Next time I start reading a book, I’m going to skip the prologue.
I have several books at home that I want to begin reading. Yesterday, during a brief moment with electricity, and while preparing dinner, I decided to start one of them. I began reading the prologue. I don’t do it to follow any rule or suggestion, but because in prologues I almost always find some interesting detail left by the person who wrote it.
Rain of Spoilers
I exaggerate a bit with this subtitle, but thinking it over I believe it’s fair. The book I started is called The Hunchback or Henry of Lagardère. It belongs to Paul Fecal. But in the prologue of the edition I have, they revealed too many details of the story. They tell us there are two people who are enemies of each other. The reason for the dispute is also unveiled. Then they talk about the hunchback and already hint that there will be a revelation of identity in his character that will change the course of events.
Too much information! But in my naïve innocence I moved on to the first chapter, and from the title I realized I already knew what was going to happen in it. I couldn’t skip the first page. But not only because of the spoilers, but due to a combination of them, finishing cooking, and the electricity, which was cut off a few minutes later.
This situation is very similar to the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover,” except that with so much information, I feel I have enough evidence to judge whether I want to consume it or not. Eventually I will finish reading the book. But I feel the expectation is no longer the same.
There’s no mystery. There’s no plot to discover. Unfortunately, from my point of view, they spoiled the author’s work. Perhaps other editions were more accurate and didn’t reveal so much of the material. Or maybe I’m simply the one who’s mistaken, and prologues aren’t meant to be read, or should be left for the end.
I won’t read prologues anymore.
English isn't my native language. Text translated with DeepL