I've gone through the Rara-Avis archives, looking
for a discussion on the best endings for noir novels, and
I've found a lot of separate discussions about the endings of
various novels, but no discussion ( at least recently) of
endings in general, and what makes a good ending. It's been
said that ending a work of fiction may be the most difficult
part of writing it, so I want to open up the floor as to what
makes a good ending, and what novels have them.
I'm not just talking about twist endings, either.
I just finished Jason Starr's The Follower tonight, and it
got me started thinking about this. In terms of plot it is a
fairly conventional thriller
(think Fatal Attraction where the genders are reversed and
everyone is young and single), but the denouement is anything
but conventional. A less skilled, or more conservative writer
would have made it a happy ( or at least happier) ending, but
Starr writes a scene that shows the reader the severe
psychological damage the main character has endured and
raises questions about whether a happy ending will ever be
possible. It's a simple and devastatingly effective
scene.
To talk about a book that's actually out, I
think the ending to Starr's Hard Feelings is also a great
one. It had me laughing out loud and, if you've read the
book, you know that that is just wrong. I still remember the
last words of that book. It made that kind of impression. The
EMT's words to Richie Segal, were again, simple and
effective.
I think a great ending is one that
offers the reader a surprise, but not in a "The butler's twin
brother did it!" kind of way. It's one that plays with the
readers expectations, like the end of Thompson's The Getaway.
I think it can be as elaborate as Thompson's ending, or it
can be as simple as the single line of dialogue at the end of
Hard Feelings.
Now, what does everyone else think?
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