The ends of stories
Just finished a book, a psychological thriller: Follow You Home by Mark Edwards. Definitely an addicting plot, well crafted, I liked the pacing and the way things were revealed. Only problem, sort of, was the ending. It was logical, appropriate, and fitting -- and it left me with a bad feeling. Kind of an off-kilter feeling. Well, for half a day afterwards it did.
So, when you guys read a novel, what do you want in an ending? Do you feel like a sad ending is often more legit than a happy one? Are you happy with anything as long as it's true to the whole story? Or if something too terrible happens, does it make you wish you hadn't even read the book? If all the loose ends are tied up, however skillfully, is that just too pat? If they're not, does it make you crazy?
Personally, I take it kind of hard when an ending is too desolate or creepy, but I respect it if it's the right ending to a good book. I'm happiest when there is some sort of resolution, even if it costs the characters much.
Apart from when an author tries to force an ending that just doesn't fit, what fries me the most are open-ended stories. I don't mind re-imagining what happened, in my own mind, if I have other ideas. But I don't want to be forced to finish it all myself. I feel cheated.
Most of the time, though, if I make it to the end of a book I find it ends well enough. I've learned to put most of the clunkers down in the early chapters.
This entry was originally posted at http://freshermind.dreamwidth.org/87972.html. Comments cheerfully accepted at either place.
So, when you guys read a novel, what do you want in an ending? Do you feel like a sad ending is often more legit than a happy one? Are you happy with anything as long as it's true to the whole story? Or if something too terrible happens, does it make you wish you hadn't even read the book? If all the loose ends are tied up, however skillfully, is that just too pat? If they're not, does it make you crazy?
Personally, I take it kind of hard when an ending is too desolate or creepy, but I respect it if it's the right ending to a good book. I'm happiest when there is some sort of resolution, even if it costs the characters much.
Apart from when an author tries to force an ending that just doesn't fit, what fries me the most are open-ended stories. I don't mind re-imagining what happened, in my own mind, if I have other ideas. But I don't want to be forced to finish it all myself. I feel cheated.
Most of the time, though, if I make it to the end of a book I find it ends well enough. I've learned to put most of the clunkers down in the early chapters.
This entry was originally posted at http://freshermind.dreamwidth.org/87972.html. Comments cheerfully accepted at either place.