Reading a couple of amazon reviews of some of my favorite books, most have almost-perfect ratings. And they wouldve gotten perfect, if people did not ramble with hate about the indeterminate endings.
Are people too obsessed with fairy tales?
If you were an author, would you risk finishing your masterpiece with a well thought out indeterminate ending if it meant that you would get some unsatisfied readers?
2007-02-21 15:56:53 · 13 answers · asked by Charles W 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
If I were an author, I would risk it. Some of my favorite novels don't have particularly "satisfying" endings. This doesn't matter to me...as long as the novel as a whole has proven satisfying.
If you're referring to a less-than-perfect ending and the apparent inability some people have to accept the author's intention then I would reply,"They don't get out in the real world enough and the purpose of any form of art, including literature, is not to paint a beautiful picture but to challenge the viewer/reader's perspective."
I don't want to offend anyone...but I believe that a work of literature doesn't have to satisfy the reader's need for affirmation. A work of literature is best when it provokes a reader's need for information.
2007-02-21 16:05:45 · answer #1 · answered by I vote Capt. America 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Indeterminate Ending
2016-11-07 08:11:56 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some books are just asking for an indeterminate ending. I think "The Giver" needed one.
My brother-in-law hates "The Giver" because he thinks the ending was a cop-out and the author just didn't want to make people angry by saying that the main characters died.
I think that the ending was much better indeterminate than it would have been as a definite ending, regardless of what that definite ending would have been.
If I were a writer, I would not shy away from an indeterminate ending if the novel called for it. A masterpiece needs the right ending, and if the right ending is indeterminate then nothing else will do.
2007-02-21 16:08:56 · answer #3 · answered by Mr. B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think when people devote themselves to reading a story, they expect some sort of closure. I think it is possible to write a book with an indeterminate ending if you give enough of a lead into what most likely would be the ending. Leaving some mystery or doubt is probably alright, but leaving people completely hanging and thinking....what the hell did I just spend X amount of hours reading this for?
2007-02-21 16:02:57 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
My favorite part of the book is the middle, because the middle is full of possibility--things can go in ANY direction, and in the best books they do. And that's why I don't like a book that slams the story shut at the end, because I like having a little bit of possibility still in the air.
But the books that get the nasty reviews are often the ones that leave the most important questions up in the air: the fate of the protagonist unresolved, the battle still in motion, or whatever. With an ending like that, I don't feel like there's possibility in the air, I feel like the story's just dangling.
So I guess my answer to your question is, give your story a conclusion but not necessarily an ending. That's what I try to do when I write.
2007-02-21 16:13:10 · answer #5 · answered by nbsandiego 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I appreciate the indeterminate endings. Many people want to be spoonfed all information... and a novel without a specfied ending forces one to think for himself. I can see why some people would be uncomfortable with that...
2007-02-21 16:24:04 · answer #6 · answered by heyeveryone 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the book has an indeterminate ending I want a sequel or the belief that life goes on in a boring but normal way from that point on.
I understand the desire for a satisfying ending. even determinate ending can be unsatisfactory.
As an author I would end my book the way it ends.
2007-02-21 17:03:59 · answer #7 · answered by geekgirl33 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sometimes I prefer indeterminate endings. While some could argue that these endings don't really 'close' the book, sometimes leaving the rest of the story open for interpretation is the best form of closure for certain stories.
2007-02-21 16:20:07 · answer #8 · answered by Banana P 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I hate them! I like a book that has a concrete ending. Open ended books are just annoying. The point is to give the reader a WHOLE STORY not to leave the ending to the reader's imagination.
People probably are too obsessed with fairy tales. But who doesn't like a happy ending?
2007-02-21 16:07:21 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely. I never have a definite ending: always leave the reader wanting more. I prefer to finish stories in my imagination, and I write the same way.
Like Stephen King's "Cell." I loved the ending, though many people hated it.
2007-02-21 16:03:02 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋