Romance Lovers for the Challenge-Impaired discussion

Story 'spoilers' may boost enjoyment

I found this short article interesting, and wanted to share with anyone who might be interested. Here's the link:

http://www.kpho.com/story/15269833/st...

Sherlock Holmes book removed from school reading list for being anti-Mormon

Here's another article that I found prettey interesting:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/a...

✿Michelle✿ wrote: "Story 'spoilers' may boost enjoyment..."

I know I posted this b/f, but I couldn't resist. (view spoiler)[
(hide spoiler)]

✿Michelle✿ wrote: "Sherlock Holmes book removed from school reading list for being anti-Mormon..."


Wow! I guess a lot of kids are going to be reading , LOL! You know how some kids are, they sneak the banned list and read it first, looking for those "passages".

✿Michelle✿ wrote: "Story 'spoilers' may boost enjoyment

I found this short article interesting, and wanted to share with anyone who might be interested. Here's the link:

http://www.kpho.com/story/15269833/stor..."
That's interesting and may explain why I'm an end reader. If I don't like the ending of a book, I won't buy it. I read for the characters and enjoy their journey. Besides, I'm not a huge fan of surprises IRL.

I'm one who doesn't mind spoilers. I'll go reading reviews on here, and if one tells me something interesting or strange happens, it might be the thing that makes me want to read that book. Lol, that and my memory cells aren't the most retentive, it might be months before I read the book, so I'll prolly forget the spoiler anyway :)

Kit★ wrote: "Lol, that and my memory cells aren't the most retentive, it might be months before I read the book, so I'll prolly forget the spoiler anyway :) "

This is true for me too!

Me too!

Very interesting articles Michelle. Thanks for sharing! I'm of the opposite view as to spoilers, especially in thrillers or suspense. I don't want to know. If an author manages to blindside me with a twist to the story, and it is done well rather than feeling disjointed, then it makes me appreciate the author even more.

Having said that, I fall into the naughty kids category that Lisa Kay mentioned above :-) I'm one of those people that will read what I shouldn't, just to see for myself WHY "someone" thought I shouldn't. :-D

Lisa Kay wrote: "✿Michelle✿ wrote: "Story 'spoilers' may boost enjoyment..."

I know I posted this b/f, but I couldn't resist.
"

LOL!!

CaroB wrote: "Very interesting articles Michelle. Thanks for sharing! I'm of the opposite view as to spoilers, especially in thrillers or suspense. I don't want to know. If an author manages to blindside me with..."

I'm the same way! I don't want to know. I call it "Spoilerphobia." I avoid spoilers like the plague! I love to be surprised at the end of my books.


I haven't read any of Arthur Conan Doyle's novels, but now I'm planning too!!

I don't want to know a huge, story-turning plot-point or nothing when I read spoilers... like Harry Potter for example, if I would've found out Sirius dies before actually reading it myself, I'd be a little upset. Though I still would've read it anyway, just to find out how. But one group I'm in on here, the spoiler-police go a little overboard. They freak out if you don't put a spoiler around mentioning the color of the main characters shirt and other dumb things like that. Oh? What's that you say? Our main character reads the New York Times with his breakfast? Well, people who haven't read the book don't know that yet, so you better mark it as a spoiler. What? The woman he's interested in has black hair and blue eyes? OMG, huge spoiler! Sometimes in that group it's really hard to have a discussion about anything b/c everyone's too worried about getting yelled at for a dumb spoiler. So I guess marking them is good, better safe than sorry and all that, but nothing will ever stop me from (view spoiler)[opening the spoiler box! (hide spoiler)]

KIT!!! Sirius Dies????

Sorry Kit★, I was only joking :-) No tiny-spoiler police here :-)

Lol, you had me worried for a second! ;)

Kit★ wrote: "Lol, you had me worried for a second! ;)"

LOL! I couldn't resist the opportunity, I've got to try to curb the impulses :-D

Kit★ wrote: "I don't want to know a huge, story-turning plot-point or nothing when I read spoilers... like Harry Potter for example, if I would've found out Sirius dies before actually reading it myself, I'd be..."

Really, Kit★?? I think that is (view spoiler)[a little excessive (hide spoiler)] myself. I mean, if (view spoiler)[they are going to be that paranoid (hide spoiler)] maybe they should (view spoiler)[ NOT be in a on-line discussion group (hide spoiler)].

Lol, thanks for all the spoiley-boxes to open, that was fun! And yes, I think it is a little excessive. They do however have lots of heated discussions on the usage of said spoilers, pros and cons and all that. Just not too many in-depth conversations about the books themselves... :p

How could they possibly have (view spoiler)[an in-depth discussion? LOL! Do they have any threads with the alert at the top that says There Will Be Spoilers? (hide spoiler)]?

I don't mind spoilers at all, obviously since I'm an end reader. I'm perfectly happy reading a detailed summary of a book; and if I like that summary, the book is mine. Why, yes, I am a rereader. How did you guess?

Now, Sandra, that would be an interesting survey. To see if there was a correlation in people who like spoilers and also are re-readers.

I re-read. But that's like visiting an old familiar friend, I know their story and I like them because of it. But spoilers are like listening to gossip about someone you haven't had a conversation with yet... hmm... not sure where this analogy is going... I'm sure I had a point around here somewhere... *goes looking*

Lisa Kay wrote: "Kit★ wrote: "I don't want to know a huge, story-turning plot-point or nothing when I read spoilers... like Harry Potter for example, if I would've found out Sirius dies before actually reading it m..."

I try to avoid spoilers, but I couldn't resist clicking on the spoilers in the post. LMAO!!!!!!

Lisa Kay wrote: "How could they possibly have an in-depth discussion? LOL! Do they have any threads with the alert at the top that says There Will Be Spoilers??"

Yes, actually they do. One group has 2 threads for each monthly read, one marked **NO SPOILERS** and the other marked **SPOILERS ALLOWED DO NOT ENTER UNLESS YOU HAVE FINISHED THE BOOK** and the other just puts big uppercase warnings in the thread title along with exclamation points and asterisks.

For fans of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series:

DreamWorks Has The Fever For Karen Marie Moning's Fantasy Series

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/DreamW...

Of course I've spent a lot of time and money at Borders over the last few weeks. I was under the impression that a lot of employees were given advance notice of the store's plans to close. I guess not:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/...

Kit★ wrote: "I don't want to know a huge, story-turning plot-point or nothing when I read spoilers... like Harry Potter for example, if I would've found out Sirius dies before actually reading it myself, I'd be..."

Sirius dies?!?!... J/K :)

On the topic of spoilers I have a friend who always reads the last page of the book first. I don't understand that. I don't want to know how it ends until it ends. Love a good twist! I made her promise not to read the last page of my book when she got it because the misleading ending is one of the biggest emotional moments of the book.

✿Michelle✿ wrote: "I was under the impression that a lot of employees were given advance notice of the store's plans to close. I gues not:..."

Thanks for sharing the link Michelle, I hadn't realised! That's atrocious!


Tracey wrote: " I don't want to know how it ends until it ends. Love a good twist!..."

Definitely agree Tracey! That can be a problem in itself though. Sometimes I want to know the ending so badly, it's hard to put the book down and get to sleep.

I'm an end reader. If I don't like the end of a book, I won't buy it/read it. I don't like surprises, and I'm a rereader (Can you tell?). I loathe cliff hangers and have been burnt in the past, so that's one reason I read ends first. It's about the journey for me, not the destination. And I love spoilers! Having said that, I know I'm definitely in the minority.

Sandra J wrote: " I loathe cliff hangers and have been burnt in the past, so that's one reason I read ends first. It's about the journey for me, not the destination..."

That's a really good point Sandra J. I can't stand cliff-hangers either! It can actually turn me off finishing a series off.

Well put about reading being a journey, much like life. I guess for me it feeds into my emotional involvement in the story. I read mostly romances nowadays, so there's the implied HEA or HFN ending, but if I already know the way a story ends, I don't tend to invest emotionally into the characters as much. Not sure if I'm making sense... And I don't think you're in that much of a minority. I think there are plenty of people who do the same in reading the end.

I caught some flack from a friend because I read endings first. Then I really freaked her out when I told her that sometimes I start a book in the middle, read to the end (again), and then read the beginning. Weird, I know, but it works for me when I have trouble getting into a book to start with.

Sandra J wrote: "I caught some flack from a friend because I read endings first. Then I really freaked her out when I told her that sometimes I start a book in the middle, read to the end (again), and then read th..."

Lol, I'll have to try that one of these days!

Sandra J wrote: "IThen I really freaked her out when I told her that sometimes I start a book in the middle, read to the end (again), and then read th..."

Sandra, I've done that too! :) Not a lot, but I have done it. To me it is proof that it is a really good book; the characters are worth knowing from the beginning.

Not really that weird, when you think about it. Many authors start books in the middle of something exciting/interesting going on.

CaroB wrote: "✿Michelle✿ wrote: "I was under the impression that a lot of employees were given advance notice of the store's plans to close. I gues not:..."

Thanks for sharing the link Michelle, I hadn't reali..."

But that's the sign of a good book, if u can't put it down the author has done their job. As a writer that's one of the biggest compliments I've received when someone tells me they couldn't put it down, or stayed up all night to finish it.

As a reader I love to experience emotion as I read. As a writer one of my main goals is to provoke emotion. I want to make you laugh, I want to make you frustrated, I want to make you happy, and yes at times I want to make you cry. In my latest book there is a huge emotional build up at the end that wouldn't be there is you already read the last page. I want to take you on that journey, to experience the emotional suspense of that moment. I don't like cliff hangers either, even in a series each book should have a conclusion, but sometimes that conclusion can be the biggest emotional experience of the book. As a reader and a writer I like to experience it as intended without knowing how it will end until it does. But that's just me :)

I don't mind SOME spoilers, as long as that's not the point of a work. For instance, the movie The Usual Suspects is never going to be as good as it was the first timt I saw it but - darn it, it's still pretty good!

85% of what I read is romance and mystery, so, to a certain extent, I know the ending - the criminal gets caught and the boy gets the girl. I find some comfort in this. I also enjoy having a place where I can find out 'what the fuss is about". That was the deal with The Lovely Bones. I didn't pay it much heed until it was made into a movie by Peter Jackson, who I thought did the best possible treatment of the Lord of the Rings that you can do for a movie. (Yes, still flawed, but that's what 99% of the time, a book is better!).

So I had to find out what happens in the lovely bones. Enter Goodreads. The review for the book was pretty middle of the road - 3 point something. So I read the reviews. Here's the kicker - there were no 3 star reviews. Everyone loved it or hated it - and the ones who hated it were very descriptive as to why, so I now know that not only will I never see the Lovely Bones, I will never read it either.
So yes - when given the choice - spoilers are a good thing.

Well said, Zoe. I agree with you on The Usual Suspects, too! :)

Zoe wrote: "I don't mind SOME spoilers, as long as that's not the point of a work. For instance, the movie The Usual Suspects is never going to be as good as it was the first timt I saw it but - darn it, it's ..."

I'm with you on The Usual Suspects too! My brother told me the ending before I ever saw it. I think that the ending was so well done, that I still enjoyed the movie even though I knew what was going to happen.

Zoe - well put! And you're right, if a work is well written, then the enjoyment taken from a re-read or possibly a "spoiled" read is for the thrill and comfort of the written journey, rather than the twist/destination.

That's it exactly. And if I like a book, I'll keep it and reread it a number of times over the years. Some of my keepers are 20 to 30 years old.

I am definitely a re-reader! And yes if I like the book enough to re-read then obviously knowing the ending does not ruin the experience for me. But the first time I read I like to have the experience of the unexpected. Yes in a mystery, the bad guy always gets caught... but what if the bad guy wasn't who you thought. In a love story, the boy gets the girl... but sometimes the journey to get to that point can be surprising. The first time I read I want the suspense of the unknown, and then if I liked the journey I will re-read it many times over.

Is Nicholas Cage a vampire?!

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainm...

what a crack up! Is that the lead-in hype for some new movie?

OK first of all he is so not good looking enough to be a vampire!

CaroB wrote: "what a crack up! Is that the lead-in hype for some new movie?"

That's what I was thinking! If you read some of the posts regarding this article, they're really funny. I happen to like the few Nicholas Cage movies that I've seen, so I read the article thinking that it was about some upcoming project of his.

Tracey wrote: "OK first of all he is so not good looking enough to be a vampire!"

IDK. I fell in love watching Peggy Sue Got Married, LOL!

Well if he still looked like that I might believe he was a vampire... but he hasn't aged well :)

I think Vampires, being dead, have no sinus problems. Ergo, Nick Cage cannot possible be one, because as much as I love the National Treasure moveis, he cannot utter a word that doesn't prove he's got problems there - deviated septum, swollen adenoids...not sure what, but it's a problem!

Oh that's hilarious!