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ohboop t1_j6ipb1p wrote

Reply to comment by pm-me-ur-joy in The 10 Inalienable Rights of the Reader by swedish_librarian

I really hate how dismissive people can be of spoilers, especially for old stories. Not just that, people will get annoyed at me, because it's obviously a character flaw of mine for not knowing everything already. I understand, some things have been out for hundreds of years, but I haven't been alive and cognizant of the world for that whole time, or had the time to consume every piece of entertainment people consider essential in this day and age, just let me experience an old fucking story without your stupid ass spoiler.

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ArmadilloFour t1_j6jbu32 wrote

I mean, are you complaining about spoilers in 100+ year old novels like Jane Eyre or some shit? I get that having an unspoiled story is nice but if that's the case then you really cannot expect all of society to just stop discussing pretty widely disseminated stories just because you haven't gotten there yet.

(Obvi does not apply to spoiling recent works.)

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ohboop t1_j6jhzj6 wrote

>you really cannot expect all of society to just stop discussing pretty widely disseminated stories just because you haven't gotten there yet.

I didn't mention all of society in my comment, so I'm not sure how they all got involved here? I don't enjoy being spoiled in conversation with other individuals, and I also don't like it when people "defend" their spoiling me just because the story is old...I never said I expected anything of anyone, rather stated my preference for not being spoiled, and frustration at people dismissing my feelings about it just because a book is old.

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ArmadilloFour t1_j6jj4qr wrote

So wait, are you just talking about having one-on-one convos about The Age of Innocence (or whatever) and having the person you're talking to be the one to go, "Boy wait until you get to the part where..."?

Because if so then yeah, that's a pretty shitty move. I thought you were just broadly complaining about the general statute of limitations for spoiling classic literature.

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ohboop t1_j6jldb0 wrote

Yep! I've got pretty good habits for avoiding spoilers "in the wild", my biggest source of spoilers come from people casually mentioning the big twist. My least favorite is when I try to stop people, and they insist on finishing their thought anyways because it's "not a spoiler" in their opinion.

It's hard to convey tone over the internet, but this isn't that big of a deal to me. Even if my friends spoil me, I don't hold on to a grudge or anything, it's more of a funny "how could you" moment.

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Misternogo t1_j6kskv9 wrote

They're dismissing your feelings because you're being unreasonable.

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mind_the_umlaut t1_j6jdlcz wrote

My reading friends and I agree that there is a 'statute of limitations' on spoilers. I still insist on secrecy for books 100 years old or younger, but many of them are much more relaxed about it. After all, isn't the point of the story HOW they get to the crucial moments? And how their lives are affected afterward?

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Merle8888 t1_j6kg7ag wrote

Why the 100 year mark? I presume you haven’t been alive and reading adult literature for 100 years. There are far newer works that have entered the cultural zeitgeist to the point that it’s hard not to be spoiled just by living in the world (think Harry Potter or Twilight). There are far older works that most people don’t know—I doubt the average person on the street could tell you the major plot points or ending of a single work by George Eliot, let alone, say, George Gissing (perhaps my personal favorite Victorian novelist!).

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mind_the_umlaut t1_j6lox5v wrote

I'm being hyperbolic here, of course I'd better expect and be peaceful with finding out spoilers for Count of Monte Cristo or David Copperfield. I picked 100 years really randomly and for humor purposes. Everything that hits the public domain is free game for open discussion.

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ohboop t1_j6jit0o wrote

>After all, isn't the point of the story HOW they get to the crucial moments?

The point of reading can be whatever people want it to. The point when I read is to be entertained, and I am greatly entertained by subversion of expections, which necessarily goes against being spoiled in most cases.

Luckily for me my friend's ask before starting a conversation with me about literature, so I just ask them not to spoil me and they respect my wishes. If someone takes issue with that...well how weird of them to have strong opinions on me not wanting to be spoiled? Sounds like I'd have a hard time if my friends were like the people on this sub

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Character_Vapor t1_j6nd5bb wrote

>The point of reading can be whatever people want it to.

No, it's the how. At least historically speaking. Spoilerphobia is a modern ailment.

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PreciousRoi t1_j6ke7p4 wrote

Do you mean like actual spoilers, or shit where society expects you to know how A Tale of Two Cities ends? Or what the plot of 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 is about?

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