Oh, yeah, Gatsby. The language makes me shake.
Reynolds, I'm a dangerous-minded man on a ship loaded with hurt. Now, why you got me chatting with your peons?
Womack ,'The Message'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Dana - Mar 10, 2004 5:26:57 pm PST #1215 of 10002
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
Betsy HP - Mar 10, 2004 5:27:27 pm PST #1216 of 10002
If I only had a brain...
Use of Weapons. Completely messes with your head.
Steph L. - Mar 10, 2004 5:28:35 pm PST #1217 of 10002
Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe
I am way too tired tonight to even think about explicating why the endings work.
Hmm -- quick thought -- Kavalier and Clay brings everything full circle, without regressing; rather, the characters have matured, and yet come full circle.
t edit And what Dana said about the language in Gatsby -- it's astonishingly beautiful. And heartbreaking.
DavidS - Mar 10, 2004 5:30:24 pm PST #1218 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I liked the Owen Meany ending because it double-purposed so many things. It was a huge callback/tying up. So many things that functioned perfectly well on their own were revealed to also be foreshadowing the climax.
Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking about. It only requires perfect execution of your themes, and structural integrity to pull this off.
Oh, yeah, Gatsby. The language makes me shake.
Joyce's "The Dead" also achieves a terrible/beautiful lyrical quality in the final passage.
Use of Weapons. Completely messes with your head.
How is this achieved? Did the author cleverly lead you astray or hide something very artfully?
Betsy HP - Mar 10, 2004 5:35:32 pm PST #1219 of 10002
If I only had a brain...
Hmm. Both those phrases make it sound like the author doesn't play fair. He does. All the evidence is there. It's just the single best unreliable narrator I've ever seen outside of Pale Fire.
§ ita § - Mar 10, 2004 5:36:46 pm PST #1220 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
It only requires perfect execution of your themes, and structural integrity to pull this off.
Didn't I say I was a mass-market avoiding snob? I demand no less.
DavidS - Mar 10, 2004 5:37:11 pm PST #1221 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I can see how that would work.
Conversely, I'm willing to take examples of works which are great despite a bad ending. Also, opinions on why they went wrong.
msbelle - Mar 10, 2004 5:37:49 pm PST #1222 of 10002
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb
It's funny, I am generally bad at remembering anything more than whether I liked a story or not, and I have read only a couple of books more than once, so I have forgotten most storylines and structure points altogether.
I can't recall one single book ending that I remember loving. That said, I do know that I liked Geek Love a lot and did not like the ending. That I couldn't deal with The Cider House Rules even having an ending (it should have gone on forever). And that I liked the ending of Mystic River, because it speaks to the story continuing without leaving you saying "But what happens?", like many books do.
It's an interesting thing to think about.
DavidS - Mar 10, 2004 5:38:03 pm PST #1223 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Didn't I say I was a mass-market avoiding snob? I demand no less.
Did I mention my theory on why you find Viggo somewhat disturbing?
§ ita § - Mar 10, 2004 5:41:14 pm PST #1224 of 10002
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Did I mention my theory on why you find Viggo somewhat disturbing?
No, no you've neglected to.
I can't remember other endings. There are books I liked or loved, but Owen Meany was the one where I looked at the ending, and thought about the whole again, without there being any sort of twist.