Ending with a . . .Whimper

I love to read.  Forever and always.  There is secret joy in enveloping myself in the cloak of a good story, immersing myself in the characters, the anticipation of turning a page to find the next twist, the reflection of self in the words on the page.  Or wisdom, simply stated but so elegant that I wonder how it is a new revelation.   The skill in a well-crafted sentence, ahhhh--my first escape.  My first best friends.  Books.  The feeling of sadness and withdrawal when the friends made in several hundred pages meet the end of their story.

But I've noticed a flaw of late.  The endings.  The author seeming to tire of the story, rapidly wrapping up hundreds of pages of story in a chapter, maybe two.  The let-down that results from loose ends that leaves me frustrated, disappointed.  I don't understand this being overlooked by editors, accepted by other readers.  Is the pressure of the publishing world so intense that there are page limits, a rush to publication that leaves wrapping up a story to a natural conclusion an after-thought?  I don't know, but I do know that reading so many poor endings lends appreciation for those well-crafted.  AND that I now judge a book not just by the premise, character development, but the ability to see the story to conclusion.  Conclusions.  Seeing something through all the way to the end--this quality is difficult to find in society today--in life and print.

I'm a Reader. From Way Back.

I've been in love with reading since forever.  I can't remember a time when I couldn't read or didn't enjoy it.  It's a compulsion, really.  There's just a handful of books that I've started that I haven't finished.. .  the compulsion.  I've read fewer books with the advent of blogs and social media, but I'm reconnecting with my inner reader.

I'm not typically one for apocalyptic tales, but holy moly have I become entranced with the writing of Justin Cronin.  The Passage held me captivated and now I've downloaded The Twelve, on the first day it was released.  I'm not usually the first to anything, so this speaks to how much I am into this story and his writing. Read it.  Do it.  Disturbing, yes, but also utterly captivating.  Yes, there are vampire-like creatures involved, but there is also serious character-development and creation of these creatures was seriously plausible.

READ.  You won't be disappointed.  I promise.