I may write, if anyone shows interest, the last chapter is also the beginning of the next story, although not in an annoying cliff-hanger way I hope. Somewhere I read the advice that one should stop writing at the end of the story, but even at the end of the last story there is an extra chapter just in case the reader doesn't want to stop reading there. One should always try to please the reader. It isn't even an epilogue, just a demonstration to the reader that maybe even they don't really have free will, a theme of the whole series. To prove it to themselves they have to decide whether to read that last almost unrelated chapter or not. What would you do if you were looking for the end of the story?

As for a favourite book, I don't want to favour any worth reading again. They sit on my shelves waiting until I've forgotten enough about them to make it enjoyable. The fact that they are still there tells me that I should revisit them one day. I enjoyed Donaldson's _Chronlcles of Thomas Covenant _but can't start them again because I haven't read the last book yet, so don't know the ending.


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## Gamer_2k4 (Feb 13, 2015)

My wife lives and dies by opening and closing lines.  She'll often decide to read a book just because she likes the first sentence, and to see the last words too early is a travesty for her.

I can't understand this.  If the enjoyment of a book is ruined by seeing the last page or last words before you're "ready" for it, how good of a book can it be? If it needs a hook to get the reader going or a twist to make it worthwhile, what reason will you have to read the book again once both of those have paid out?

The title of your post says all that needs to be said.  "There is no reason to read a book except that it's a good story."  If it's not a good story, why should I waste my time?


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## Bloggsworth (Feb 13, 2015)

Good advertising + slave labour...

When you are making 1,000% mark-up on the goods, you can afford saturation advertising.


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## InstituteMan (Feb 13, 2015)

I totally get the general (but not universal) preference amongst the members here for not skipping to the end of the book. I concur. Still, I get that different people read for different reasons, and even the same person (say, me) reads different books for different reasons at different times.

Back when my work had me flying over oceans a lot, I read the original Bond novels as something to do on an airplane that wouldn't leave all the batteries of my electronic devices drained by the time we landed. Today more planes have power outlets and batteries are better than was the case back then. Even though my flying days weren't too long ago, it was a LOT harder to amuse yourself while sitting in a tiny seat for 12+ hours. A paperback pulpy novel (Bond or otherwise) didn't require much focus from my jet lagged mind and never went dead. If I was almost, but not quite, to the end of a book I knew I wouldn't be picking up for several more weeks as the plane was landing, I had no qualms whatsoever peaking to see how it ended. I don't generally read like that, but I completely understand why you might do so.


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## Blade (Feb 13, 2015)

Mordecai Richler's _Barneys Version.._It is written in such a way that you could almost jump in at any point and then tour around as you please as if everything was happening at once. Going to the 'end' expecting an 'endin_g' _would be silly.:-k


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## J Anfinson (Feb 13, 2015)

Peter Straub's Ghost Story is another one where the ending wouldn't make much sense without reading the whole thing. I like books like that because it's nearly impossible to figure out the ending until the author is ready to reveal it.


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## EmmaSohan (Feb 14, 2015)

Interesting. For me, when the author writes a hook, I am hooked. No one else is like that? Example -- gruesome murder scene. I want to learn who did it and why.

If the book then is not good, I still have the hook -- I still want to know who did it and why. So I read the end and I'm happy.

By hook, I mean an some unanswered question or problem or issue. (I realize it is also used to describe any reason to keep reading a book, which the only other reason is that the book is enjoyable to read.)

So, Evanovich is great to read, but she also has a hook -- does she get the big bounty? In contrast, in _Ender's Game_, you can't skip to the ending to get your question answered, because you don't have any questions like that.


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## Jeko (Feb 14, 2015)

> By hook, I mean an some unanswered question or problem or issue.



For me, it can also be something I find simply impressive. The author's style, a character's voice, anything that makes an impact and makes me want to see where that impact will lead the narrative.

Example: one of the reasons the anime _Attack on Titan_ is so popular is, I think, because anyone who watches the first few minutes of it will end up watching the rest of the series. I have proven this with many of my friends.


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## EmmaSohan (Feb 14, 2015)

Cadence said:


> For me, it can also be something I find simply impressive. The author's style, a character's voice, anything that makes an impact and makes me want to see where that impact will lead the narrative.
> 
> Example: one of the reasons the anime _Attack on Titan_ is so popular is, I think, because anyone who watches the first few minutes of it will end up watching the rest of the series. I have proven this with many of my friends.




Yes. But if you want to talking about writing, you need a term for the extremely common writing technique where the author creates some unanswered question, issue, problem, etc.

You know what I mean, right? 

(If one wanted to stick to the metaphor, you are talking about a lure, right? I mean, a hook isn't something that makes the fish want to hop in the boat.)


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## cinderblock (Feb 15, 2015)

TJ1985 said:


> I hate when the back cover of the book gives away the whole story! It's why I might glance at the front cover, but never the back. Some may need to hear a condensed story, but knowing how the story goes essentially tells me all I needed to know. Why read the story? I just did.



I wholly agree.

If the book has strong reviews, I will not even read what it's about. Philip K Dick is the best example. Never, ever read the back of a Philip K Dick book.


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## Crowley K. Jarvis (Feb 15, 2015)

The Scar. Sergey and Marina Dyachenko. I don't expect anyone to have heard of it.

A nice arrogant military man has extreme skill as a duelist, that is, with a rapier.  He is utterly fearless and bold, a manly man!
He ends up killing a young lad out of his own stupid pride.

So a nice mysterious visitor challenges him to a duel, whoops him, and leaves a nasty scar on his face. 
He slowly begins to have a feeling he's never felt before. Fear. 
Now he is a complete and utter coward! I loved the buildup and following plot which gets alot thicker. 
I have problems with book endings, but this was nice.

You couldn't skip to the end because it was utterly different. It went in a different direction than I tried to predict. If you skipped you'd just be confused!

Since it was written by two people, I love the style balance. Just one of those cheap paperbacks but it's my favorite.


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## Yumi Koizumi (Feb 16, 2015)

When should/could a story NOT tie together in the end?


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## EmmaSohan (Feb 16, 2015)

Yumi Koizumi said:


> When should/could a story NOT tie together in the end?



Do you mean the epilogue?


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## Terry D (Feb 16, 2015)

EmmaSohan said:


> Yes. But if you want to talking about writing, you need a term for the extremely common writing technique where the author creates some unanswered question, issue, problem, etc.
> 
> You know what I mean, right?
> 
> (If one wanted to stick to the metaphor, you are talking about a lure, right? I mean, a hook isn't something that makes the fish want to hop in the boat.)



It's called a plot.


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## EmmaSohan (Feb 16, 2015)

Terry D said:


> It's called a plot.



I would guess this is a more typical definition of plot: the main events of a play, novel, movie, or similar work, devised and presented by the writer as an interrelated sequence.

Wikipedia claims that 13 Reasons Why, Breakfast of Champions, and Barney's Version have a Plot.


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## Arrakis (Mar 5, 2015)

> If something doesn't interest me enough then I'll stop reading or watching it





> If I'm not impressed and interested in the writing of the middle, I'm probably not going to care about the ending anyway.



What these two said.


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## Phil Istine (Mar 11, 2015)

I definitely prefer to read the pages sequentially.  It's probably why they have numbers on them.
I do know the endings of some books before I read them.  This is because I have recently started to read books of films I've already seen.  Such reading is not so much to see how the stories pan out but to absorb the writers' use of language, to see how they build plots and develop characters.


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## EDAwrites (Sep 3, 2015)

Late arrival, but this topic was interesting to me and I found myself frustrated with a lot of the comments. I am one of those people that skips to the end. Sometimes I can make it but most times, if I can't figure out where there story is going, I just want to know what is going to happen. I'll read the last page, I'll skip a few to get to some resolution, and I don't think it ruins the story. The harmfulness to myself, the reader, because I betrayed the author's intentions...well I say "bah!" at their intentions. Furthermore, one of my favorite things is when I think I know what is coming because I read the last page but it is completely different once I finally finish reading. That change in perception is wonderful to me! 

Anyway, there are some books like Groundhog Day where the ending isn't enough. Often love stories or stories involving character transformation. I love reading and it is often about the journey so I go back and read the inbetween parts (if the story is good enough). I just wanted to defend us skippers out there!


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## aurora borealis (Jan 19, 2016)

When I was a kid I was one of those people who would skip to the end, read the last page or two, and then continue from wherever I was actually in the book. I don't do that anymore.

I think the first book that I read all the way through without skipping was one of the Harry Potter books. I was more focused on reading and didn't even think of flipping to the end of the book.


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## Patrick (Jan 21, 2016)

50 Shades of Grey.


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