Snoqualmie

don't kid yourself, giving page numbers IS A SPOILER.

i saw the intro on the main CH page of your post and even though i closed the screen as quickly as possible i still had to see your first page reveals. then i cursed your name the entire time i was reading as i got closer and closer to those pages.

What? THAT IS RIDICULOUS. The book was not ruined for you by knowing that there was a page that displeased me. Things that I am displeased by include:

Grammatical errors
Continuity gaps
Stilted dialogue
Heavy-handed metaphor
Deus ex machina

And anyone whose reading experience is lessened by the thought that a given page may contain one or more of these things is bound to have some problems with Harry Potter anyway.

I don't think it ruins the book, but it is a subset of "anything," as in "I don't want to know anything about the book before I read it."

It's only been out a few days now and already I've been through countless iterations of people saying "This isn't a spoiler, but..." and then telling me something about the book which doesn't give away the plot but does give away part of the book. Which I want to just, you know, read, not preview.

Each reveal is small, but they start to add up. Why do people feel it's vital for me to know what they thought of the introduction or whether the ending was or was not satisfying? Why is sharing their opinion more important than my pleading request that they PLEASE STOP TALKING ABOUT IT so I can read it as it is supposed to be read?

I didn't ever request this of you, obviously. This rant is pretty much just about the conversations I have where I cannot convince people to shut up.

On page 705, Malfoy bites off Harry's finger to get the ring.

On page 753, Snape throws Voldemort into the reactor core.

On page 663, Harry lowers Dumbledore slowly into the vat of boiling steel. Matt wins the internet.