I’ve mentioned on my blog before that I’m generally a fan of happy endings. The Brady Bunch always ended happily, too—Mom and Dad had a talk with the wayward Brady child about whatever mess they’d gotten into. Maybe the kid had to mow the Astroturf lawn as restitution for their wrong. Then everyone was cracking jokes for the final segment before the credits rolled.
The books I like to read have happy endings, loose ends tied up, and normalcy restored. I think it’s a satisfying feeling.
But I have to wonder if the phenomenon of the happy ending is primarily a modern one and dictated by reader preference. As an English major, many of the books I read didn’t have happy endings. In fact, I want to say that most of the novels I read didn’t. There’s Moby Dick, The Awakening, House of Mirth, Lord of the Flies, King Lear, Metamorphosis, Animal Farm, etc.
I think that most people view reading as an escape. We want to take a little break from our lives and be transported somewhere else. Somewhere maybe a little happier.
I’m not opposed to reading the occasional unhappy ending in modern books. Oddly enough, the unhappy endings in classic literature doesn’t bother me as much—it may be because it takes place in another place and time and while I emphasize with the protagonist, I don’t identify quite as much or put myself in their shoes. I’m an outsider, looking in.
Maybe with modern literature it hits too close to home to be able to maintain a sense of separateness.
Are there books with sad endings that you enjoyed? Do you write unhappy endings?
I loved The Awakening – though as you pointed out it isn’t a happy ending by any stretch of the imagination. Mostly I prefer bitter sweet – not happy, but some sort of positive coming through.
This question resonates with me. My first novel had a “sad” ending, my second, happily-ever-after. I think readers want happy. So, that’s what I’m gonna try to give them.
Best Regards, Galen.
http://www.galenkindley.com
I don’t require a happy ending, but a satisfiying ending for me involves people getting what they’ve earned – appropriate consquences for bad deeds and appropriate rewards for good deeds. I also need all the loose ends tied up.
I write what I read, so my characters rarely ride off into the sunset singing “we are family,” but most characters receive just rewards for their actions.
Charlotte Phillips
Hacksaw
Sad endings with hope are one thing. Totally depressing end-of-the-world stories something else. But I read them all. So far, however, the mysteries I’m writing stick to the “happy ending for the good guys” formula.
Patricia
As long as the ending “makes sense,” and isn’t some kind of deux et machina, then I’m good with it.
I think the best endings are those that are fairly unexpected, but upon reflection, seem like they are the only ending that really fits.
I like reading endings that are complete, answer most of my questions, whether or not they’re happy. Just don’t leave me totally hanging!
I like loose ends tied up and resolution to conflict, but am not married to the happy ending at all. I think literature should reflect life … it’s not always a happy story and ending – so novels should be the same way.
The Old Silly from Free Spirit Blog
Good question. For me, I realize it may depend on the genre. When I’m reading mysteries,I expect most of the good guys, or at least the protagonist, will survive, loose ends will be tied up, and the world will be a safer place once more. That’s what happened in the two mysteries I published.
In “literary” fiction – I know, I don’t like that term either – all bets are off, and the ending may be dreary or downright depressing, but that’s what I’ve come to expect for those books.
In Eldercide, I brought the arch-villain down in the end, and I’m very sorry he won’t be around for future books in the series – it was far more fun writing in his voice than as any of the other characters.
I like books that wrap up all loose ends and don’t leave me wondering what happened. I prefer happy endings but, like sad endings, they have to make sense.
Jane Kennedy Sutton
http://janekennedysutton.blogspot.com/
I’ve enjoyed everyone’s comments on this topic. There does seem to be a gray area with happy endings that I didn’t think about: that unhappy endings are all right as long as there’s some sort of positive among the negative, or as long as the ending is genuine(not the deux et machina that Alan refers to), or as long as there aren’t any loose ends or cliffhanger endings. Interesting!
Elizabeth
I prefer a happy ending, too… or at least a dangling possibility of one in the next book. My least favorite unhappy ending ever was Mary Stewart’s Wicked Day which wrapped up the Arthurian series she wrote. I read the first three books-now dubbed The Merlin Trilogy-countless times, but the final tome only twice. I simply hate it. She changed voice and everyone dies. Bleh.
You’re ready for a crit – blog is looking great.:)
Dani
http://blogbooktours.blogspot.com
The ending has to fit the story and you can’t cheat the reader out of that ending. Sometimes it’s “happpy” and sometimes it isn’t.