Chris's comments (member since Jan 02, 2009)

Chris's comments from the All About Lulu group.

Thanks--I like what you say about wanting your characters to live on, and having your readers wonder what happens next. I remember some people liking how the penultimate chapter ended, and arguing for that to be the "real" ending, but life doesn't really "end" like that. I also suppose that your ending allows your characters to linger in your readers' minds for a while, pondering what if. Some books I finish and hardly think about again, or I never wonder what happened next. (With "The Great Gatsby," for instance, I don't really wonder much about what happens next for Nick.) With "Lulu," I do wonder, and instead of being frustrating it does feel natural.

Hi, JE. I'm mixed on the ending, but I think it fits with the rest of the novel. You play with the reader's expectations with the opening sentence--referencing the whole David Copperfield crap and the opening of "Catcher in the Rye"--but you don't do it in an annoying way. As a reader I don't feel like you're yanking my chain, just taking me down a slightly different path. It was a refreshing way to begin a novel that both acknowledged its literary predecessors and staked its own ground, so to speak.

Given that, the ending, which is a bit up in the air, isn't startling or off-base. We come full circle with the "no pain, no gain" comment. Did you have it in mind to engage the reader in some speculation about the ending--deliberately keeping the ending unclear so the reader could fill in the blank? Or did you feel the ending is clear and it's just some of us who aren't clear? I agree that most people like conclusions that tie things up...maybe not too neatly, but still wrap the narrative up. (Think of Christmas presents--some are beautifully wrapped and presented, some are sloppily shoved into gift bags, etc.) I guess I wonder what your intentions were (which means I guess I'm throwing the question back at you). I find that writing endings to stories is difficult, so I'm curious to hear your thoughts.