21. I wonder …
When you pick up a book and read the first few sentences – the first few words, perhaps – what is it that makes you carry on?
About ten years ago I used to keep a reading diary of every book I picked
up – no critical notes, just the author and title. At that time
I was doing quite a lot of reviewing – fiction and non-fiction
– so my choices were not dictated by my own tastes. My reading
diary veered drunkenly from historical sagas to slim literary volumes,
from post-Marxist analysis to the battle for stewardship of Darwin's
legacy.
Whatever the subject matter or context, the most successful books were
those which, on each page, made me wonder:
'What next?'
Among those books was an extraordinary account
of a serial killer, a nurse who abused her position of trust to commit
her crimes. I couldn't read it. It was too well written. I couldn't
bear to wonder:
'What next?'
Enjoyment in reading depends, for me, on the ability of the author to make me wonder what will happen next. I like to be led from shadow into light. I love a clear dénouement – that wonderful French word meaning, literally, 'unknotting'.
If you can make your reader wonder: 'What next?' then you have them!
