I'd completely forgotten how often this occurs, and have just stated the audiobook of Dracula. By the time I realised what was happening, there was no point scrabbling around to try and skip it. Granted this time it actually just reminded me that I have in fact read it before, but I've had it ruin the whole book for me once or twice!
I'd started skipping the intros and coming back at the end, but it's been a while since I read a classic book and it slipped my mind. I get that it's well over 100 years old, I'm not shrieking spoiler alert here, but why wouldn't you just put that kinda thing at the back?
by lovecats89
7 Comments
Older philosophy of publishing. Used to be the standard, let people know what they were in for.
People used to want to know what they were going to experience before diving in, spoilers are a modern invention.
Movie trailers from 30+ years ago did the exact same thing.
Depends on the age of the book.
For books after 1900 or os It’s assumed you know the basic outline of the plot. They’re also a service to people studying the book, and so deliberately summarise the plot, characters and themes so that you *don’t* have to read the book.
They were also a bit of differentiator for sales. For a out-of-copyright book then people would buy the one with the introduction, and the more famous the person writing it the better.
For earlier they are notes to the reader, where the book is expected to be read aloud. These would generally be written by the author.
Because it’s usually for academic/scholarly purposes and for readers to understand the author, context, etc. they’re usually written by a scholar who specializes in the type of literature that author writes. Think about what the word introduction means, it’s introducing you to the book!
Sometimes I read them, sometimes I don’t. I know people get upset about the spoilers, but I’m not too bothered by spoilers in the intros for classic books, they often help me appreciate what’s going on in the book. Don’t read them if the bother you 🤷🏼♀️.
Rigidly avoiding plot spoilers is a relatively recent cultural shift. It’s not the sort of thing that most classics would have been keeping an eye toward avoiding when published in the editions you often find still, and certainly aren’t discussed by and large as works gone into blind.
Depending on the book, the introduction is there to help readers better understand social, historical, geographical, literary or other elements relevant to the book. And yes, explaining them often gives away the plot. You may be better off reading the text first and the introduction afterwards, but it depends on your knowledge of social, historical, geographical, literary or other elements relevant to the book …
It’s genuinely useful if you’re reading them for school. But for pleasure reading, I’ll read them after, if at all. (Sometimes I’m excited for a new book. Okay, a lot of the time.)