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Post by OED on Jul 1, 2005 4:23:34 GMT -5
zyzzyva (n) a south American weevil. well, I don't know about you guys but I was expecting something further up the food chain. 
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Benbow
Islander
Left hand down a bit...
Posts: 625
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Post by Benbow on Jul 1, 2005 4:29:06 GMT -5
'Captain Corelli's Mandolin' could have ended better. What a waste of two people. 'The Mill On The Floss' wasn't exactly uplifting. The Bible is the best seller. How does that end? Armageddon. Great. (Apologies if I've spoiled any of these for anyone currently reading them) are you looking in your reading matter for hollywood-style happy endings? you must be one of those being instrumental in making hollywood feel certain to be on the right track to reshoot perfectly good films with hollywood sugary endings... (apologies to captain corelli) n.b. dear reader/filmbuff you could turn you into a diabetic... i hear mills & boon comes highly recommended for happy endings... to exchange the mill on the floss for mills and boon might be a shrewd move... Yawn. |
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Post by Nurse Duckett on Jul 1, 2005 4:40:01 GMT -5
Hallo!It says on the tin: "Good books with Stupid Endings", not Slushy Romantic Fiction with Happy Endings. Not that I've ever read any Mills & Boon genre - the pictures on the covers are enough to make one blench. Having said that, lots of people do, and why the heck not? Horses for courses, matter of opinion etcetera  
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Crusoe
Islander
It's...
Posts: 705
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Post by Crusoe on Jul 1, 2005 6:05:44 GMT -5
simply, it is most unlikely to amount to a great book if has a crappy ending But “books with otherwise engaging plots, characters, writing-style and psychological insight which are let down by disappointing endings” is a fairly cumbersome title for a thread, Dulcie. For what it’s worth, I’d nominate this one:-  Most of the book is quite well written (although it could have been cut down by about a quarter and not been harmed) but the ending strikes me as a bit of a cop-out. It’s not at all far from the “I woke up and it was all a dream” favourite and also strikes me as a bit lazy. |
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Post by Nurse Duckett on Jul 1, 2005 6:09:12 GMT -5
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Crusoe
Islander
It's...
Posts: 705
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Post by Crusoe on Jul 1, 2005 6:09:13 GMT -5
One should always wear white at night. And risk being run over by a snow-plough?  |
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Post by dulcinea on Jul 1, 2005 8:04:54 GMT -5
simply, it is most unlikely to amount to a great book if has a crappy ending, unless, of course, like many you confuse popularity with greatness. i don't expect this helps. but the joy is in the reading not the finishing. I suppose it is the same for most pleasures - eating, sex, life itself. unless you are of the popular opinion that the end justifies everything else. As a great journey can end in a unsatisfactory destination, a good read can have an unsatisfying conclusion. imo  and what has this got to do with the price of coffee? i was merely suggesting that this is a non-sensical title for a thread... in case you missed that: "books i enjoyed with a crappy ending" would probably encompass all without being pretentious calling them great... unfortunate misguided wooly thinking constructed the title of this thread... and yes i dislike woolly minds... and i could not care less what anybody reads if they enjoy it... anything else you would like to know? shoe size 41. n.b. why does this board correct my woolly which i spelled with double 'l' |
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Crusoe
Islander
It's...
Posts: 705
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Post by Crusoe on Jul 1, 2005 8:14:39 GMT -5
I wonder how this one ends  The heroine gets engaged to an Eskimo but soon breaks it off. Hope I didn't ruin it for you. |
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Post by fpo on Jul 1, 2005 8:30:50 GMT -5
no, no, you are not seeing the whole picture, Dulcinea. Why should a book be judged on its final chapter?
I am inferring that your opinion is that the ending dictates the merit of the rest of the work. I say a book can be still be good overall despite having a poor ending (or a stupid ending in this case).
I agree with you, most books deemed to be good would include a good ending, and many bad books have stupid endings - but we are not considering the rule but the exceptions to the rule.
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Post by fpo on Jul 1, 2005 8:38:00 GMT -5
But “books with otherwise engaging plots, characters, writing-style and psychological insight which are let down by disappointing endings” is a fairly cumbersome title for a thread, Dulcie. |
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Post by Nurse Duckett on Jul 1, 2005 8:47:01 GMT -5
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Post by Captain Nudnick on Jul 1, 2005 11:00:38 GMT -5
Let's be sensible now...  |
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Post by Sailing By on Jul 1, 2005 11:14:11 GMT -5
......... without being pretentious calling them great... The first use of the word "great" here was: simply, it is most unlikely to amount to a great book if has a crappy ending, unless, of course, like many you confuse popularity with greatness. i don't expect this helps. Ho Hum. |
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Post by Duh on Jul 1, 2005 19:15:59 GMT -5
Yeah, like that book I read which had great reviews, so I read it. "Brilliant ending," said the reviews. "Bit slow going, but do persevere because it's worth it." So I did, enjoying the writing and images along the way. I found the opposite: the book was entrancing, until the end, which was crap. I saw the end coming a mile off, but couldn't believe it was really going to be the same thing which had been written so many times before, so kept reading. * My revered father, when reading a novel he found too exciting, would turn to the last few pages to find out the ending before reading the rest of the book, to save himself the suspense. I can't make myself do this, but feel it's a reasonable action to take. *Found it - Anita Shreve, "The Last Time They Met". Review here. www.bookreporter.com/reviews/0316781142.asp |
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