Radosh.net

Not here. In the HuffPo comments section, where I cast a Cruciatus Curse on Rachel Sklar for her freak-out over The New York Times advance review of Deathly Hallows.

Longtime readers will recognize it as an update of a rant I first unveiled before Order of the Phoenix (and adjusted following some valid criticism) about the shallowness of focusing so much attention on Spoiling the Ending. I look forward to the invective sure to come.

Update. I meant to point out that the fact that one-fifth of young readers plan to skip to the end -- essentially spoiling the book for themselves -- kind of proves my point that this obsession with the big reveal is antithetical to the whole purpose of reading books.

And maybe I should add (before you get trigger happy in the comments) that I don't actually want the ending spoiled for me either. I get the pleasure of discovery. Generally, when I know I'm going to read a book or see a movie regardless of what the critics say, I'll avoid reading reviews. Not because there's any big secret to the end of, say, Knocked Up, but because I prefer to go in fresh, without having heard any of the jokes. Hey, I'm watching the first season of Lost on DVD now, and, having managed to avoid reading about it for three years, I'm probably enjoying it more than I would if I knew every twist. But I would never say that newspapers shouldn't publish reviews just because I don't wanna know. Their responsibility is to the news, avoiding the news is my job. And even if I can't, I wouldn't say that knowing the conclusion would spoil all the pleasure of the journey.

Previously:
Why Rowling is half a great writer.

Is Harry gay or just emasculated?

Translating the first Potter book for Americans.

Posted by Daniel Radosh

11:30 AM