I Don't Want to Know How Much of the Book Is Left

[SeaBookGuy]

French --

I was reading a book that had roughly 1200 pages, but ended at around 1000 - the rest was notes, index, etc. I found running into "The End" 200 pages before I was expecting it a bit abrupt.

[FF2]

I believe it was the pbook - French Lieutenant's Woman where the book was clearly ending but I could not figure out why so much "paper" was still beyond where I was reading. And I will leave it at that....

[SlowRain]

French and SeaBookGuy, I think both of you have sort of experienced what I'm getting at, however in a different way. By knowing how many pages there were in total, your experiences were ones of disappointment because you had expectations of the story being longer. Still, you had no idea the stories would end when they truly did. How would you have reacted to the novels if you hand't known in the first place they would be 700 and 1,200 pages long?

I don't expect this idea to gain wide acceptance, but I do think there's a great opportunity here and I encourage people to try it. Two people have used excellent words that I think describe the possibilities: restless and disorienting. I don't expect all people to enjoy it, but I really would like people to give it a serious couple of tries.

To give everyone an example from last night: I'm reading a novel that had a sea battle. Like elemenoP, I didn't read the blurb, so I had no idea what the story was about when I started reading. It has been going on for a while, and certainly the climax could come at any moment. I had no idea if last night's sea battle would be the end or not. It added an element of uncertainty. It turns out the battle was not the end and the adventure will go on. (I'm going to leave the title nameless because it may be a spoiler for the novel, and I obviously don't like spoilers.)

It's the idea of knowing as little about the novel as possible so as to achieve the maximum amount of suspense. As mentioned previously, not reading the blurb is one way, especially useful with authors we've come to trust or with recommendations from friends we've come to trust. Not having people tell you any spoilers or how it ends is another way (don't we all hate spoilers). Not knowing what page the the e-book will end on is yet another way to take out a very obvious gauge of what will or won't be happening in the next few pages.

[SeaBookGuy]

I would go insane not knowing how many pages there were in the book (or with a Kindle-style progress bar at least)! One of my mp3 players gives me the actual numbers for the audiobook (1:52 of 8:06); the other just gives time elapsed, and get find I have to go check Audible books at times when I can't recall if the current file is 7 1/2 or 8 1/4 hours long.

As for not knowing plot details, I don't read as much fiction as non-fiction (did I mention how nerdy I can be yet?). Actually, I'm reading a book now solely based on liking the series ("No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency"), and was pleasantly surprised by a development that would likely have been mentioned in reviews, had I read those first (the "plot blurb" itself was rather vague).

[SlowRain]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I would go insane not knowing how many pages there were in the book...

Do you mean that from a purchase-decision point of view, or so that you could gauge your place relative to the end? I usually look at how long the book is when buying it (ie. short story, novella, novel, tome), but once I start reading, that's when I try to lose myself in it.

However, I imagine this would not have as much use with non-fiction.

I do have a new feeling to add to my growing list: restless, disorienting, and going insane.

[SeaBookGuy]

For one thing, I like to know where I am as to whether to push on and finish the book then, or leave the final read (section) for the next time.

[twowheels]

That's funny, because the inability to easily judge the "heft" of a book and my progress is on my list of negatives for ebooks.

[SeaBookGuy]

I thought Kindles have progress bars (instead of pages), so you do know where you are in the book? As for "heft", I go by the pages of the printed book.

[hgwlackey]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Oh and unlike others here, chapters mean nothing to me. I might stop reader one page before the chapter ends, or after the first paragraph of a new chapter. I stop when I want to stop (usually when I'm falling asleep).

I don't pay attention to chapters either. As long as I've reached the end of a paragraph, I can put it down.

[J. Strnad]

For me, it's the contrast between real life and fiction.

Real life is messy and disorganized. You don't know how much of it you have and many things just seem to happen without any particular cause-and-effect. And you certainly can't be assured of a happy ending!

I go to fiction to give order to the chaos, to find a sense of structure that real life lacks, to see the good guys win and the bad guys lose. This is "fiction" to me.

So, I do like to know where I am in a book. It's comforting. If I wanted to be uncomfortable, I'd watch the news.

I recently read The #1 Ladies Detective Agency and it came to an abrupt halt about 15 pages before the anticipated end. The rest of the pages were promos for more books in the series and other books by that author. I hated that.

My book, Risen, includes five short stories after the novel ends. This is one reason I believe that a table of contents is important. The automatic formating of Amazon and Smashwords doesn't give me the control that I want, but I do have a standing offer to send an epub with a clickable table of contents to anyone who buys the "meatgrinder" version through Smashwords, B&N, Kobo, Sony, etc. I really believe that knowing where you are in a book is important to enough people that ebook publishers need to make the progress through the book transparent.

If someone can and wants to turn off the progress bar, that's great. I admire their spirit of adventure. But for most readers, I do believe that an accurate way to judge your progress through the book is essential.

[hgwlackey]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

As for "heft", I go by the pages of the printed book.

Funny, that. I like to update my status on Goodreads with the page number I'm on (I don't know why; it's just one of those little perks in my day). Goodreads supplies the total number of pages in the book based on the edition you select; you just enter the actual page you're on. Sometimes they have Kindle editions, in which case you can enter the percentage instead of a page number--it's nice that they thought of that for Kindle users. But I have a Sony, and the Sony page numbers never match any of the available editions on Goodreads. This means I have to do a quick calculation before I update: "I'm on page 130 of 417 on the Sony, which is 31%. The Goodreads edition I chose has 608 pages, so I should type in '190.'" I don't mind doing the calculation--it extends the enjoyment of updating my status by a few more seconds.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I thought Kindles have progress bars (instead of pages), so you do know where you are in the book? As for "heft", I go by the pages of the printed book.

They do, though your progress through a physical book is something that you intuitively feel. At least initially the progress bar isn't as intuitive. Just today I finished a book. I was at 99% and some number of lines through the book and kept thinking that I was almost there, but it took much longer to finish than I expected. Maybe I'll get used to it.

As for number of printed pages -- I've been doing the same thing, though for ebook only content that doesn't work.

[SeaBookGuy]

I hear you - I was given a review copy of a mystery (that has never been printed), and surprised that when I opened the e-book it showed as 400 pages long; luckily, it was a great read!

[SlowRain]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

But for most readers, I do believe that an accurate way to judge your progress through the book is essential.

I agree with that sentiment, as it currently stands, because we're used to it. But it gives rise to another issue: How many people are replying based on actual experience after trying this with a couple of books, and how many are just making assumptions based on how they think they would feel? I started this thread in the hope of getting people to try an experiment, albeit one that introduces a disorienting, restless, insane element. I'd hate to think people are critical of it based on a gut reaction rather than based on the actual effects.

When I first started with e-reading devices several years ago, I had to endure a lot of people's complaints about how it wasn't a real book, how no one would want to read a book on a screen, how you couldn't do this or that with an e-book. Most of these comments were being made by people who had never even looked at an e-reading device before, let alone actually read a couple of books on one. In many cases, their assumptions were flat out wrong. I'm sure all of us here have been the victim of other people prejudging e-books. For those that have tried e-books and not liked the experience, I fully respect and support their decision not to read e-books. For those who have tried turning off the progress bar and not liked the experience, I fully respect and support your decision to leave the progress bar on. For those who don't want to try it, I respect both your decision and you not making assumptions about the experience.

From my own experience, I think I failed the first time. I had to peek every now and then. I think it may have taken me three of four novels to get over the habit/need to look at the progress bar.

Has anyone else tried this? If you haven't, give it a try if you're curious and post your experiences.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

I've been known to hold down the fast forward button to get to the end of the chapter, and go back to my page from there.

Since you have a 650, just go to the ToC and see what page number the next chapter starts and then return to the book and enjoy.