Posted on October 20, 2020 at 1:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Critic Ron Charles is no stranger to disappointing book endings.
After all, he reads his fair share of them, and people who know his occupation are more than happy to vent about ones they’ve encountered, too.
So Charles was, in spite of himself, intrigued by a recent attempt to create a list of the most disappointing book endings (at least according to Goodreads feedback).
The results underscore how even the question is subject to interpretation: A well-written and inevitable ending can (and will) nevertheless be described as disappointing because we were hoping for a different outcome.
For more of Charles’s musings on the issue of disappointing endings, head to the Washington Post, but in case you hit a paywall there, here are the results of the Goodreads survey he references.
1. Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare.
2. Atonement, by Ian McEwan.
3. Requiem, by Lauren Oliver.
4. The Sweet Far Thing, by Libba Bray.
5. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding.
6. Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson.
7. Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks.
8. Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls.
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by J.K. Rowling.
10. The Giver, by Lois Lowry.
11. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling.
12. Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer.
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Categories: Today in Books