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My dad was reading Game of Thrones and got to a shocking spoiler at the end of book 1 (you can guess which one). He told me he stopped reading the series right
by msg 15y ago
My dad was reading Game of Thrones and got to a shocking spoiler at the end of book 1 (you can guess which one). He told me he stopped reading the series right there. He probably wouldn't even have begun reading if he knew beforehand.
He reads a lot in the genre and he just couldn't take what GRR dished out.
I thought it was a brilliant move and I certainly would have been sad to know it was coming. When an author is reversing tropes and dumbfounding your expectations, when you're suspended between possible outcomes and don't know what's going to happen next, that's the golden time in reading.
- killerswan 15y agoHow was something written in the book a spoiler when you're reading the pages in order?
- gwern 15y agoThe spoiler wasn't for his father, it would have been for him: > I thought it was a brilliant move and I certainly would have been sad to know it was coming. When an author is reversing tropes and dumbfounding your expectations, when you're suspended between possible outcomes and don't know what's going to happen next, that's the golden time in reading. "My pleasure would have been reduced to know about the spoiler in advance."
- msg 15y agoCorrect. Sorry if I was obtuse. Neither my father nor I knew about the "shocking event" before reading it. I would call this a spoiler (certainly I would encase it in a spoiler warning before mentioning it online) but I guess you can argue about whether it's really a spoiler if it wasn't actually spoiled for anyone in the story. For similar reasons I do not hesitate to say "John was walking across the street when he was hit by a car." As it turned out, John was walking to the middle of the street when he was hit by a car, but from his point of view he was engaged in a very different activity. I have another story on the same lines. About 18 months ago a friend was giving a presentation on a new software module at work. We were waiting for supervisors to arrive and to pass the time, I showed everyone that I had recently seen the entire Star Wars trilogy (IV, V, VI) uploaded to Youtube in ten minute increments. In the course of this, the friend giving the presentation mentioned he had never seen them. He was from China, but also did university in Canada. He watched a lot of anime but wasn't much into Western media. Somewhat at a loss, I made him promise to watch them that weekend. He did, but right before he started his talk someone else asked about it and he said, "I am your father." That, friends, is a real tragedy of spoiling and I defy anyone to defend it. Postscript, my friend did actually watch all the movies that weekend, but he said they didn't hold up well. He watched an extremely suspect order though, something like 4, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6.
- Shorel 15y agoThat was no spoiler at all, however it was so shocking when I read it that all of the second book was read with the anticipation of literary pain.
- parfe 15y agoI saw the HBO series before reading the books (miway into book 3). Knowing the ending of book 1 definitely changed the way I read it and what I got out of it. Knowing the character was so innocent/hopeless made me feel sorry for him rather than associate with him being the hero. If I hadn't known what was coming I probably would have been disappointed, confused and annoyed with the book. I also wold have been paying attention to the wrong details. And even now I'm avoiding spoiling the story.
- klbarry 15y agoMy favorite thing about A Song of Ice and Fire is that the author could literally do anything. In Harry Potter, you know the main three won't die. Forget about what GRRM does in books 2-5...