Ever loved a character so much...?

[Boneman]

That you had to go to the end of the book, to see if they're still alive?

Possible spoiler alert.

It's impossible for me to put a figure on how many books I've read in my life, but it's in the thousands. (I once gave 580 books away to a charity, and there are over 400 currently sitting on my shelves, today) In all that time, no matter how gripping; how absorbing; how much I wanted the hero to win, I've never gone to the end of a book to reassure myself they were alive and well, no matter how much I needed to.

Until last week.

I was enjoying some R'n'R in France, (reading and righting) and finally got round to reading Joe Abercrombie's 'Best Served Cold', which I've had for about a year. Now I don't think it's a spoiler to say that the hero has virtually no redeeming attributes, and is not averse to killing anyone who gets in their way, in whatever fashion comes to hand. The build-up of story, (but most importantly, character) drew me in so skilfully, that as the odds against them got worse and worse, I just had to know if the hero survived or not. I resisted for a long time, but in the end, I skipped to the last pages, saw her name and breathed a sigh of relief, and went back to where I'd left her, without actually seeing what happened.

To me, that's storytelling at its most sublime. I was so invested in the character that it became vital for me (knowing I was reading fiction, for God's sake!) to find out, and I clearly understood I was prepared to ruin my own enjoyment of the tale, to do this.

I'm hoping Joe will revisit this hero again in the future. Can't promise I won't check the end of the book, either...

Anybody else prepared to 'fess up?

 

[HoopyFrood]

Oh yeah, I do this a fair amount. I think one that I remember most vividly was when I was reading Lord of the Rings and I skimmed over the last few bits to make sure certain names were still appearing.

I'm going through the Wheel of Time series at the moment and I'm so invested in some characters that I know I'm going to be sorely tempted to do so in the last book. Though -- and I have a feeling Leisha will see this and kill me -- I already know that a couple of my favourites do survive, thankfully!

At the moment (or maybe I've always done this, but I'm just taking notice of it now) I also have a habit of getting to chapters where things are ramping up and it's probably going to be a chapter packed with important stuff, so I kind of do a really brief skim flick-through of it first and then read it properly. It's like I want to stuff my face into the exciting bits and then actually read the bits in between after.

Though come to think of it, that is kind of my reading style in a nutshell...

 

[Erin99]

I'm going through the Wheel of Time series at the moment and I'm so invested in some characters that I know I'm going to be sorely tempted to do so in the last book. Though -- and I have a feeling Leisha will see this and kill me -- I already know that a couple of my favourites do survive, thankfully!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!









Edit: And no! You bad people, you! Mustn't spoiler anything when reading! ^_^

 

[HoopyFrood]

Gah! I knew it!

But you know, I couldn't bear it if I got all that way and my precious Ny was killed! I'd actually tear the book apart with my teeth.

 

[Mouse]

Nope. Nope, I haven't. I just don't care that much any more! Rarely a decent character in books nowadays, I fancy.

I did ask the author* of something I read a little while ago to put me out of my misery and tell me if a certain character was still alive or not.

Otherwise, nah. Kill 'em. Kill 'em all.

*t'were springs.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Nope. Nope, I haven't. I just don't care that much any more! Rarely a decent character in books nowadays, I fancy.

I did ask the author* of something I read a little while ago to put me out of my misery and tell me if a certain character was still alive or not.

Otherwise, nah. Kill 'em. Kill 'em all.

*t'were springs.

Who'd love to know herself...

I looked at the end of the Time Traveller's which was a mistake. Poor Henry. I do it quite a lot actually.

 

[Mouse]

I think I've asked whether certain characters have survived/appeared in next books in a series, but that was because I probably wouldn't have bothered continuing the series if they hadn't.

In the past I know I have skipped forwards in something but I can't remember what. (Possibly something to do with Mayweed in the Duncton books. Loved Mayweed so much I even named my first rat after him).

 

[ratsy]

Who'd love to know herself...

I looked at the end of the Time Traveller's which was a mistake. Poor Henry. I do it quite a lot actually.

I have never skipped to the end of a book and don't know if I ever could. It would ruin it for me completely.

Springs, I need to read that book again. I can still remember the way I felt when I read that ending...wow...one of the most touching, sad moments in my book history.

and Hoopy, you will be tempted by the last book of WOT but don't do it!!!! Just don't do it...it will be better being surprised by it all. Trust me.

 

[Erin99]

Gah! I knew it!

But you know, I couldn't bear it if I got all that way and my precious Ny was killed! I'd actually tear the book apart with my teeth.

But - but - what if she died heroically and you actually felt her death was beautiful? By skim reading and spoilering, you'll only know she died... which would make you unhappy, and it spoils the effect the author was trying to achieve.


Indeed, the author planned and wrote the best way to tell their story; it would be terrible to ruin that and risk lessening the impact of future scenes. Some scenes rely on your sense of tension and fear...



Edit: And Hoops, you better not know who does die, then, or I else I will have to come down there and shout at you!

 

[HoopyFrood]

Nope, no death for Ny would be beautiful!

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I skip forward all the time, and speed read on first readthroughs and don't find it spoils anything. I normally go back and read slowly often several times to get the author's beauty/nuance. For me, it doesn't enjoy the read knowing what comes next.

 

[Erin99]

Nope, no death for Ny would be beautiful!

Hmmm. That makes me look at characters differently. Some deaths are just so well done, you're... glad... they died. If that doesn't make me sound weird. There is one such one in the WoT.

To think you could write characters, plan the perfect deaths for them... and some readers will hate you for it!

 

[HareBrain]

I've done this, but not always because I loved the character so much. Sometimes, I'm sure, it was because the tension of whether they would survive or not became too much to bear. I didn't really care which it was, I just had to know one way or the other.

 

[DaCosta]

I couldn't skip ahead; it would ruin it for me. I love to be surprised. So few books are brave enough to surprise their readers.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Edit: And no! You bad people, you! Mustn't spoiler anything when reading! ^_^

Agree! The thought of spoiling a story for me is anathema! Bad readers, bad! If you did that to one of my stories I'd have you hanged, drawn and quartered! No! eighthd. (Altho I am a control freak like that)

pH

 

[Mouse]

See, I would love someone to be that invested in my characters that they had to skip forwards to see if they lived or not.

 

[Boneman]

Agree! The thought of spoiling a story for me is anathema! Bad readers, bad! If you did that to one of my stories I'd have you hanged, drawn and quartered! No! eighthd. (Altho I am a control freak like that)

pH

This is exactly how I felt for decades... then that book came along. It could happen to you...

 

[Phyrebrat]

See, I would love someone to be that invested in my characters that they had to skip forwards to see if they lived or not.

This is exactly how I felt for decades... then that book came along. It could happen to you...

la la la LA LAL LALALALALAL <fingers in ears>

I guess you're both right - but I just reacall how many times I yelled at my best mate Junior for reading plot spoilers in Battlestar Galactica and how disappointed I felt when he told me Jar Jar Binks was Darth Sidious...

pH

 

[The Judge]

I always read the last page, sometimes the last couple of pages. It's more fun that way. Nothing to do with liking the characters, in fact sometimes the reverse.

Anyway, I don't think this is a writing matter, is it? I'll move it over to GBD.

 

[Juliana]

Nope, don't usually do that. My husband does and it drives me nuts!

Also, when I read something that's part of an already published trilogy or series, I try not to read the blurb for the next books, either, so it doesn't spoil the surprise.
(Unless I'm not enjoying the book enough to read the next one(s), in which case I might wiki the rest of the series out of curiosity..)