I feel like every time I dip into these intros – usually by some random obscure literary critic – they discuss key beats in the story and ruin the plot. I have never understood why these are included before the text – you'd think they would be inserted afterwards.
I've just come across the most blatant example of this spoilery nature….just started Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, and the author himself is openly discussing what happens in his final chapter in the introduction of the book. This is the most bizarre thing. Like, why is this dude trying to ruin his own book for me?
I just wanted to get a gauge on how everyone else felt about this. I've always hated these intros and skipped the damn thing.
by Ok-fine-man
4 Comments
Yea I skip them before a first read of a book.
Never read them. I don’t need some third party fluffer to get my literary bone working. I’m here for the author, not some tagalong.
I also have found in the past that reading the intro and getting their ideas and takes on the book can irrecovably taint my own understanding of the book. I’d prefer to fumble my own way through it, the first time anyway.
I sometimes read them AFTER I’ve read the book. They are usually plot destroyers.
99% of the time, they should be set up as afterwords. Very rarely, with a truly obscure or difficult work, there should be a 1-2 page factual presentation of the issues with the book