Do spoilers really "ruin" things? Or make things more interesting?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 168777

Ken wrote:
<snip>
> 
> Spoilers spoil nothing for me. If a work is worth reading I will
read it several times and the last time will be as satisfying as the
first. I suppose that attitude is partly due to my nature and comes in
part from the fact that I read a lot of history. Generally you know
the outcome of the latter long before you start reading! 
> 
> I don't enjoy being tricked by an author, I do enjoy figuring out
the tricks in advance.
> 
> Like you I believe she sells herself short as an author. I can find
> plenty to criticize but every time I reread Harry Potter (as I am
> doing now like most of you, I expect) I am impressed anew by how
> delightfully she writes on balance. It simply doesn't matter that I
> already know the conclusions.
> 
> Ken
>
Carol responds:
Nevertheless, for some readers, possibly the majority, spoilers do
diminish the pleasure, and for that reason, it's a discourtesy to
provide them. (Think about first-time viewers of "Return of the Jedi"
who heard people coming out of the theater saying that Darth Vader is
Luke Skywalker's father. Oops. There goes the climax of the film.)
Nothing will ever duplicate my first reading of LOTR when I was
fifteen. I immediately reread it, understanding many things that I'd
missed or misunderstood the first time around, but what I felt
encountering the sheer beauty and terror and pathos of the Mount Doom
scene for the first time could never be replicated. And if anyone had
told me what was going to happen, that scene would never have had the
same impact.

For me, a good book is like a Christmas present. Even as a longtime
adult, I like to be surprised. I enjoy the anticipation and the
unwrapping as much as (and sometimes more than) the gift itself. When
my sister and I were little girls, she always peeked at the Christmas
presents, including mine(!), carefully peeling back the tape and
lifting a corner of the wrapping to see what was underneath. For me,
peeking at the presents would have spoiled Christmas. I didn't even
want to know what *her* presents were, let alone mine. I don't know
what I would have done if she had ever told me what I was getting, but
fortunately for both of us, she respected my wishes and let me be
surprised.

I *absolutely* *do* **not** want to know in advance who dies in DH,
much less any revelations involving Snape. I understand that some
people don't care about being surprised, but those of us who enjoy the
suspense, who will be on pins and needles to see not only what happens
to whom but how it happens, deserve to have our desires respected.

Fortunately for me and those like me, there's a waiting period before
anyone can post about DH and a specific policy regarding spoilers. 

I'm with JKR on this. It's a discourtesy not only to other readers but
to her to disregard her wishes by publicizing what happens in the
books before others have had a chance to read them. Anyone who wants
spoilers can find them somewhere on the Internet. Me, I don't want
them and will be exceedingly unhappy with anyone who fails to respect
my wishes in that regard.

Carol, who wants to find out for herself what happens and experience
the thrill of reading the last HP book with only her own hopes and
guesses to guide her