Do Spoilers Improve Books?

[HarryT]

A spoiler for a whodunnit seems to me to completely ruin the book. I can't imagine why anyone would want such a thing. (I'm excluding the "Inverted Detective Story" - aka the "Columbo" story - where the reader knows whodunnit right from the outset.)

[Apache]

Originally Posted by HarryT

A spoiler for a whodunnit seems to me to completely ruin the book. I can't imagine why anyone would want such a thing. (I'm excluding the "Inverted Detective Story" - aka the "Columbo" story - where the reader knows whodunnit right from the outset.)

This.
Apache

[Lemurion]

I'm a spoiler person. I've been known to look up spoilers for movies while the family's watching them.

I don't want to force it on anyone, because I know I'm an extreme outlier, but it does increase my enjoyment of things.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

I don't want to force it on anyone, because I know I'm an extreme outlier, but it does increase my enjoyment of things.

Does it really though? Couldn't you possibly be confusing "enjoyment" with some other compulsion?

I don't say that in a mean way, but it seems to me that something of that nature could fall under the aegis of "control issues."

Do you really LIKE knowing, or do you simply hate NOT knowing more? Other "spoiler persons" are welcome to respond as well. I don't want to seem as if I'm singling anyone out.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

I don't want to force it on anyone, because I know I'm an extreme outlier, but it does increase my enjoyment of things.

Can you explain in what way it increases your enjoyment of a murder mystery to know from the outset who the murderer is? I just don't get it, I'm afraid. Not criticising, just rather baffled!

[Lemurion]

It's a combination of things, although the net result is greater enjoyment. Part of it has to do with being the one everyone asks what's going on. Part of it comes from being a re-reader, I enjoy the telling as much or more than the story. Another part is that there are certain tropes and storytelling devices that I really despise, so I tend to read spoilers to avoid those stories that include them.

[Lemurion]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Can you explain in what way it increases your enjoyment of a murder mystery to know from the outset who the murderer is? I just don't get it, I'm afraid. Not criticising, just rather baffled!

That way I can see how the author planted the clues, it's the enjoyment of figuring out how they did it more than what they did. I enjoy the craft, and good craft is good craft whether you know the killer or not.

I admit, I'm much more of a spoiler person with TV/movies than books, but I do spoil books regularly.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

That way I can see how the author planted the clues, it's the enjoyment of figuring out how they did it more than what they did. I enjoy the craft, and good craft is good craft whether you know the killer or not.

I admit, I'm much more of a spoiler person with TV/movies than books, but I do spoil books regularly.

Oh well, whatever floats your boat, as they say . Thanks for explaining it!

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

That way I can see how the author planted the clues, it's the enjoyment of figuring out how they did it more than what they did. I enjoy the craft, and good craft is good craft whether you know the killer or not.

This is why I will reread a mystery (or anything with a surprise twist), but for my initial reading, I want the challenge of spotting and figuring out the clues myself.

[Synamon]

I don't like spoilers. I mostly read mysteries and I don't what to know the solution before I start, so maybe that's why.

I'm careful to skim blurbs/reviews and stop reading them if they start giving away plot points and with paperbacks I always avoided that teaser scene they put at the front of the book. If the blurb goes too far I'll either skip the book entirely or wait a few months before starting it so that I'll forget what the blurb said. I've learned to skip introductions in classics, I'll go back and read those at the end, they are always full of spoilers.

[Billi]

I am guilty of sometimes reading the end of a book before the middle (although more often with paper then with digital books) but I don't think that spoilers improve a book.
On some rare occasions this spared me reading the rest of the book when I've found the solution/ending too ridiculous or unlogical.

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by Lemurion

That way I can see how the author planted the clues, it's the enjoyment of figuring out how they did it more than what they did. I enjoy the craft, and good craft is good craft whether you know the killer or not.

Sounds right.

I'm just not interested in playing a battle of wits with the author. Conceivably, it's because I think I would lose, but it's hard to be self-aware enough to know.

If I was in the OP study, I think I would be with the majority who liked flashback-organized versions better. The research needs to be replicated, but it strikes me as plausible.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

I'm just not interested in playing a battle of wits with the author.

That is, however, the whole point of a detective story, and the reason that most people read them.

[icallaci]

I love puzzles, and I used to love reading detective stories, but as I get older, I find less enjoyment in playing "battle-of-wits" with an author who purposely plants misleading and/or subtle clues (which is the whole point of detective stories--I get it). These days, I am more interested in the storytelling itself, and spoilers don't bother me like they used to. I guess my penchant for figuring things out now takes a backseat to watching the story unfold, which is actually sometimes enhanced by knowing how it will end.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That is, however, the whole point of a detective story, and the reason that most people read them.

I totally disagree. I think it is experiencing the story that people like. Since it is impossible mostly to guess who did it from clues it seems to me meaningless to do it. A lot of solutions will fit all the clues.