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Quale
Master of Realmslore
1757 Posts |
 Posted - 17 Feb 2011 : 22:54:10
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| That's what I did with Dust of Dreams (Malazan) recently, with one barbarian character. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36905 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2011 : 23:06:39
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| So how many people peek at the ending of a book they've never read before? |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 17 Feb 2011 : 23:37:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So how many people peek at the ending of a book they've never read before?
I don't go that far. I usually stop the search in the middle or the first quarter. I don't normally like it when I know the ending before hand. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 00:14:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So how many people peek at the ending of a book they've never read before?
Depends on the book, and whether it's one I've been eager to read. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Tyrant
Senior Scribe
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 00:18:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So how many people peek at the ending of a book they've never read before?
I do sometimes. I'm usually just checking the page count and can't help but look up. It can cut down on the drama to know certain characters live so when they appear to die I can skip the melodrama. It's also had the opposite effect if I know a character is going to die from seeing the end. When it gets down to the last few pages and they are still around I know their end is coming and it can get to me because I know they are actually dead and not just waiting for the writer to "surprise" everyone with a sudden reappearance.
As far as bookmarks, I usually use movie ticket stubs. |
Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.
-The Sith Code
Teenage Sith zombies, Tulkh thought-how in the moons of Bogden had it all started? Every so often, the universe must just get bored and decide to really cut loose. -Star Wars: Red Harvest |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 07:05:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So how many people peek at the ending of a book they've never read before?
I remember I did that with Rise of a Merchant Prince, but only because I had and still have no plan of reading it page after page. It's practically Roo's story, with a little romance between Pug and Miranda. That's the only Feist book I practically abandoned, partly because I wasn't that interested in reading a merchant's account, and mainly because I couldn't wait to read Rage of a Demon King, where all the fun and action of the Serpentwar Saga happened.
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Every beginning has an end. |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 07:08:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Tyrant
As far as bookmarks, I usually use movie ticket stubs.
I sometimes do that. My bookmarks are practically anything that I happen to have near me, with the exception of socks, no matter how clean they are. |
Every beginning has an end. |
Edited by - Dennis on 18 Feb 2011 07:08:42 |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 07:26:58
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Does reading the blurbs from the jacket and back cover count as "peeking"?
I suppose my curiosity is tempered by objective experience. No matter how hopelessly, utterly screwed the Star Trek crew gets, no matter how absolutely perilous their situation, you can still rest assured that they'll manage to resolve things satisfactorily in the last ten minutes of the episode. Sometimes things might need To Be Continued in cliffhanger installment, the end result is still the same (assuming you already intended to watch/read both stories anyhow). There's no need to peek at the last scene to confirm that a character is still around and fairly intact.
[Edit]
A lot of novels wrap the story between prologue-epilogue. If so, peeking at the last few pages yields little of consequence. Then there are books that drop a nuke into the storyline, or experiment with different narrative methods, or are written in a carefully structured yet seemingly disjointed/convoluted manner that only comes together upon completion ... peeking at the end just ruins the experience. You always risk glimpsing something you are not yet ready to see. Your curiosity can be gratified instantly or can be allowed to cultivate in a mentally provocative manner. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 18 Feb 2011 07:50:06 |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 07:42:47
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quote:
Originally posted by Arik
Does reading the blurbs from the jacket and back cover count as "peeking"?
In a way, yes. But everyone reads the blurbs [except my bestfriend's elder sister], so they're more like a need. I can't recall reading a printed book without first reading its blurb. But I don't usually build up my expectations on the story based on them, as sometimes they either exaggerate or capture only 0.001% of the entirety of the story. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 07:45:44
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Not only that. Sometimes they oversimplify or lie by omission, it often seems like they're written by people who haven't actually read the damned book.
You can't judge a book by it's cover blurb. Though I unfortunately always do just that when choosing which one to read among many. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 18 Feb 2011 07:49:14 |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 08:01:33
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Well, they've got to make the book sell by all means possible, don't they? And that includes making the blurb very interesting, even more interesting than the entire novel itself. But that's only in the case of some. Most of the novels I've read have blurbs that live up to their promise. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Quale
Master of Realmslore
1757 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 08:49:05
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| I can't stand when they reveal the ending and then go back in time to explain how it happened. |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 09:02:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Quale
I can't stand when they reveal the ending and then go back in time to explain how it happened.
That all depends on how it was executed. Though I'd like it if the "supposed" ending was shown at first, but the turn of events made the actual ending in the last page different.
Besides, that happens when I read two sagas in reverse. As an example, I read Raymond E. Feist's Darkwar trilogy before The Serpentwar Saga. The ending of the Serpentwar was revealed in Into a Dark Realm and in Wrath of a Mad God. So before reading Shards of a Broken Crown, I already knew its ending. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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BEAST
Master of Realmslore
USA
1714 Posts |
Posted - 18 Feb 2011 : 23:21:32
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I prefer to read while lying down. There's less of an angle in my neck when my face is basically perpendicular to my spine on the bed, chest on pillow, with a book down on the mattress. Sitting on a chair at a desk or table--especially while trying to sit upright and maintain even halfway-decent posture--requires me to tilt my head further down to look at a book, and that leads to neck strain. No thanks.
I hate breaking my paperback book spines. I even apply several layers of clear tape over the spines and around the corners of the covers to reinforce them, as well as protect them from finger oils.
My most noteworthy habit is that I'm borderline OCDish about taking notes. I can't help it: whenever I read, I feel the need to track key points, and then re-organize them later to try to make sense of them in my head. I've done this long enough that I now have a sort of short-hand by which I make little pencil marks in the margins of books next to key points while reading, which allows me to continue reading without major interruptions to my train of thought. Later, I go back and take notes on chronological time clues, character descriptions, apparent contradictions/continuity goofs, starting points for online discussions, etc.
Taking notice of these things, then writing them down, and then organizing my thoughts has really helped to clear up some head-scratching things about RAS's latest, Gauntlgrym. |
"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)
<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works"> |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 19 Feb 2011 : 06:25:55
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I used to take down notes a lot. But I later found it more hampering than generally helpful. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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BEAST
Master of Realmslore
USA
1714 Posts |
Posted - 19 Feb 2011 : 19:53:45
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quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
I used to take down notes a lot. But I later found it more hampering than generally helpful.
That's why I wait till after I'm done with a read-through to do the notes. While reading, I just use a shorthand with markings in the margin to tell me where to come back and take notes, later. It doesn't slow me down much. |
"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)
<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works"> |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 05:56:10
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Makes sense. Doing it during the first read is really inconvenient, unless of course what you read is more for academic purposes than recreational. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 09:25:11
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I have this same topic in my blog. And someone said something that to me sounds the weirdest and craziest reading habit. He gambles a lot, and applies the game of chance to almost everything he does, including, yes, reading. Before he reads a novel [which is mostly dark fantasy and sci-fi], he would first check the number of chapters, write them on scraps of paper, put them all in a bowl, and draw one scrap at a time. Whatever he draws, that’s the chapter he’s going to read…
The idea alone gives me a headache. Haven’t tried it; and I don’t think I ever will. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Light
Learned Scribe
Australia
233 Posts |
Posted - 26 Feb 2011 : 11:32:20
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Though it's been a while I have something to contribute. My weird reading habit started one or two years ago when I purchased the numerous Legacy of Drizzt box-sets. After seeing the wonderful art on the covers, I just couldn't bring myself to open them, lest I crease the covers. So they set for a year or more on my bookshelf and I, instead of reading them, went to the local library and hired out the same drizzt books and read those instead. Over time it became worse and I couldn't open any book that I owned
Recently however I couldn't find some of the drizzt books at the library and, with a tremendous display of willpower, forced myself to open one of my precious books ever so slightly. So now I open them, barely, and every moment that they're not being read, they're lying cover-down on a table with some sort of weight on the back to try to remove any creases from the cover. |
"A true warrior needs no sword" - Thors (Vinland Saga) |
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Synthalus
Learned Scribe
USA
170 Posts |
Posted - 26 Feb 2011 : 21:36:54
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| i need to get completely naked and eat vanilla ice cream in order to be comfortable enough to read. so i dont read that often because the grocery store never has the ice cream brand i want. |
"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die."
— H.P. Lovecraft (The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories) |
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Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 27 Feb 2011 : 07:07:29
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Ice cream + novel = great reading
-->That used to be my basic reading formula. But after spilling mango and strawberry ice cream on two of my books, [The Death and Life of Superman by Roger Stern and Implements of Destruction by Michael Calligaro] I stopped. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Lily M Green
Learned Scribe
Australia
115 Posts |
Posted - 27 Feb 2011 : 10:59:58
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quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
I prefer to read while lying down. There's less of an angle in my neck when my face is basically perpendicular to my spine on the bed, chest on pillow, with a book down on the mattress. Sitting on a chair at a desk or table--especially while trying to sit upright and maintain even halfway-decent posture--requires me to tilt my head further down to look at a book, and that leads to neck strain. No thanks.
Now that I just can't do, my fat head would get in the way of the light like that. I have the most terrible eyesight. Actually, it's almost to the point where I find reading an awful lot of print media incredibly tiring and so consequentially I need to be drawn into a story within the first few pages as incentive to battle through the inevitable eye strain etc. (I'm not blind but it's not something that can be corrected with lenses).
When I do read I need a direct but not overly bright light that illuminates the whole of the book. I can't have any shadows over the page (even the shadow cast by the join in the spine makes life difficult) and bright sunlight is not great either, too much glare. The reading spot in our house is sprawled out on the sofa under the standard lamp. It's got a nice wide shade that reflects light down and casts it wide.
More and more I've been reading ebooks. I haven't invested in a Kindle, yet, but adobe reader's accessibility options are pretty good. (Green text on a black background and a huge font is best, I've found).
Best of all though are audiobooks, which have an added bonus in that I can listen to them anywhere, including in work. I just wish there were more of the FR novels available in this format. (BTW, if anyone has a full list of what is available I'd like to see it).
As for bookmarks... I had a couple of those brass ones that slip over the page, but they've vanished somewhere and they can tear the paper if you're not careful, now I just use bits of ribbon that come attached to the tags on my clothes when I buy 'em :) |
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup.
A Dark Alliance - Beyond Baldur's Gate |
Edited by - Lily M Green on 27 Feb 2011 11:03:37 |
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BEAST
Master of Realmslore
USA
1714 Posts |
Posted - 01 Mar 2011 : 20:24:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Lily M Green
Now that I just can't do, my fat head would get in the way of the light like that. I have the most terrible eyesight. Actually, it's almost to the point where I find reading an awful lot of print media incredibly tiring and so consequentially I need to be drawn into a story within the first few pages as incentive to battle through the inevitable eye strain etc. (I'm not blind but it's not something that can be corrected with lenses).
I'm fortunate enough to have really sensitive eyes, in that regard (good night vision and all).
As a kid, I'd just use the light from other rooms, or the light thrown from a lamp across the room, or the sunlight peeking through the curtains, to read by. Grown-ups would regularly tell me, "Your eyes'll go bad, son, if you keep reading in the dark like that." And then they would flip on a light switch, and basically blind me!  |
"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)
<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works"> |
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Brynweir
Senior Scribe
USA
436 Posts |
Posted - 01 Mar 2011 : 22:18:00
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quote:
Originally posted by BEAST
As a kid, I'd just use the light from other rooms, or the light thrown from a lamp across the room, or the sunlight peeking through the curtains, to read by. Grown-ups would regularly tell me, "Your eyes'll go bad, son, if you keep reading in the dark like that." And then they would flip on a light switch, and basically blind me!
I was the same way... even reading under the covers with a pen light so I wouldn't get in trouble. Even now I don't even turn on lights at home to walk around at night, and if I am the first person in my office, I will work with the lights off until someone comes in and ruins it. At least give me some warning people! |
Anyone who likes to read something that's really dark and gritty and completely awesome ought to read The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. You can check out a little taste at www.BrentWeeks.com I should probably warn you, though, that it is definitely not PG-13 :-D
He also started a new Trilogy with Black Prism, which may even surpass the Night Angel Trilogy in its awesomeness. 
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
Posted - 01 Mar 2011 : 22:29:32
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lol, the dark-eyed folk just don't understand decent nightvision. The gift our ancestors of the dim frozen hinterlands have provided us.
To be fair, though, they might lack nightvision but also aren't stunned and crippled by bright sunny days. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 01 Mar 2011 22:30:51 |
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
1965 Posts |
Posted - 01 Mar 2011 : 22:59:56
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"Grown-ups would regularly tell me, "Your eyes'll go bad, son, if you keep reading in the dark like that." And then they would flip on a light switch, and basically blind me!"
Hah! BEAST. I do the same thing and have heard that so many times, but I still can. One candle is usually sufficient for reading, for me. |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
Green Dragonscale Dice Bag by Crystalsidyll - check it out
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36905 Posts |
Posted - 01 Mar 2011 : 23:19:57
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| My eyesight isn't what it once was... But luckily, I've become mildly nearsighted, instead of farsighted. And my night-vision is unaffected. I'll turn on the lights to read by, but anything else (other than shaving) I'm comfortable doing in low or no light. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 01 Mar 2011 : 23:54:26
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I'm almost the same. See, I'm spectacled these days, though mostly for reading. It's a lingering family trait, so I expect I'll need to keep up with changing lens as the winters roll by.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36905 Posts |
Posted - 02 Mar 2011 : 04:17:11
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
I'm almost the same. See, I'm spectacled these days, though mostly for reading. It's a lingering family trait, so I expect I'll need to keep up with changing lens as the winters roll by.
I'm actually surprised I went as long as I did without needing glasses... My parents were both in glasses as teenagers. I just got my first pair a couple weeks ago. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Light
Learned Scribe
Australia
233 Posts |
Posted - 02 Mar 2011 : 06:16:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Beast
Your eyes'll go bad, son, if you keep reading in the dark like that." And then they would flip on a light switch, and basically blind me!
What are you...a drow? Seriously though it's quite hilarious as I, though I can't boast such good night-vision, partake on a regular basis that exciting game of reading under the covers and trying to stop any light escaping that might inevitably lead to the awakening of the dragon that inhabits my house. |
"A true warrior needs no sword" - Thors (Vinland Saga) |
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Weird Reading Habits
