1. Fitzroy Zeph

    Fitzroy Zeph Contributor Contributor

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    Great Books with Crappy Endings.

    Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by Fitzroy Zeph, Dec 30, 2013.

    I know it sounds oxymoronic, books that kept you wonderfully entertained, relishing the final outcome, only to finish off in the most crap-ola of ways; perhaps not by every reader, but by you -- and that's all that counts. I just finished Big Brother by Lionel Shriver and it had such an ending. I won't spoil it in case it's on your to-read list and it does have some great reviews, just not from me. I have to patch the hole in the wall and my dog has PTSD after my rant.
     
  2. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    Though I wouldn't call them crappy endings, I think the endings to some of Dostoevsky novels aren't good compared to the rest of the book. Almost always his books end by some character embracing Christianity. It gets old fast.
     
  3. mongoose

    mongoose New Member

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    Under the Dome - The ending left me uttering a number of expletives.

    Queen of the Damned - I barely finished it. The moment I got to the part where we're told who the first two vampires in history were, I threw the book against the wall. It was the most ridiculous idea I had ever read.
     
  4. Okon

    Okon Contributor Contributor

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    The Stand and Under the Dome. Just not what I was hoping for.
     
  5. We Are Cartographers

    We Are Cartographers Active Member

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    Last edited: Jul 15, 2014
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  6. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    Stephen King writes great books?
     
  7. shunoshi

    shunoshi Member

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    As long as terrible endings still make great books, yes. ;)
     
  8. L.T.

    L.T. New Member

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    That's funny. I liked the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, but not the ending.
     
  9. Okon

    Okon Contributor Contributor

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    I 100% agree! The best of King's endings, if not the best of all endings.
     
  10. Fitzroy Zeph

    Fitzroy Zeph Contributor Contributor

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    Now I am wondering, as readers, do you folks get irked when you feel like you got robbed of a good ending?
     
  11. Pheonix

    Pheonix A Singer of Space Operas and The Fourth Mod of RP Contributor

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    Absolutely lol

    Oh, and The Hunger Games, kept me engaged all the way through, weak ending.
     
  12. shunoshi

    shunoshi Member

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    I do feel a bit robbed, but the end is only a small part of the story. A story, like life, is about the journey, not the destination. Although, unlike life, a story's destination isn't always death, so I'd prefer it be made a good one. ;)
     
  13. Fitzroy Zeph

    Fitzroy Zeph Contributor Contributor

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    My take. The HG worked really well until the last book when she diminished the character of Katniss too far in favour of a message I didn't need to hear. It had a preachy, creepy kind of feel to it.
     
  14. Duchess-Yukine-Suoh

    Duchess-Yukine-Suoh Girl #21 Contributor

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    Wait, what message was it? I never even got into the first book....
     
  15. Fitzroy Zeph

    Fitzroy Zeph Contributor Contributor

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    I'd hate writing a spoiler for you in an attempt to clarify myself. All things considered the series is still worth a read.
     
  16. KaTrian

    KaTrian A foolish little beast. Contributor

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    Harry Potter :( It was satisfying, all right, but I think I puked in my mouth a bit. Maybe it doesn't make it crappy, then, but at least it wasn't a good one, afaic.
     
  17. T.Trian

    T.Trian Overly Pompous Bastard Supporter Contributor

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    I actually never finished the 5th book of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and it's an on-going series, but with all of the interesting (to me) characters dead, it kinda has to have a crappy ending from my perspective. And some of my favorite characters (7 altogether) met crappy endings. I don't mean their deaths were particularly gruesome (I guess you could say some were), but some felt just pointless; deaths that the characters could've avoided if they hadn't been so incredibly stupid in that one situation while they had survived so many, much worse situations. Some of them just didn't make sense from a logical standpoint.

    I, for one, didn't really enjoy the ending of The Dark Tower. I did like the first 4 books though. To me, the ending was, well, a bit stale and uneffective. I mean, I don't even remember much of the ending whereas I do remember the 5-6 first books and their endings, but then again, the series went downhill after Wizard, so there wasn't much the ending could salvage anyway.
     
  18. shunoshi

    shunoshi Member

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    I've actually heard this from so many people that I actually stopped reading The Dark Tower after book 4. I really can't see any reason to continue on.
     
  19. aikoaiko

    aikoaiko Senior Member

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    I recently read a few of the novels by Diana Gabaldon, and have basically given up on them. The first book (Outlander) was okay, but I could have done without that ending. Then by the time I got to the third or fourth I had had enough for sure and was getting disgusted already. I guess they're classified as historical fiction (mostly), and I certainly appreciate the degree of research that went into them, but most definitely fell into the category of 'I wanted to throw this book at the wall' by the time I was finished reading it. :(:(
     
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  20. T.Trian

    T.Trian Overly Pompous Bastard Supporter Contributor

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    @shunoshi, you won't miss much.
     
  21. We Are Cartographers

    We Are Cartographers Active Member

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    Last edited: Jul 15, 2014
  22. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Iron Council by China Miéville. I've always known that Miéville is a very political creature and in the first two books of his Bas Lag series, which were very, very, very good, there were hints to this, no doubt. The handlingers, both dextrier and sinistrier were obvious metaphors. The Weaver. But in Iron Council he went full bore, and it only got thicker as the story went on. Even the fact that the protagonist was of LGBT interest, which he handled really rather well, was not really enough to hold me. I almost didn't finish it. It was like pulling teeth.
     
  23. Revilo87

    Revilo87 Member

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    Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows (series ending), like seriously there's better fan fic endings than the ending JK gave
     
  24. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Actually I threw the FIRST book at the wall, but that's another story...

    Totally agree with every word. Eddard's death was fantastic, served a purpose, got the story really going. But after that? Seems Martin was introducing characters just to kill them off, while the one character I would have like to see DIE early on was that wussy Danerys—who is still alive and kicking, if rumours are true. 7 books now, and still no end in sight. Still lots of people to kill, never mind the new ones he'll doubtless introduce. Shame. A really talented writer, lost in the maze of his own plotting shintangle.
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2014

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