Posted by Sterling on 31/3/2012, 13:59:44, in reply to "Re: Room"
98.71.93.194
Just to put in my two cents worth.
I definitely disagree about Alice. The ending is considerably more artful then simply "it's only a dream."
I can't say that I recall the ending of Wuthering Heights off hand. Obviously other parts of the novel made a greater impression on me, but I do not recall being unhappy with it as written.
I can agree that the second half of Room is weaker than the first half. I also was unimpressed with the ending of The Secret History. What I question is whether either could be called a "fantastic" novel, in the sense of being extraordinarily good.
I have read none of the others, not even Little Women. (It seemed too girly when I was a child, and too childish after I became an adult.) I am amused, though, that the cover pictured in the original link is for "Little Women and Werewolves." (!) :^)
P.S. - I see what you mean, Joffre, but I never was bothered by Jane Austen's endings. Perhaps becuase ending comedies with a wedding or weddings is such a time-honored tradition (Shakespeare, et al.).
--Previous Message--
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: I've read hardly any of these.
:
: I disagree about Wuthering Heights, and I think I
: disagree about Alice.
:
: How can Dostoevsky not be on this list? A friend of
: mine recently read C&P and complained to me of the
: ending. Harold Bloom has written that Dostoevsky is
: great at beginnings, superb at middle developments,
: but surprisingly weak at endings. I admit, though,
: that I wasn't particularly struck by weakness in the
: ending of The Karamazov Brothers, which I read a
: couple months ago.
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: Much as I love her, I find that Jane Austen's novels
: end rather abruptly. Perhaps they would not be as good
: if they went on, but it always seems to me that
: everything gets wrapped up in one chapter. They got
: married and lived happily ever after. I know it has to
: stop somewhere and the disappointment of marriage is
: another novel, Middlemarch, but I wish for a bit more,
: a scene of early happiness or something.
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