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Path: utzoo!watmath!jagardner
From: jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: The concept of spoilers
Message-ID: <15186@watmath.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Jun-85 11:09:26 EDT
Article-I.D.: watmath.15186
Posted: Thu Jun 20 11:09:26 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 20-Jun-85 23:41:37 EDT
References: <2310@topaz.ARPA>
Reply-To: jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner)
Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 28

[...]

Ken Moreau wants someone to say something about spoilers because
he enjoys a book more the second time through than the first.
My two cents' worth:

I think there is a difference between enjoying a story and enjoying
a book.  The nervous tension of "What is going to happen next?" that
Ken had trouble with is part of my enjoyment of a story.  The story is
happening for me for the first time and the doubt and wonder of seeing
it all is dependent on not knowing what the end will be.  One can
identify in whole or in part with the characters of the story as it
unfolds.

Of course, as you say, when you are entirely wrapped up in the story,
it is harder to appreciate the book: the prose style, the themes,
subtleties, etc.  This is why a second (or Nth) reading of a worthwhile
book can be just as rewarding as the first (at least for people who are
able to appreciate more than one literary level).

I suppose there are some people who have more all-encompassing reading
ability and can get a multitude of levels on the first pass.  I personally
like having the maximum of both worlds: uncritical gobbling of vicarious
thrills first time through, then a more sedate second pass (if the book
warrants it, of course).

				Jim Gardner, University of Waterloo