Wednesday 26 November 2014

The terrifying final page, or, Reading quirks (Part 4)

This came up in a fairly recent Facebook discussion, and I realised it's another one of my reading quirks. When you discover an author whose books you love and find out that the author has written several books, do you go and acquire and devour them all at once? When you come across a captivating first book in a series, do you keep reading them (assuming the entire series is out already, or at least more than the first volume) until you have none left?

I don't. I read just the one. Then I wait. (And read something else, of course!) Then, after some time has passed, I pick up the next book in the series, or another book by that great, “new” author. Again I take a break before moving on to the next one. In other words, I never read books in the same series one after the other (unless, perhaps, they've been published as a single volume). I'm calling this a reading quirk because I've been told it's a weird way of doing things and other readers have questioned my method. (I wish they had admired my patience and self-control and will power, but no...)

Which made me wonder, why do I do that? If the series really is that good, why don't I race through it? I would want to, sure. But even more than that I want to avoid that inevitable feeling of the end. As long as I don't read the next book, and, in particular, the very last book, the characters are still there, the world is still there... it's not over yet! Anything can happen! I can always go back. And I want that feeling to last.

Yes, I can always re-read the series, and so go back into that world, but somehow it's just not quite the same when you know how it's all going to turn out. The last book, the last page... there is a terrible finality there!

7 comments:

  1. I completely understand what you mean and admire your patience, restraint and discipline, but I have to say that I do the opposite. (Or try to. Sometimes the next book is sold out or something...) Now, going back to that idea of trying to keep that world/characters alive by avoid reading the last book, can you imagine how I felt when I more or less accidentally read the last book of a series first? I wanted the previous books to change what happened in the last one... Sad. (Ok, only a clumsy reader would do that, but...;D)

    i-reader

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    1. Thank you for your comment! :) Ah, good to know that someone understands my desire to keep the world and the characters ”alive”. I can only imagine how awful it must have been for you to accidentally read the final book in a series first! :/ No wonder you wanted the other books to change what happened... Have you ever thought of making up alternate endings by yourself? ;)

      But you're not a clumsy reader! A similar thing happened to me once. I read the second book in what was not exactly a series (some of the characters appeared in both books) before the first one. But there was no mention anywhere about it, so I didn't know. :( But then, perhaps it was for the best: some of the characters from the first book appear in the beginning of the second one, and things don't go well for them... Had I read the books in the right order, it would have broken my heart!

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  2. oh... glad to know that I'm not the only one who sometimes reads books out of sequence. ;D In your case it was the second book, in mine it was the fourth. If I had read the books in the order they were published, I would probably have felt much worse... But I don't care. ;) As you sad I have made up a very nice ending for the story... (Last time I checked, some characters were attending a very chic halloween party... And I'm not even a fan of these things...:D)

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    1. A chic Halloween party? That sounds intriguing! Did they go in costume? If so, I wonder what kind... Maybe some of those that match, you know, say, a Roman centurion and his captive barbarian slave... ;)

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  3. Late to comment, but with this topic, I just couldn't resist adding my two cents ;).
    I love series, and have been known to read them cover to cover in one go. Not to mention the agonizing wait for the next part in a series which is not complete at the time I discover it... And it's similar when I discover a new author whose work I love, often I will just breeze through all their books. On the other hand, I waited for over a year to finish an epic four book series, not wanting it to end, despite the third book ending on a truly evil cliffhanger.
    So I definitely understand where you're coming from - taking your time to savour a series, or the books by a favourite author. I guess I tend to do both - savouring and binge reading - depending on the books, the situation, and most of all, my current mood.
    And, much as I love re-reads of favourites, I agree that reading a book for the first time is a really special experience.
    Best wishes,
    Kathy

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    1. Hi Kathy! Thanks for you comment. :)
      Ah, the wait can be agonizing indeed! Even though I savour series, there have been times when the wait just seems soooo long... when the next book isn't out yet or you have to order it and wait for the parcel to arrive... but then, the thrill when it _does_ arrive! There's nothing quite like that feeling, except maybe when you've fallen in love with a book from the library, and you want to buy it but can't find it anywhere, so every time you go to the library, you just have to take a look at that book and smile at it (yes, well, I don't think I could flirt with a person, but a book... now that's a different matter! :P :D ) and maybe touch it a little... and then, one day, you discover the book in a bookstore, maybe a second-hand one, and your heart starts pounding... :)

      But yes, the first time is always the first time. I wonder which book I'd unread just to be able to read it for the first time all over again... but I can't decide! And with some of them, I fear it still might not be quite the same, especially if it's been years since I first read that book. What if I have changed and the experience would no longer be life-changing?

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