It's OVER!
Whenever I finish reading a book I'm generally sad. It gives me a sense of loss because these characters that I've come to know and love and identify with are finished with their story. No matter how good the book is I'm always feeling sad when I'm done with a book.
I'm a really slow reader, so that might contribute to it, but does this happen to you as well? What's your reaction when you read the last sentence in a book?
Usually it's the exact opposite for me. If the book was any good, finishing leaves me with a great sense of satisfaction. But I don't like character driven stuff so much. Lord of the Rings, for example, seems to me to just be a huge investment of time and energy with no payoff in the end (which is why I prefer the movies despite Peter Jackson screwing up the last one). My favorite books are ones where the ending trumps the characters. Like A Tale of Two Cities. The characters do have a fair amount of depth but the incident their actions lead to is what I'll always remember and cherish about the book. With Chuck, a good example of this is Choke. Based on the synopsis and pathetic (in a good way) characters, it doesn't seem like the type of literature that anyone would fall in love with. But upon reaching the ending you discover that it's a parable and the meaning of these characters and incidents becomes clear, making everything that preceded that much better.
With some books, like Heart of Darkness, the reading part is just torture. But the knowledge and insight gained is invaluable.
I wish I could read fast like you do, Mirka, but I'm like Z and it takes me forever.
"[B]eing good is a fearful occupation; men strain at it and sometimes break in two." - Ray Bradbury
I usually don't get too upset unless the book had a protagonist that I really fell in love with. I have a soft spot for male characters with hardcore issues, so when I meet one in literature, it's so hard when I have to close the book and set it permanently on my shelf. Usually I try to console myself by realizing that I could easily just read the book again, but rereading a book is never the same as reading it the first time. You're not going on that journey anymore.
Since I started learning more about writing, though, I've found that my already picky taste in literature has gotten even more selective, which really isn't good. I don't read near as much as I used to, so I'm trying to get back into the swing of things by reading really trashy stuff. But the characters in those books are never ever as alluring as the ones in quality literature.
One of the best books I've ever read is The African Safari Papers by Robert Sedlack. Finishing that book was just heartbreaking, and there wasn't much I could really do except talk about it. Then I found a friend who was willing to read it and she just fell in love with the main character even more so than I did. And talking about the book made me feel better.
Sharing. Such therapy.
One of the things that makes me sad is when it doesn't end. When authors make unnecessary sequels that ruin a character I really liked. I prefer the character to die at the end than to be exploited with a tacked-on sequel that was likely the idea of the publisher. It's not that I'm against sequels. But I only approve of them when done with taste.
"[B]eing good is a fearful occupation; men strain at it and sometimes break in two." - Ray Bradbury
To add to this - I get pissed when the author writes a perfect ending, and then the book goes on after that for another 5 chapters. I can accept one more chapter. But, come on, if the book is done no need to summarize what the characters did with the rest of their lives after this.
Great, now I've got BDP stuck in my head: "The Bridge is OVAH/The Bridge is OVAH."
When I read the final line of a (well-written) novel, the air is ripped from my lungs in momentary awe. But my motor functions return in a sudden rush of brain activity: synapses firing rapidly in retroactive response to every theme, detail, word. Once that surge recedes, I generally spend the rest of the day/night in pensive reflection. Then, it's on to the next.
So, I guess what I'm saying is that books get me high, so hiiiiiiiigh...
To add to this - I get pissed when the author writes a perfect ending, and then the book goes on after that for another 5 chapters. I can accept one more chapter. But, come on, if the book is done no need to summarize what the characters did with the rest of their lives after this.
YES! I hate that! I hate the whole "five years later" bits. It definitely ruins something good for me.
To add to this - I get pissed when the author writes a perfect ending, and then the book goes on after that for another 5 chapters. I can accept one more chapter. But, come on, if the book is done no need to summarize what the characters did with the rest of their lives after this.
YES! I hate that! I hate the whole "five years later" bits. It definitely ruins something good for me.
Yeah, I'd rather be left with the cliche "and they lived happily ever after" than read five chapters about how they lived happily ever after.
"[B]eing good is a fearful occupation; men strain at it and sometimes break in two." - Ray Bradbury
I don't have this with all books, but there have definitely been several I didn't want to finish. It made me sad.
Guys! You do know you are allowed to re-read books, right?
All those people you fell in love with are still in there. They're forever the exact same people they always were. They're better than people, in fact. They'll never change. They're dependable, reliable.
You can read a book again and find different aspects to them that you didn't notice before, but that only shows how you've changed over the course of time.
When you don't want a book to end, when it does, go right back to page one!
All those people you fell in love with are still in there. They're forever the exact same people they always were. They're better than people, in fact. They'll never change. They're dependable, reliable.
You can read a book again and find different aspects to them that you didn't notice before, but that only shows how you've changed over the course of time.
When you don't want a book to end, when it does, go right back to page one!
sweet. but for some reason i can't do that.
RAZORSHARP:
"With Chuck, a good example of this is Choke. Based on the synopsis and pathetic (in a good way) characters, it doesn't seem like the type of literature that anyone would fall in love with. But upon reaching the ending you discover that it's a parable and the meaning of these characters and incidents becomes clear, making everything that preceded that much better."
if you remeber, can you tell what the parable for Choke was for you? thanks
to the Lady who asked the question:
sometimes i'm fucked up for days over the loss of a book. i will start another one the same day if necessary to diminish my feelings of loss. i might cry. if i own the book, i will give it away. sometimes if i've taken notes or marked quotes, i try to find some place to keep those so i can remember how much i loved the book. often i want to talk with others who've also read it to see what they loved (i hope) or hated. now that i'm here i have somewhere to go to rag on about the books i fall in love with. i'm glad.
but of course it isn't like that with all books. 75% of the time i can't finish a book. AND the rate at which i read depends on my life at the time. when my mom died i only read one book, The Bell Jar (not counting homework reading) for a year or more. i even worked at a library.
the other day i was writing a friend. she said "at least you read instead of wasting your life watching TV." i said, "reading, the next best thing to living." by that i meant it's the only thing i can do.
All those people you fell in love with are still in there. They're forever the exact same people they always were. They're better than people, in fact. They'll never change. They're dependable, reliable.
You can read a book again and find different aspects to them that you didn't notice before, but that only shows how you've changed over the course of time.
When you don't want a book to end, when it does, go right back to page one!
I've never gotten the same feeling rereading those books.
if you remeber, can you tell what the parable for Choke was for you? thanks
That we derive meaning in life by the things we create, even if they are of no consequence at all. It's a view pretty exclusive to artists, engineers, and craftsmen; so doctors and politicians may take exception to it, but Chuck does a good job of countering what doctors/politicians find meaning in by claiming it's a losing game (no amount of medical school or money can help Victor save his mother, but by taking part in an act of creation he can save himself).
Of course, that's just my interpretation.
"[B]eing good is a fearful occupation; men strain at it and sometimes break in two." - Ray Bradbury
if you remeber, can you tell what the parable for Choke was for you? thanks
That we derive meaning in life by the things we create, even if they are of no consequence at all. It's a view pretty exclusive to artists, engineers, and craftsmen; so doctors and politicians may take exception to it, but Chuck does a good job of countering what doctors/politicians find meaning in by claiming it's a losing game (no amount of medical school or money can help Victor save his mother, but by taking part in an act of creation he can save himself).
Of course, that's just my interpretation.
it's been years since i read Choke. i am embarassed to ask this, but i have to know:
what do you think he created? a cure for himself?
he certainly did create a stir in the restaurants he went to:)
my mom died sorta slowly of cancer. she was my only parent so i lost it all when i lost her. Choke may be my favorite book so far in my life. (((Victor)))
if you remeber, can you tell what the parable for Choke was for you? thanks
That we derive meaning in life by the things we create, even if they are of no consequence at all. It's a view pretty exclusive to artists, engineers, and craftsmen; so doctors and politicians may take exception to it, but Chuck does a good job of countering what doctors/politicians find meaning in by claiming it's a losing game (no amount of medical school or money can help Victor save his mother, but by taking part in an act of creation he can save himself).
Of course, that's just my interpretation.
it's been years since i read Choke. i am embarassed to ask this, but i have to know:
what do you think he created? a cure for himself?
he certainly did create a stir in the restaurants he went to:)
my mom died sorta slowly of cancer. she was my only parent so i lost it all when i lost her. Choke may be my favorite book so far in my life. (((Victor)))
It's the castle of stones that he and his buddy make in the end. It's a seemingly pointless endeavor, but it's the first time he's satisfied throughout the course of the whole novel. I think, for Chuck, it was a metaphor for the books he writes.
"[B]eing good is a fearful occupation; men strain at it and sometimes break in two." - Ray Bradbury
i love that. thank you so much. you just made my day. i'm not kidding.
I like it when the last sentence ends in the middle of the sentence. It gives it the feeling that the book is never over. think BEE does this some times.
This is called John Irving Syndrome.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Click, done, next. Nigga betta retrospect. No more regular rappin' dare me to cap 'em and watch me blast.
I am a really fast reader and I go through like two or three books on a really good week. But that doesn't stop me from getting immersed in the story and the characters.
I am a very visual person. I forgot how it works but I am one of those people that can visualize music and see, taste, and physically feel things through vivid descriptions. I think it has something to do with the neuron paths being linked up weird, kind of like when you take acid only it's natural.
Sorta like Fry on Futurama when the room changed color and he announced that he tasted blue.
Also I am very emotional when it comes to art. I get totally into anything and everything I watch, see, or hear so it's hard for me to bid adieu to anything that catches my attention.
When I finish a book I will go back to the parts I like a lot of times, hoping that I can recreate the experience of those scenes again.
There are few books I re-read (Because I believe life is too short to go back to something that takes up too much time to begin with.) but I will find and read certain chapters that hooked me to a certain book in the first place.
In short, I do find myself feeling a loss when I'm done with a good story. Sometimes it just sucks when a book can only be 600 or 1000 pages. Ha ha!
I am the same way too. I even have some books that I have owned for two or three years and haven't finished because I don't want them to end. Lolita and American Psycho are the ones I've had the longest and I still haven't finished them.
Z, I got a bit like you described with The Stand. Jesus that book went on and on, and King brings characters to life--possibly by writing pages upon pages of them emoting over... not a lot. So it might seem sometimes that he's just having a literary wank, but actually he's putting meat on their bones. But yeh, he goes on a bit.
Yes, I want to play. I really, really do.
I'm a really slow reader, so that might contribute to it, but does this happen to you as well? What's your reaction when you read the last sentence in a book?
oh i am the same way totally...and i tend to read books over again if i really liked them, and when i know i am coming to the end, i'll get sad before hand...
-a beautiful lie
Th^t's beautiful.
Edit: Just noticed your name, honestly.
Yes, I want to play. I really, really do.
Edit: Just noticed your name, honestly.
ah..lol..and here i was thinking you were trying to be a smartass...lol
-a beautiful lie
Wait till Berto gets here.
I'm sometimes grief-stricken, often distraught. It's like saying good-bye to a friend that's moving to another continent. But that's just for really good books, I read a lot and fast so I read a lot of books that I don't enjoy and am perfectly happy parting with. It's because I'm compulsive reader. I kind of wish I read slower, but I can't sloooooooooooow down.