/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.17386918]

Do you read the introduction of a book or skip it?

I skip it because it usually comes with spoilers and I don't like it.

[Anonymous No.17386935]

>>17386918
>reading Our Lady of the Flowers
>Intro by Sartre is fucking 110 pages

[Anonymous No.17386942]

>>17386918
if it's more than 5 pages im skipping

[Anonymous No.17386958]

if it's fiction, skip it and return later (or not at all)
if it's non-fiction, skim it and return periodically to sections that are relevant to your current reading

[Anonymous No.17386960]

>>17386918
I only read forewords by the authors themselves

[Anonymous No.17386969]

>>17386918
I usually read it, but I tend to skip it when it's been written by a woman because in those cases it's just a collection of personal opinions and experiences and doesn't really introduce you to the text

[Anonymous No.17386991]

>>17386918
don't even look at that shit.

[Anonymous No.17386993]

>>17386918
If it's a translation, I always look at the translator's preface to see if there's anything tricky to look out for. Other than that, not usually.

[Anonymous No.17386994]

>introduction is written by a woman
>she makes everything about herself and her personal opinion

[Anonymous No.17387863]

>>17386993
>reading translator's not to Grimmelhausen's Simplicius Simplicissimus
>"I cut out large swathes of passages because Grimmelhausen was obsessed with showing off his erudition. Many of these passages were simply tools for Grimmelhausen to show off his vast knowledge and served no other narrative purpose. I felt this laborious passages would detract from the story and torment the modern reader."

[Anonymous No.17388008]

>>17386918
Often the introduction is only there so the book has some semblance of copyright protection. So I skip.

[Anonymous No.17388019]

>>17386918
Yeah fuck intros unless it's a nonfiction book. They ruin the story every time.

[Anonymous No.17388023]

9/10 the introduction is more interesting than the book for me. having all the themes and ideas laid out and the problems. when i actually go ahead and read it, it feels mundane and boring. think i should read more literary criticism tbqh

[Anonymous No.17388051]

>>17386994
Margaret Atwood's introduction to Brave New World is exactly like this. There was also an introduction before that in the same edition written by a male Oxford professor that was actually insightful.

[Anonymous No.17388086]

>>17386958
This, basically. It obviously depends on what I'm reading and why I'm reading it.

[Anonymous No.17388537]

>>17386918
Same here OP. Sometimes I tell myself I'll read it after I finish the book but I usually don't

[Anonymous No.17389867]

>>17386918
I MIGHT if it's a dense historical or philosophical text. Never for fiction.

[Anonymous No.17390337]

>>17387863
You fucked up

[Anonymous No.17390351]

>>17386960
Based