books you didnt want to end

When I saw the title of this thread I though of The Beach.
I was really sad when I finished Lullaby, I wanted it to keep going.

me talk pretty one day by david sedaris

i wish i could laugh like that forever

The Ruins by Scott Smith. I think I didn't want it to end LIKE THAT. So that counts right?

Kane and Abel by Jeffrey Archer. Once I started it I couldnt out it down until I had read all 500 pages. Fatastic book and he hasnt topped it yet.

[QUOTE=bigshrimpn;1030384]The Ruins by Scott Smith. I think I didn't want it to end LIKE THAT. So that counts right?[/QUOTE]

That book, oh man, the ending gave me nightmares.

There are a lot of books I never wanted to end. So off the top of my head I'll mention the ones that I reread as soon as I finished the last page.

A Prayer for Own Meany-John Irving
Until I Find You -John Irving
Atonement-Ian McEwan
To Kill a Mockingbird-Harper Lee
Franny and Zooey-J.D. Salinger
Lif of Pi-Yann Martel
Penny Dreadful-Will Christopher Baer
Uncle Will and the Fitzgerald Curse-John D. Fitzgerald
One Hundred Years of Solitude-Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Chronicle of a Death Foretold-Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Shoo Fly Girl-Lois Lenski

[QUOTE=rosiemoonjumper;1030380]When I saw the title of this thread I though of The Beach.[/QUOTE]

Me too, actually. That's pretty effin weird.

Also, Baer's Hell's Half Acre and Clevenger's Handbook. Both of them felt like the story would go on and I wanted to see it through to the very end. But I guess the stories weren't about the characters, they were about The Velvet and the Psych Eval, but I still would have liked them to go on. I think I would have chosen Penny Dreadful as well Mirka if Hell's Half Acre wasn't just a page away for me. I think a good author will make the reader want the book to end. To want the conclusion, to need it. Statistically the last five pages of a book are the least read.

Invisible Monsters. When I reached the end I actually kept myself from reading.

[QUOTE=corellion;1030492]Me too, actually. That's pretty effin weird.

Also, Baer's Hell's Half Acre and Clevenger's Handbook. Both of them felt like the story would go on and I wanted to see it through to the very end. But I guess the stories weren't about the characters, they were about The Velvet and the Psych Eval, but I still would have liked them to go on. I think I would have chosen Penny Dreadful as well Mirka if Hell's Half Acre wasn't just a page away for me. I think a good author will make the reader want the book to end. To want the conclusion, to need it. Statistically the last five pages of a book are the least read.[/QUOTE]

I know what you mean when you say a good author will make the reader want the book to end, but I somewhat disagree. I think it depends on the particular story. Some books have only one or two issues that need resolution. Throughout the book, you feel everything building towards the conclusion. With other books, it's different. The Beach, for example...I don't feel like it is building up to one major event/conclusion...it feels more like a series that could go on forever...like "The Adventures of Richard." I'm not eagerly awaiting the ending, because I find the whole story so interesting...I've become immersed in the world of the beach and absorbed in the daily happenings.

I'm rambling right now, so I'll just say this and hope you get the metaphor: While it may be true that the destination is usually what makes something worthwhile, sometimes it is the journey.

I get what you mean. Writing that I found my arguement forking, whether to talk about wanting a resolution for the characters or wanting more writing for you to read. I went with the resolution for the characters because wanting more writing and story, well, the list gets longer.

Adverbs by Daniel Handler.

While I was reading, it cured my depression, made me thinner and more beautiful, gave me better sex, and taught me how to instantly bake apple pies.

I savored as much of Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" as I could. I started rereading paragraphs, sentences, whole pages to slow down the actual process of finishing it. It was sooooooooo fucking good.

Also, "Rant" could have gone on for infinity, and I would have never put that sonofabitch down. Fucking loved it.

all of CP, CC and WCBs works

lots of stephen king, but i'd say THE STAND - you love it or you hate it, but it was an epic journey that i wanted to go on longer - i'd also include King's Dark Tower series, as well as IT and Clive Barker's WEAVEWORLD, great book.

I stoped reading American Psycho, but it so deliciose, i think i may be my favorite book, i got probably 12 books i need to finish, most of them have under 100 pages to go or less, i just keep on buying more books, its driveng me crazy, i do not have anny book marks left so i use normal line papper "NORMAL PAPER FOR GODS SAKE" those books deserve better, this has to stop, i need to finish them all!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I cried because it was over. I CRIED.

Some books though have a clear and resolute ending. Demon Theory for example, could not have ended in a more poignant place. It could have clubfooted around but it didn't. Sometimes you finish the book and out of some sense of a greater power, you know you've got to leave it there. It's like getting dealt four pairs of aces in a row at the hold 'em table. You know you need to get up, that if this carries on things are going to go desperately wrong.

Everything I've ever read by Amy Hempel...

The Godfather by Mario Puzo.

Survivor - not for any cliched "it was so good" (even though it obviously was) reason, but because of the backwards numbering system. It made me very aware of how close to the end i was at any given time, and i think i kept considering how soon it'd be finished.

both Craig Clevenger's books left me annoyed that they finished at a point where i'm thinking... 'well what the fuck happens then??'

and i just finished Jpod wishing it was double the length.

I just started the Glass Book of the Dream Catchers and looking at the size of it ( a meaty 750 pages) it should last long enough...

[QUOTE=my shotgunface;1031293]same here. i love david sedaris, i pretty much never want any of his work to end.
and trainspotting.[/QUOTE]

if you felt that way about trainspotting, you should read porno (if you already havent)...its the sequel.

I sure was glad when Lanark finished. And Gravity's Rainbow. They are tiring books, man.

[QUOTE=xec8;1031591]I sure was glad when Lanark finished. And Gravity's Rainbow. They are tiring books, man.[/QUOTE]

for me, Infinite Jest was a tough one. I really loved it, but the damn footnotes made me not sad to reach the end........

[QUOTE=TheDana;1030494]Invisible Monsters. When I reached the end I actually kept myself from reading.[/QUOTE]

the older nympho chick I am living with right now loves Invisible Monsters and she would read like really slow and like stop after one page and reread the page and then quit for the day and when the end finally came she was extremely sad and I really believed her the way she looked. It's like sad like a flat tire sad, or a toy that no one plays with anymore sad, a puppy dog that grows up and runs away and gets hit by a car and survives only to have reconstructive surgery and have to wear veils to mask his little doggy face so the other reindeer will let him in on their reindeer games...

[QUOTE=jane s.;1030925]Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I cried because it was over. I CRIED.[/QUOTE]

I was going to say the same, I knew I wasn't the only one.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr.

i fell so desperately in love with the main character i never wanted that book to end.

Doppler by Loe
Franny and Zooey by Salinger
A Perfect Day For Bananafish by Salinger (but I don't think it counts, so I'll switch to Raise High The Roof Beam, Carpenters)
Survivor by Chuck

Choke, by Chuck. I bought it as kind of a way to cope after this emotionally shattering event happened to me... The whole theme of rebuilding your life was incredibly helpful, and I think I actually cried at the end.