Sobbing on the Pages
I've never been much for sob stories. Of course, great literature tends to be tragic, and some of those stories are on my list of all-time favorites. I love reading versions of the King Arthur legend, for example, but I know that I'll be sad at the end because that "fleeting wisp of glory" could not sustain itself in the face of Man's corruption.
The best tragedies offer us some kind of hope, but even so, as I've gotten older, I find myself reading fewer books that I know can't end well. I just gave up on both THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE and ALICE I HAVE BEEN. It might have been a bad decision, but both books seemed sad on so many levels that I didn't want to read them.
Book buyers today seem to love the oh-my-god-how-tragic thing, but I think it's really hard for the authors of such stories not to descend into the maudlin. And since they tend to make me maudlin as well, I'd just as soon read a good detective novel, where I know that Truth and Justice will triumph in the end.
The best tragedies offer us some kind of hope, but even so, as I've gotten older, I find myself reading fewer books that I know can't end well. I just gave up on both THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE and ALICE I HAVE BEEN. It might have been a bad decision, but both books seemed sad on so many levels that I didn't want to read them.
Book buyers today seem to love the oh-my-god-how-tragic thing, but I think it's really hard for the authors of such stories not to descend into the maudlin. And since they tend to make me maudlin as well, I'd just as soon read a good detective novel, where I know that Truth and Justice will triumph in the end.
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