I always think that if a book has a preface then the author must want me to read it, right? If I don’t read it I feel guilty. But honestly I really dislike them, not just because of spoilers, but I also find them horrifically boring. So do you guys read them? Enjoy them even? Or do you just skip passed it?
by letsflyawayyy
38 Comments
I’ll go back and read them at the end. Starting right when the story does just gets me more involved instead of looking at it through a lens. I also hate introductions from other authors. Let me hear it straight from the horse’s mouth first!
I often start them, and if it doesn’t seem interesting at first, I skip it. Sometimes I go back and read it later. A few are really interesting, but most read like they were written because the publisher insisted on it.
As a rule of thumb, if the preface is not by the author, then skip it. Way too often, there are spoilers there. When you finish the book, you can go back and read the preface if you are interested. The same goes if the preface is by the author but for a later edition.
Even if there are not spoilers, I generally don’t like to read a lengthy piece discussing why the book is so wonderful when I haven’t even read the book. Afterwards, however, if I liked the book, it can be nice reading a bit more about it.
I never read them and I feel no shame.
Seems weird not to read a preface. I find them informative and interesting to read for the most part, though it’s obviously dependent on the writing. I really like reading *about* the book I’m reading and will seek out as much information as I can. A preface or introduction only makes it easier for me.
Hell, no. I always read them after I’ve finished the book. Page one is where the author wants me to start. Why bother with something tacked on later?
If I read them at all, I read them AFTER I’ve finished the book. Too many intros and prefaces give away parts of the book, especially in a reprint.
I’m all about the epilogue
I used to skip them and find them boring when I was younger, but as I get older I find myself really enjoying them. It is all about preference, though — if you don’t like them, don’t read it!
Oof no, too many spoilers. Read it at the end for extra insight. Only exception is audiobooks, because I’m too dumb to figure out how to skip them.
no never
Ok, my boyfriend yells at me for this, but I never, ever read the *preface, foreward, afterward, epilogue, prologue,* etc… If it’s integral to the story, it will be in the story. To me, that’s cheating. If you can’t work it into the entirety of the book, then you don’t get to sneak it in another way. And I don’t care about what other authors have to say about it. When I read reviews of books, they are about the books. Somehow I don’t think the *epilogue* was the swaying force that made the reviewer give a good review.
I generally agree, except for the preface to Don Quixote. Which is about how the author didn’t want to write a preface for the book.
Me, never. My sister reads everything, even the publisher’s page with ISBN and so forth.
If it’s not written by the author i don’t bother. If it is, I tend to read it after the book, to avoid spoiling anything, and to get a feel for the author’s personality first. They’re often good about avoiding spoilers, but not always. Or they’ll mention things that aren’t sploilers, but are still more fun to have revealed durung the story.
And generally speaking, they’ll discuss the themes for the book, what is about, what events and inspiration lead to them writing it, etc. That doesn’t mean as much when you have no idea what the book or main character is about, and I don’t like seeing up expectations of theme or symbolism prior to a book.
Good authors make them worth reading, but I do prefer to wait.
The preface to *Ender’s Game* would be a great example.
Edit:
>***Preface***
>It makes me a little uncomfortable, writing an introduction to Ender’s Game. After all, the book has been in print for six years now, and in all that time, nobody has ever written to me to say, “You know, Ender’s Game was a pretty good book, but you know what it really needs? An introduction!” And yet when a novel goes back to print for a new hardcover edition, there ought to be something new in it to mark the occasion (something besides the minor changes as I fix the errors and internal contradictions and stylistic excesses that have bothered me ever since the novel first appeared). So be assured—the novel stands on its own, and if you skip this intro and go straight to the story, I not only won’t stand in your way, I’ll even agree with you!
>…
I always skip the preface and the foreword unless I have read the book before.
I was about to ask the same question. I’m trying to figure out a “rule” to know beforehand if the preface is worth reading. It seems that sometimes it’s mind blowing and some others is so boring that’s looks like it was put there to justify the price of the book.
The one book that I’ve found to have a preface that you *definitely* should read *before* the rest of the book is the Princess Bride. This is where the author really sets up the “meta” story line that is referenced throughout the book in his “abridging” notes.
I may give it a paragraph or two to decide whether it’s best read before or after. Generally it’s after. An introduction is part of the main text, but a preface is not; it’s more of a behind-the-scenes section. It may be useful for analysis or for understanding the artist’s intent and technique, but it’s not part of the story. Similar things exist in other media, like director’s commentary, an artist’s statement, or the first 30% of any YouTube video.
I can’t stand them. Sometimes I’ll read a bit but usually it’s mind numbingly boring and I skip it.
As it stands, I usually find that there is only a preface on books that are part of the “classic” canon; books that are internationally celebrated or are considered to be of outstanding quality or socially important.
So I think the reason that the preface is there is because a large(r) percentage is already familiar with the narrative, but won’t have heard the thoughts of the author of the preface, so they put that first.
Plus, if you *aren’t*, it’s nice and easy to just skip to where the numerals stop and the numbers start
I skip it initially, then if I like the book I got something to look at when I’m done with it. And if I don’t I don’t really need the preface anyway.
I read the preface for nonfiction books, but I skip the preface for fiction. Too many prefaces/ introductions/ translator’s notes have spoilers in them 🙁
I had a professor in college who specifically told our class not to read the prefaces for any of our books. He said, “Some of them are useless and some are worse.” I took it to heart and typically don’t read them, _unless_ I’m re-reading a new edition of an old favorite and there’s a new preface by the author.
I never, never, never read a preface or introduction until I’ve finished the book. Indeed, some recent books I’ve read had instructions in the introductions “not to read until you’ve finished the book”.
I’ll usually read it after I’m done reading? It might be weird, but I really enjoy seeing an author’s thoughts after reading the book lol.
Prepared for some hate here, but…
I read the preface to Ender’s Game. The whole thing was how OSC was abused for being different, how he knew he was better and smarter, and just how great he was.
Then, reading the book, I realized how the story was just about how he viewed himself, and it ruined the whole thing.
I’ve always read the preface and I’ve never enjoyed it.
I only read the preface/introduction/etc on Shakespeare scripts. It helps. But I never read it otherwise
I’ll read it unless it’s a poem.
Strangely enough I absolutely love reading prefaces. I also enjoy reading the acknowledgment and/or author’s notes typically found at the end of the book as well.
I have rarely had a book spoiled for me by the content of the preface. The only times in which this occurred have been when the preface happens to be written by someone other than the author, and typically for “classics” where the writer of the preface is a scholar. These scholarly prefaces tend to be rather boring unless I am feeling particularly scholarly, which I do on occasion.
Most prefaces written by the author themselves tend to focus on the writing of the book or their memories of that time in their life and what led to the idea in the first place and I totally dig that.
I agree with the other comments who say they start reading them but don’t often finish them. It depends on the genre of book usually. I will often read them for sci-fi or fantasy books in case they give extra information about the world that’s important but not imperative to the story like with Lord of the Rings. I’ll read the prefaces of non-fiction after I’m done the book.
No I don’t read it, shouldn’t need to if the author has done their job properly.
Sometimes introductions warn you when important plot details are being discussed, but as a rule I generally skip them and read them later if I feel like it. I bought/borrowed this book to read it, not what someone else thinks about it. However, if you really enjoy the book and the author introductions can give you extra insight and history.
I don’t know, I guess it depends what kind of books you read. I find the preface or introduction more enjoyable than the whole book a lot of the time. Every once in a while I’ll read an introduction that touches on the best parts of the book and I’ll feel sort of cheated out of the experience because I was looking for more the whole time, but I know a lot of people who skip the intro/outro who missed out on some really tasty tidbits, so.
Yes. I’ve personally never had anything spoiled since generally the prefaces are in non-fiction books and most of the time I already know some of the history about what I’m reading. Skipping epilogues or acknowledgements are honestly disrespectful (to me personally,) and I don’t, because a ton of work and effort was put into it, especially if it’s research-heavy. That’s years of traveling, translating, interviewing, compiling, writing, editing, etc and the effort of so many people I will at least take the time to take a look.
I always read Stephen King’s foreword because I like the informal and conversant way he writes them. Sometimes he peppers it with funny stories like this: An old woman approached Stephen King in a supermarket and said “You are the horror writer. I don’t read anything that you do. I just like things more genuine, like that Shawshank Redemption.” He said, “I wrote that”. And she said, “No you didn’t”. And she walked off and went on her way.
I usually do to better understand the book or the author.