Does the lack of a happy ending ruin an otherwise good book?

R D Ronald · Wed Apr 27, 2011 3:30 am

Like the title says, does it detract from the overall experience? Do you feel cheated if the guy doesn't get the girl, the bad guys don't get their comeuppance or the hero doesn't succeed on his quest? Or do you perhaps feel that an ending shouldn't be predetermined, and that having an author brave enough to challenge the trend makes the journey all the more exciting simply because you don't know how the story will end?

I've had this discussion a few times with fellow readers recently, so it will be interesting to hear what some of you think too.

NotaBene · Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:39 am

I think a good book experience is when the author surprises us...
Have you ever read The Elegance of The Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery?
When I first read it, the ending did knock me out! How could she do this to me???
So yes, I really felt cheated. But after a while, I asked myself, had I been the author, would I have actually changed the end?
I don't know.
Either you remain in shock and unhappy (= you accept the ending, and meditate about the world), or you dream up another ending, and in this case, doors are left open for the readers' imagination.
The lack of a happy ending doesn't ruin a good story at all.

realiz · Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:58 am


	Quote: I think a good book experience is when the author surprises us...

I agree with this. And, often I find that too happy an ending, or too perfect an ending, can ruin an otherwise good book because it closes the door on imagination and speculation. A good book should leave you with a mixture of emotions.

johnson1010 · Wed Apr 27, 2011 3:42 pm

i don't think all entertainment has to end with a smile and a walk into the sunset.

One of the best endings ever was the conclusion of Frank Darabont's "the Mist" based on a short story by Stephen King.

It was a soul-sucking ending. and it was perfect.

GreggMattson · Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:01 pm

This is terrific question and, as a writer, I’ve contemplated it more than once.

Life doesn't always have happy endings. Why should we not expect art to imitate life? Soul-sucking endings help keep our own life in perspective.

NotaBene · Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:16 am

Hi, Gregg,
I would like to know : as a writer, don't you feel the characters have a "life" of their own, and in the end, they may escape your plan?
Is the end of your novel just as you planned it at the beginning?

spoonwood · Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:30 am

I don't feel cheated by a strange, unexpected, or perhaps unpleasant ending. In fact, I enjoy a good jolt or twist. Maybe it's the masochist in me. :shock:

GreggMattson · Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:08 am


	NotaBene wrote: I would like to know : as a writer, don't you feel the characters have a "life" of their own, and in the end, they may escape your plan? Is the end of your novel just as you planned it at the beginning?

The characters definitely have a life of their own. That, I find, is the rush I get from writing. Sometimes, that can change the direction of the story. As the author, however, I have the final word. Wahahahaha.

Seriously, my published story, “Field of Orbs” began with only an ending. After developing a few concept short stories that set the framework, I turned them into chapters and followed the lives of the characters I created.

Characters must be real so they do surprising things when facing the challenges I create to test them, which eventually lead me to trash my original ending and formulate a concept that, while encompassing my original concept, went light-years beyond what I originally imagined.

So, did they escape my plan? That is hard to say. I would guess they actually shaped my plan by making me reevaluate my original concept. I really didn’t see the ending coming.

NotaBene · Thu Apr 28, 2011 1:35 pm

I've just read this on Siri Hustvedt's website. Interesting, isn't it?

“And who among us would deny Jane Austen her happy endings or insist that Cary Grant and Irene Dunne should get back together at the end of The Awful Truth? There are tragedies and there are comedies, aren’t there? And they are often more the same than different, rather like men and women, if you ask me. A comedy depends on stopping the story at exactly the right moment.”

s.kundan · Wed May 18, 2011 5:36 am

I don't feel lack of a happy ending ruins a book. The best part is the story is left open to conclusions. It provokes readers to think and put their imagination in it. As everyone interprets differently, it also leads to very healthy discussions.

bookworm19 · Wed May 18, 2011 2:32 pm

It is interesting to consider the way a happy ending concludes a book, it is also in the same sense interesting to consider how a huge twist can change the way a reader feels at the end of a book. I have always thought that when a book ends with a happy ending it is successful and I was never a fan of a big twist to finish off a book. But then this past month I read Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" and I completely changed my mind.

In the end of O'Brien's book he confesses that the stories he has confided in the reader are almost completely lies. He was a foot soldier during Vietnam but he did not experience nor meet anyone who experienced the things he wrote about. I found myself thinking, and even asking my class, does that make his book any less successful? Are the hauntings he experiences througout the book cheapened by the idea that he himself did not kill any men? Do we not still feel completely connected to the characters? Does it matter that the events are made up?

I think that his book is amazing and I still find myself thinking back on the characters and the things they experienced. I made connections with characters that I was under the impression were real, and when I realized they were fictional I was shocked initially. And then I realized that the ending of this particular book did not take anything away from the experience I had while reading it!

AndiSGraham · Tue May 31, 2011 1:02 am

No, I don't think that an unhappy ending ruins a good book. Sometimes a tragedy makes a story that much better, and sometimes I find that a happy ending that doesn't feel right leaves a bad taste in my mouth. And sometimes, bittersweet is just enough.

Jozanny · Wed Jun 01, 2011 5:32 pm

Although I am not prepared to deal with the specific details at this moment, I actually think Dickens' original ending for Great Expectations makes it one of his greatest novels, and he was wrong to take the advice from his friends to change it.

froglipz · Wed Jun 01, 2011 7:33 pm

I think that the ending has to be a good place to stop. Happy sad or tragic works for me. Although like most, I like a happy ending. Sometimes you would have to ruin a perfectly good story to make the ending happy.

In one series of books I read book two was apparently supposed to be the end, but it was too much material for a single book so they split it into books two and three. Usually I am not so discerning a reader to notice, but in this case it was almost like they just picked the end of the sentence closest to the middle...THAT ruined that book for me and I almost didn't read the third book.

Aqueda_Veronica · Wed Jun 08, 2011 3:57 pm

For me a happy ending is what usually ruins a book. I think: "And that's it? Come on, it can't be THAT simple!?!"
I like open endings, as they leave more room for imagination.

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