the thing that frustrates me the most about novels is their endings. although every ending is different, it's usually a similar idea: to tie things together and leave the reader feeling somewhat satisfied. or even, often, to leave the reader with some sort of moral, to make the reader feel as if they have learned something great and profound from having read the novel. but i think that's bullshit. i find it frustrating to read a novel. you can always tell when you're nearing the end because the tone shifts slightly. it shifts to that, "okay quick, let's make sure every issue is resolved," kind of mindset. i know it's just fiction but i always want to know what happens after the novel is over. it isn't realistic, if i told a story of a series of events in my life, it would never end that way. because our life stories don't have set beginnings middles and ends, rather they flow together in one long continuous loop of ups and downs. i won't put up with another lame ending telling me everything worked out for the best. how do i know that the page after the last page of my novel doesn't contain the gory details of the main characters' death? so there. fiction is fiction, i know, and i'm sure that most novels will continue to end this way. so i guess i will just have to continue feeling frustrated until the day i write my own novel and can end it however i darn well please.
