It can't just be me who finds it irritating that the introduction comments by many authors contain spoilers or thoughts that may influence your own before reading the book. At this point I just skip past them because many of them provide indepth analysis of key themes.
To me, these should be concluding thought by the author at the 'end' of the book. I would be completely fine reading the authors thoughts on why they did what they did but please, after I have read it!
by IH8Lyfeee
7 Comments
Yes! This is what the “author’s note” at the end is for. I recently read a book that almost the entire thing was spoiled in the introduction by the author
What fiction books have introductions by the author? Fiction with introductions are usually classics that often are improved by the introduction sort of getting the reader up to speed.
But in any case, yes, choose to read it later if you don’t like it, that’s the only solution needed here.
I don’t read them until after.
Forewords are usually only present in classics and are not written by the author. The idea is that you’re already vaguely familiar with the material going into the book, but if you’re not you should skip the introduction and read it at the end
I think it’s only useful if you need to know the context of the time period it was written. Master and Margarita for example I would recommend a bit of research before reading it
Introductions are about providing context and insight that is often necessary to understand a story in the manner it was intended at the time it was written. They are absolutely intended to influence your reading of the book. That is not a bug, that is a feature.
Read them or don’t read them, it doesn’t matter. But at least try to understand what they’re doing before telling everyone that you know better how they should be read.
I dunno, Brandon Sanderson mentioning that Wind and Truth was “his longest novel to date” in his forward allowed me to brace myself.