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entropynchaos t1_j4zbqdb wrote

Reply to comment by _mister_pink_ in What is the point of spoiling the plot of a book in its preface?? by DontNotNotReadThis

Because Agatha Christie’s works are everywhere, in book form, film, television show, and theatre. It is expected that the average reader will already know the plot when reading. (And there was a study done, that showed people enjoyed reading a story more when they knew what was going to happen, even if they thought they wouldn’t. I’ll have to see if I can find it.)

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_mister_pink_ t1_j4zc9z6 wrote

I’d have to see something to back that up but I would assume that on average when a copy of crooked house is being read that it’s being read for the first time.

I only got into Christie 3 years ago and have been making my way through her catalogue.

I don’t think it’s a problem having these discussions by the publisher in the book but if they could be at the end or even just mention ‘this foreword spoils the ending of the book, read with that in mind’ it wouldn’t take any more effort.

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entropynchaos t1_j50m2u1 wrote

I haven’t had a chance yet today, but I will look for the study.

I’ve read Christie’s books multiple times. My enjoyment of books doesn’t come from not knowing but from good writing, cleverness, plot, characterization, world-building, etc. It would never occur to me that people reading Christie, who first published in 1920, would have no knowledge of what the plots of her books were, even if they hadn’t been actively interested in her works before reading. She is discussed in secondary schools and universities, she is part of some reading curriculums. She is discussed when other mystery writers are discussed. The expectation exists that one does not have to warn against plot points for novels published 46 to 102 years ago.

I was an editor. Typically, books that are older are considered already “spoiled”. They’ve been out for years, and the information on what happens in them is widely available in critiques, literary, newspaper, and magazine reviews, internet content, radio plays of the past, television, films, and plays, so there is considered no reason to try to keep spoilers out of forwards and such, and no reason for a warning, since consumers should have the expectation that information that has already been revealed in multiple ways in multiple places could also be covered in this place. Book backs and inside blurbs also often give the outcome on editions that were published years ago. One was just shown of Pride and Prejudice on a different sub I’m on.

I think it’s an unreasonable expectation that the rest of the world contain spoilers on older books. I try hard in personal reviews to hide or not give away spoilers on new books, because one can still read those without having major plot points or spoilers revealed; but there can be no such expectation in older works.

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Sleightholme2 t1_j50y08q wrote

It is very easy not to know the plot of every one of Christie's books. While some are well-known and have big adaptions (i.e. Murder On The Orient Express) there are plenty that are less read. She wrote 74 novels, plus short stories and plays. Most people will not know all of them. I have 30 in my house, but that still leaves plenty to go.

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entropynchaos t1_j51j4qo wrote

I am probably not the right audience (that is completely the wrong word; my brain feels like mush today). I had collected everything Christie wrote by the time I was 14. I was suuuper into mystery when I was 13-14, so I know I am more aware of her novels than most. But I was also thinking of adaptations in regular tv shows where a single episode will have been jumped off a plot (of many authors, not just Christie), and the fact that Christie, especially, is mentioned everywhere. There are recent French adaptations of her novels on prime right now.

I may just be more involved in reading about the books and authors I’m interested in than many? It would be atypical for me not to know at least the basic life history, novels published and when, and their plots of any author I pick up. I’ll typically look up even the authors and their publications of even the fluffiest fluff I read. I do this for tv shows, too, so I typically know if an individual episode is based on a book or short story or film, even if it’s one I’m not familiar with.

Edit to split a paragraph so it wasn’t just a wall of text.

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Sleightholme2 t1_j51l0gi wrote

I think you are more interested in reading about the book and author then many. I am the complete opposite, and prefer to know nothing about the author other than what they wrote.

As for general knowledge of Christe, I expect most people to have heard of her, and perhaps seen an adaption of some of her works, but that does not translate into having read all about all of them. As OP says, it would be fine having more information at the end rather than the front. For every reader is will be their first time once, and they would probably prefer to not be spoiled that time.

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