tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1766637615653605306.post3021081242675191355..comments2024-02-09T17:38:25.502-07:00Comments on Classics and Beyond: The Classics Club: ForewordsAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14777243283548102053noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1766637615653605306.post-28809975149746516772013-09-04T19:54:32.528-06:002013-09-04T19:54:32.528-06:00That's great! I actually usually read foreword...That's great! I actually usually read forewords when they're by the author; they're often entertaining or at least fascinating. One great example is The Scarlet Letter. The preface (or whatever it's called) is almost essential to the book itself. It's this intricate story about how Hawthorne found discovered an historical account about Hester and everything...but of course, the book is a novel. Kind of funny. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14777243283548102053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1766637615653605306.post-21588636527258103662013-09-04T19:52:00.664-06:002013-09-04T19:52:00.664-06:00I always think, when I read a new book, that I'...I always think, when I read a new book, that I'll go back and read the introduction afterwards. And then I never do. (See reason #1). But I do think I would benefit from it. So, maybe someday. (Maybe after I've spent four years of college reading literary criticism, I'll come to really enjoy it...)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14777243283548102053noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1766637615653605306.post-61269105800543379882013-09-04T01:56:33.463-06:002013-09-04T01:56:33.463-06:00This just reminded me that I want to read the intr...This just reminded me that I want to read the introduction to Ender's Game! I checked the "Author's Definitive Edition" out of the library, and I tried to read the introduction, but it wasn't interesting to me since I hadn't read the book. The funny thing is that Orson Scott Card didn't want to write the introduction. You know, I can't paraphrase any better than the way he said it, so I'm going to quote most of the first paragraph of the introduction.<br /><br />"It makes me a little uncomfortable, writing an introduction to Ender's Game. After all, the book has been in print for six years now, and in all that time, nobody has ever written to me to say, 'You know, Ender's Game was a pretty good book, but you know what it really needs? An introduction!' And yet when a novel goes back to print for a new hardcover edition, there ought to be something in it to mark the occasion... So be assured - the novel stands on its own, and if you skip this intro and go straight to the story, I not only won't stand in your way, I'll even agree with you!"<br /><br />So anyway, after reading that, I felt free to skip the introduction. But now that I've read the book, I want to go back and read it. You're right, they should put it at the end! At least this introduction was actually written by the author.Carriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10038597347405251733noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1766637615653605306.post-48570291925037418602013-08-30T15:10:38.729-06:002013-08-30T15:10:38.729-06:00I tend to read forwards IF I've read the book ...I tend to read forwards IF I've read the book before and IF they're interesting. If I'm bored, I move on. Sometimes I read them after I've read the book. I find them usually instructive, often interesting, and occasionally enlightening. Hamlette (Rachel)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11961916847426233995noreply@blogger.com