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.
1 comment:
I get this. There is nothing worse than reading a great story to have it all fall apart at the end. Everything up to that point is beautifully crafted and then it fizzles.
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