Make a decision for me

[UglyMonsterFace]

So before ACNH came out, I was on a comic book reading kick. I was in the middle of reading Watchmen (which I loved) but as soon as ACNH came out, I neglected it in favour of 16 hour binges with my little animal friends. Now I have a problem. I have been craving to read again, but my roadblock is the fact that I no longer have any idea what is going on in the story so I feel as though just picking up where I left off will affect my enjoyment of the story and the impact it might have later on. But I am also too lazy to start from the beginning because I am already halfway through it, and I also have sooo many other books I want to read next! But I feel like that's how I'll get the most out of the story.

I am so indecisive and I can't get past this roadblock of what to do. So I will give you guys the power to make the decision for me. Should I start over from the beginning to get the most out of the story? Or should I pick up where I left off and take my chances with the little bits and pieces I have in my memory and hope it has little to no effect on my enjoyment?

From your indecisive forum friend,
Ugly.

Thank you, xoxo

 

[Midoriya]

I voted for start from the beginning. I had a similar problem recently where I was basically finished with Pokemon Shield, but didn’t want to finish it. I didn’t know if I should just switch my team out and finish it or start from the beginning. I decided to go with from the beginning because it would allow me to get all the items and everything I want and need for my trainer as well as rack up as much in-game currency as I want without being restricted or anything.

Similarly, if you start from the beginning with what you’re reading then you’ll be able to notice the little details and things you may have missed before, and that + just reading everything over again will enhance your experience and give you better enjoyment out of the whole thing. Plus you’ll just have a better understanding of everything that happened. It’s the same thing with anime for me tbh. Even if I’ve seen bits and pieces of a show before, I go back and watch the full thing so that I can experience it in its entirety.

Ultimately the decision is not mine to make, but that’s just my two cents.

 

[Reginald Fairfield]

So before ACNH came out, I was on a comic book reading kick. I was in the middle of reading Watchmen (which I loved) but as soon as ACNH came out, I neglected it in favour of 16 hour binges with my little animal friends. Now I have a problem. I have been craving to read again, but my roadblock is the fact that I no longer have any idea what is going on in the story so I feel as though just picking up where I left off will affect my enjoyment of the story and the impact it might have later on. But I am also too lazy to start from the beginning because I am already halfway through it, and I also have sooo many other books I want to read next! But I feel like that's how I'll get the most out of the story.

I am so indecisive and I can't get past this roadblock of what to do. So I will give you guys the power to make the decision for me. Should I start over from the beginning to get the most out of the story? Or should I pick up where I left off and take my chances with the little bits and pieces I have in my memory and hope it has little to no effect on my enjoyment?

From your indecisive forum friend,
Ugly.

Thank you, xoxo

I vote finish where you left off, depending on how invested you are, or move on. I'm not completely sold on the Watchmen. While not the same, I'm watching Community from the beginning since I've just seen random episodes. At least until a certain character leaves.

 

[JellyBeans]

personally I'd go for finish where you left off - I tend to do a similar thing with regular books or TV shows where I leave it so long I forget what's happened before, but I've committed too much to go back and restart. perhaps skim through the first half, but don't commit to fully reading it - you might be surprised at how much you remember once you get back into it

 

[Xara]

hm. this is a bit of a tough one but i’m gonna suggest a couple other potential options if that’s cool . you mention that there’s other books that you’d like to begin reading so maybe you could focus on getting through those first and once that’s done, see if you’re any more willing to start at the beginning as personally, i feel like it’ll be hard to follow along if you can’t remember what’s happened aha. or as a quicker option, you could always google the book and find a general overview of what you’ve read so far to try and jog your memory a bit.

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

hm. this is a bit of a tough one but i’m gonna suggest a couple other potential options if that’s cool . you mention that there’s other books that you’d like to begin reading so maybe you could focus on getting through those first and once that’s done, see if you’re any more willing to start at the beginning as personally, i feel like it’ll be hard to follow along if you can’t remember what’s happened aha. or as a quicker option, you could always google the book and find a general overview of what you’ve read so far to try and jog your memory a bit.

These are actually really good alternative suggestions! I've actually considered both. However, I have some strange ocd tendencies (not actual ocd, but just behavioural elements of it) when things have to be done in a specific order or a specific way, otherwise I fixate on the fact that I didn't do something "perfectly" and it kinda ruins a lot of things for me. So it might make me dislike the book I read instead because I feel like I ruined the order I had to read it in, or that I'll never return to read Watchmen because I feel like I abandoned it and can't go back. It's a very strange problem of mine, and one that I've had since childhood unfortunately. It might seem dumb (and it is), but it's just how my brain decided to wire itself lol. Although logically speaking, you make a very sound argument. If I can't come to a decision between my given choices, I might have to try it your way and read something else first and just hope that my brain doesn't sabotage my experience in this manner.

 

[Kaiaa]

You could always start over, or just skim over the past chapters if you want to get a recap of what has happened up to the point to where you are now. Either way, if it's as good as you say it is, it would be a joy to reread it anyway if that's what you choose.

 

[Corrie]

Start from the beginning! You said you not knowing what's going on would impact your enjoyment of the story. That's not good! I'd start over and enjoy!

 

[-Lumi-]

I voted for start from the beginning.

I love to read books! I really do. But I am the absolute worst at finishing books. A lot of the time I’ll be reading two (one on my e reader and one physical), coupled with playing a video game or other hobbies and sometimes reading will get put on the backburner.

I find especially when other hobbies also have story telling involved (games, movies, tv shows, etc.) it’s useful to start from the beginning otherwise my brain will get really foggy regarding some details. I’ll have had all these other storylines take place in my head that even if I vaguely remember the book I was reading I’ll find I actually forgot a lot of small details. Or was mis-remembering and sometimes I’ll merge stories

It can be a total pain sometimes. Like being 500 pages into Way of Kings :’) if I’m far into a big book sometimes I’ll just read the last few recent chapters vs start from the beginning because sometimes that’s enough to jog my memory and be like, “right! I’m reading this story!”

Either way good luck with deciding! I hate making decisions too so hopefully this thread helps you

 

[buny]

i had the same thing happen to me with One Piece! i started reading from the beginning and i was surprised to see how many important details i had forgot, so i definitely suggest that since it worked better for me, it might be the better choice for you as well ^^

 

[k e r f u f f l e]

I think you ought to start where you left off! You’ll probably find that getting back into the story won’t be too difficult, and the rest will flow back into memory.

But in the end, just go with you gut!

 

[Imbri]

If it were me, I would start over. Doing so will refresh your memory and you may pick up other things that you sort of missed when seeing it new (one of the reasons I enjoy rereading books - there's always something I didn't notice before). If it does seem terribly familiar to you, you can skim, so it won't take too long to catch up to the new material.

 

[Foreverfox]

I picked pick up from where you left off. I've done this before with reading and I find that I'm surprised how much of the story I actually remember when I get going again. If you don't settle into the story again a chapter or two in, you could always make another decision to start over too, but at least you'll have tried. Then you won't have to question whether or not you needed to start over. Also, it sounds like you really don't want to start over, so don't! I think it'll be fine.

 

[Halloqueen]

Whenever I leave something story-driven unfinished and return to it after long enough a time to have forgotten details of where I was, what was happening, what led up to it, etc. I always just restart, so that's what I would recommend. I can't really speak to the alternative though, since it would bug me too much to not restart, so it's something I don't have that much experience with to pull from. For my part, I just figure the experience of going through the material from start to finish would be more enjoyable and fulfilling, and lowers the risk of possibly overlooking a particular plot point or something of the sort that might have slipped through the cracks of your memory even if you understand the premise of the story up to that point.

 

[daringred_]

if you genuinely no longer have any clue what's happening in the story then the obvious answer is to restart. otherwise you might continue, reach a further point that leaves you confused, and then have to restart anyway after already having wasted time by continuing. if the idea of restarting puts you off because you have other things you want to read, maybe move watchmen further down the list and restart it after you've gotten through some other things you might be more interested in.

 

[Foreverfox]

if you genuinely no longer have any clue what's happening in the story then the obvious answer is to restart. otherwise you might continue, reach a further point that leaves you confused, and then have to restart anyway after already having wasted time by continuing. if the idea of restarting puts you off because you have other things you want to read, maybe move watchmen further down the list and restart it after you've gotten through some other things you might be more interested in.

This...is actually a really good idea. Moving it further down and restarting later, if you don't have absolutely any idea of what's going on anymore.

 

[UglyMonsterFace]

Thank you everyone for all your input! All of these were good points and ideas and definitely helped me out. I'm going to go with the poll winner of starting over from the beginning! I know I was very hesitant to do this but it helps knowing that a lot of you usually would start over and you get more enjoyment out of it . And besides, if I enjoyed it the first time around, I'm sure it'll also be enjoyable the second time around. Thank you all you wonderful helpful humans, for helping make this very unimportant but important decision for me ^_^

 

[Antonio]

Gurl, start over and experience the beginning a 2nd time.

 

[Bcat]

Start from the beginning! It’s easy to forget a lot of details when you do t read something for a while. Starting over will keep them fresh in your mind

 

[amemome]

Maybe a fusion read if you happened to be pressed for time? If there are summaries of the plot, maybe you can read those until you've "caught up" to where you last left off. If there aren't those available or if you have a lot of time to really dedicate yourself to reading, I think reading again from the beginning is the better choice!