So, part of the Classics Club deal involves responding to monthly memes. The question for August, 2013 is: “Do you read forewords/notes that precede many classics? Does it help you or hurt you in your enjoyment/understanding of the work?”
Not to be all nerdy or anything (oh, who am I kidding?) but yes, I do read the forewords or introductions for many of the classics that I tackle. Not all, but many. If it’s a re-read, or a classic that I think I can appreciate and enjoy without much help, I might skip the introductory words altogether or read them later as desired. But with most classics, I find that reading the introduction helps me to catch more references, understand the text better, and get more jokes, and I consider that a valid trade-off for the occasional spoiler. And if it’s a very old, very long, very obscure, or Russian book, I consider the introduction mandatory. I won’t lie – reading the introductions, especially looooooong ones, can slow me down and occasionally I start skimming or quit the intro and skip right to the book. But I at least give the introduction a shot most of the time, because I do find that it helps me personally appreciate a classic work more than I otherwise would.
Your turn: do you read the introduction before starting Chapter One of a classic?
covered in flour 
I do if the book is shorter, or if I have heard that the introduction/whatever-they-want-to-call-it is really good or interesting. But if the classic is long, I’ll skip it or skim it.
I’m kind of the opposite – the longer the book, the more likely I’ll read the intro. I think it will help me more (might be wrong about that, but it’s the idea I have). I read the entire 125 page introduction to The Decameron, and it was totally worth it in my opinion – I caught so many more jokes and references thanks to putting in the time up front!
Interesting theory! Maybe I’ll try that next time!