Last week I had a bit of a dilemma.
I was reading a book that came highly recommended by someone that I trusted. It was a novel of suspense, and hasn’t yet been published, and it’s not published by Random House (my employer), so I didn’t know anyone else that had read it yet.
About three chapters into the novel, I had a very strong sense of what would happen through the rest of the novel. I knew the dilemma faced by the main character, and I saw how it would play out through the rest of the book. I strongly suspected that I knew how it would end.
And so I was faced with a choice: do I keep reading, even though I was pretty sure that I knew what was going to happen? Or do I put it down and move on to another book?
I made a choice, but I’m not going to tell you which one just yet. Instead, I have put up a little poll. What would you do?
I’ll leave this poll up for a week, and then do a follow-up post to tell you what I decided to do.
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Sometimes if there’s something else to keep me reading (i.e., really funny dialogue or strong prose), that would be enough to keep me reading.
If it were just a novel, and if I were enjoying the story and writing, I’d probably keep going….but when we’re talking about a book that it supposed to be suspenseful, I think I’d move on if it were that predictable…then I’d Google around to see if I was right.
It would depend – if I found it enjoyable, I’d go ahead and finish it, but if I was finding it a chore, I’d probably quit.
I would probably start to skip ahead, but not all the way to the end, to see if I was on the right track. If I felt I was right, I might skim quickly through the rest of the book instead of reading more carefully.
I have to finish everything. I’m afraid I might miss something. I convince myself that it cant be THAT simple or that there will be a major plot twist that I wasn’t expecting. Theyre published after all, right?! I do the same thing with TV. Once I commit to a show, I have to watch every episode for the entire season no matter how awful it WILL get better.
It really does depend on the book. I can think of three books that were predictable, off the top of my head. Two I abandoned — mostly because the writing wasn’t doing anything for me and I didn’t like where they were headed. In both cases, I flipped ahead to figure out whether or not I was correct (I was) and then ditched them. The third was deliberately obvious; the author revealed what was going to happen but not how. I enjoyed that one. Even the people I call my “reading twins” sometimes disagree with me, so I don’t mind telling a friend the book just didn’t work for me, although there was a time that I would have shoved my way through anything.
Thank you all for your input — loving your comments. I’m eager to see the results at the end of the poll, and share with you what I did!
Deciding to abandon the book depends on what else I have lying around to read next, am I reading it to review it, has a sales rep asked me for a blurb, is someone else chomping at the bit to read it next–in general, if I know what’s going to happen and the writing isn’t thrilling me, I check the ending, maybe skim the rest, and move on.
Life’s too short to read bad/predictable/ineffably unappealing books.
I’d ask my friend (or someone at RH) about my suspicions before making a decision.
But then, I’m a monogamous reader, someone who rarely ends a commitment to a book. Most folks are mushc more promiscuous, as I found out when we discussed monogamous/polygamous reading habits on Read Street.
I try to give most books a hundred pages, but that’s know firm rule. Life’s too short, and there are far too many books to read.
With any book, it’s the writing as well as the progression of the plot that determines whether or not I’ll stick with it to the finish. If a book hasn’t grabbed me by the first 50-100 pages, it’s gone. There are too many good books out there to waste time on poor writing and plot development.
If you really found it disappointing, did you ask your friend why s/he recommended it?
I think the first 30 pages are essential to determine whether I will continue reading the book or not. It happened many times to start reading a book 3 or 4 times. It seemed so boring at first, but after starting reading it the 4-th time, couldn’t put it down. I think the mood is the most powerful influencer. I’m reading The Kite Runner now, and I found it brilliant and catchy from the fisrt 5 pages. Today I was in the tube and wished the journey was longer…
Just because you think you know how it’s going to turn out, doesn’t mean you really do know. If you don’t finish reading it, you are just guessing about the ending. It could well have a twist (or even multiple twists) you haven’t anticipated. In any case, enjoying a book is not just about the ending – it’s about enjoying getting there. Haven’t you ever enjoyed re-reading a book, even though you already knew for sure how it was going to end?
John, I’m not much of a re-reader, though I do agree that you don’t always know how it’s going to turn out!