Introduction is it necessary?

An invitation from linkedin allowing me expose the writer within me had brought in a question. Well the question that lingered in my mind was what should be the first post about. As with every creative thought process I detached myself from the thought process and went on with my usual business.

My day job required me to re-open a terse technical book that I started a while ago and dropped off. The first thing I did was to open the book and read the Introduction. Then it struck me that it has been my reading pattern that I always open up and read the introduction of any book I read. This is despite the fact it is for the first time or the nth time after a break.

The introduction to a book says many things. In some books it lets the readers know how the information flows and how the chapters are organised. The introduction of technical books are a bit different. They always pack a lot of information to set a context to the reader. Also they invariably attempt to describe who the intended audiences are, what should be the prerequisites to read the rest of the content.

Now coming to the relevance, an introduction serves as a sales pitch of the author about the book in few pages. It conveys directly and indirectly a lot of information about the book. Often the introduction is a key factor in making a buying decision. My personal feeling is that it is better than tons of reviews people write about a book. Also it is a yard stick with which we can decide about a fairly new or a budding author.

Introduction is necessary for a book and it is all the more important for readers to read through it. Next time when you open a book spare a few precious minutes to go over the introduction even though the restlessness to skip it is over-powering.

Happy Reading!