Spoiler-free searching, for e-readers

Having a sieve-like memory, one thing I like about e-readers is that if you’re reading a novel, and forget, say, a character’s name, you can search on that name for its first appearance, where the character is (usually) properly introduced.

However …

What if, in your search, you inadvertently land on a chapter heading (in initial table of contents) that gives away a crucial future development?

Or, what if, in your search, you inadvertently get a “hit” that is ahead of where you’re at in the text, which also gives away a crucial future development?

These most undesirable outcomes furnish the rationale for my proposal, which I will call “spoiler-free search”. Here’s the idea: The reader would be able to set up parameters, so as to restrict the search “window” as follows:

BEGINNING OF SEARCH WINDOW: Start the search at beginning of the actual narrative. (That would usually be the beginning of Chapter I … after the table of contents, introduction, etc)

END OF SEARCH WINDOW: End the search at the point you have reached in your reading progress.

With the two above restrictions in place, the reader will only get those search “hits” that occur in the part of the book that they have already read. No unwelcome “giveaways”!

Like my idea? Comments welcome. Of course, if you are aware of such a spoiler-free search capability built into any e-reader or e-reading program out there, please let me know.

Buried Treasure

Know that theme (now science fiction, perhaps to be a fact someday) of finding a worm-hole in spacetime, and using it to squirt yourself to some other distant part of the universe?  (Or, to another universe?)  Well, I experience something along these lines — if not quite as exotic — in reading, when I get a pointer to some other writer.  And if I am fond of the original author, the chances are rather good that I will find what is pointed to, to be of interest.

Recent example:  I was immersing myself in Sue Grafton’s latest “alphabet” detective novel, entitled (surprisingly), X.  (Yes, just X.  Not “X is for something”, as has been her pattern for the previous 23 letters of the alphabet.)   I came across this:

You’ll see the Donald Westlake reference.  (Highlighting by me, not by Ms. Grafton!)  To be sure, I had dimly heard of Westlake, but had so far never ventured into his crime novels.  Once done with the Grafton (which was grand, as usual), I decided to do a bit of research on Donald Westlake’s writings.  As often, I went to a Wikipedia article.  The general Westlake entry gave just as much information as I wanted … without any of those terrible “spoilers” which would blithely give away the plot:

I have hightlighted the reference to Westlake’s God Save the Mark.  I decided on this one, both because it garnered that Edgar award, and because it’s a relatively early work.  When possible, I like to go through a writer in (more or less) chronological order.  In case there are any recurring characters or themes in an author’s work, this obviously will help avoid confusion.

Upon starting God Save the Mark, I confess that I was a bit put off by the rather comic tone.  However, I managed to override my perhaps stuffy attitude — being buoyed perhaps by Kinsey Millhone’s interest in Westlake’s output.  (Millhone is, for you benighted non-detective readers, Sue Grafton’s female private eye.)  I am glad that I stayed with the Westlake work!  Beneath its jokey exterior can be found the sturdy framework of a well-plotted crime novel.  I am looking forward to reading more of his books down the road.  And who knows … perhaps there too will be lurking a literary worm-hole, which will shoot me into yet another reading universe.

Just Wilde about Oscar

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”

— Oscar Wilde