Spoiler etiquette:
How do you feel about spoilers? In our house, we used to have a “Giving away the ending jar.” Spoil the end of a story and you had to pay. But I have friends who want to know the ending of a book or movie before they open the book or sit down in the theater. What do you think?
lying for a living 
It’s never occurred to me to read the ending of a book prematurely and lessen the enjoyment and suspense. However, when I poll my students every year, about a third of them say they regularly read book endings, claiming they like to see how the author is going to develop the plot towards that ending. As teens, maybe they’re fibbing and just have poor impulse control? I try in vain, practically extracting blood from students, to NOT divulge surprise endings for novels we read (e.g. George shoots Lenny in the head! Simon and Piggy die! Baba is Hassan’s biological father!). For films, I loathe having endings spoiled, especially in films like Sixth Sense, Fight Club and The Usual Suspects. Maybe I should walk on the wild side and “cheat” . . . just to see how it feels.
I’m the idiot who asks but then shouts out, “No! Don’t tell me!”
I will admit, when it comes to animals, I tend to want to know immediately if they live or die so I can prepare myself.
Just attended a talk by William Landay about his book, “Defending Jacob.” He had to work hard not to hint at the ending or let audience members ask questions that gave it away. I appreciated it, because I hate knowing the end unless I work to figure it out.
I had the ending to “Saving Private Ryan” spoiled for me by a nun in church!
P.S. I lost the OCD struggle: It’s “Battlestar Galactica.”
I never look at endings intentionally, but I usually don’t mind if someone accidentally lets it slip as most of the time I manage to enjoy it anyway. I definitely avoid telling others, but I have been on the edge quite a few times!
darn. anyone else having a hard time commenting? wordpress is forcing me to log in to comment, and then it lost it.
I mean, it lost the comment. Let me try again….
My knickers get in a twist when someone, such as a reviewer, says “And there’s this great twist at the end. You just don’t see it coming.”
Well, now you do.
Well, if the twist is in your knickers, no wonder you have trouble seeing it.