Friday, July 10, 2009

Surprise Endings


I whole heartedly support surprise endings. In fact, if an author can catch me off guard at the end of a book, I am very pleased. What I do not like is "surprise" endings that don't make sense. I recently read a book and when it was over, I was angry. I tried to evaluate why I was angry. I thought, am I angry because my prediction of how it was going to end was wrong? I really didn't think I was that shallow (at least not this time anyway). I came to this conclusion:

Surprise endings where you can say, "OH. That makes total sense" and then you can look back through the book and see everything you missed the first time and feel like you're discovering a whole new plot = good surprise ending.

Surprise endings where you think to yourself, 'Uh, did the author just throw that in so that nobody would be able to guess how her book ended because it makes absolutely no sense and, in fact, is the exact opposite of what the book was building up to and purporting itself to be.' = bad surprise ending.

I won't say the name of the book because I don't want to ruin it for anyone else. But I'm still mad. (oh, in case you read my last last post, it's not Cindy's book.)

16 comments:

  1. Very true. Those are the worst. Fast way to lose a fan.

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  2. Pet peeve in a book or movie. Where do these nonsensical magical endings come from? It's like the author just got tired of writing or didn't know how to end, so threw in something. yuck

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  3. I agree, and I think you've nailed. Cheap surprise endings are BAD!

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  4. I totally agree! I like surprise endings when they make me go "wow" or "oh, I get it!" or "that's cool!". But I really, really don't like when they're there just for the sake of ending the book.

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  5. Ditto! Ditto! Ditto! That so drives me crazy.

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  6. Agree agree too. I want my endings to make sense or I think I have wasted my time!

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  7. I totally agree. As a reader for the most part I will accept a lot things. When the author has ended the story in a way that does not fit I feel cheated.

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  8. I agree -- there are good surprise endings and bad ones. The good ones are delicious while the bad ones give me heart burn...

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  9. I agree. I hate nonsense endings. They can really ruin a book.

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  10. I totally agree! They do it in TV shows too. I will never forgive the writers of Prison Break for ending it that way. :P

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  11. Yep. Totally agree too. Okay - you have to tell me what the book is...just send it in an email or something. LOL!

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  12. I don't think I've read too many books where the ending didn't make sense. But I have definitely read books where the ending made me mad. Usually its because the author deliberately mislead me. That is NOT fair in my book. You can't tell me something happened on page one and then reveal at the very end that it actually never happened.

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  13. Nat, I know what you mean, I'm very reluctant to pick up another one of her books.

    Angie, that's exactly how I felt. I felt like she took the easy way.

    Michelle, cheap is a very good way to describe it.

    Cindy, I love good surprise endings. They make me happy.

    Lois, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

    Terri, and time is too precious to waste.

    Amber, very true. It's not that I need it to end like my prediction, I just want it to make sense.

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  14. Terresa, and heart burn is not fun. :)

    Jessie, ruined. It was ruined I tell you. :)

    Jenn, I never saw Prison Break. I would ask if it was good, but if they ended it wrong then the answer is: NO! LOL

    Britten, next time I see you I'll tell you what book I'm talking about. Because it's so much easier to explain than right (says the writer).

    Corey, that's how I felt in this book, like I was deliberately misled. That's how I feel when a book is leading me down a certain road to a certain ending and then pulls a fast one on me.

    Patti, thanks for the support. :)

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  15. Surprise with clever is OK, but a misleading or a feeling of unfinished business is not OK.

    I love the Lucy pic. :-)

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