The Last Line

[Andrea]

Okay, it wasn't a great book, but I was all set to be happy enough to have read it till I reached the last sentence. The last half-sentence, to be precise. ";but just at the wrong moment I catch a glimpse of the night sky behind David, and I can see that there's nothing out there at all."

I'm baffled. Any clues? I get the whole family moment thing, we have many of those and they are well worth the trouble, but what was the nothing all about? Did David fall out the window, just as she thought she could be happy? It doesn't seem so, since the night sky is behind David. Is there no spark afterall? Is life destined to be an endless feeling of just nothingness, not caring, the spark didn't in fact start the battery? Is the nothingness supposed to be symbolic, a reference to something I missed?

[Sara]

What I took away from this last bit was maybe that it's just not that simple. It takes more than a single spark to sustain a battery, a marriage, or a family. And "just at the wrong moment"--- the moment when the spark could have caught, she lets her attention get turned away. With all the spiritual leanings in this book, I took it as a vague reference to "be here now." How easy it is to just acknowledge these moments rather than to fully live into them. It's much easier to look out the window, to look away.

I think this ending is open to many interpretations. I'd love to hear what others made of it.

[Melissa]

I also read the last line a bunch of times. At first I totally thought he was going to fall out the window and that would be that. But maybe the nothingness out there has to do with a "grass is always greener" reference? Like she spends the whole book thinking she wants a divorce, she's lost her interests, she imagines this exciting life as a divorcee... but actually there's nothing better out there. She has her family here and now, and if she was to leave, it would just be new problems on her own.

I'm not sure... I thought the ending was a little off from the rest of the tone of the book, but yeah, I kind of felt like I missed something too. I totally loved the rest of it.

[Angel]

I found that last night very disconcerting. Almost to the point of making me angry. There are moments of sparks in their marriage, but the battery is dead.

[Cagne]

That ending reminds me of something i saw recently in the episode S03E05 of Louie, but yeah, +1 on the "it's not going to be easy".

[Sooz888]

Oh good - I thought it was just me left dangling by the final sentence...guess it was deliberate, then to keep everyone guessing. Doubt it's a cliffhanger for a sequel, though. Not enough interesting content to warrant that?

[David]

As I just finished the book, I started to search for any explanation for this. The last paragraph has such a positive feel but the last sentence is standing against for it. That was my interpretation and it is a turn down in my opinion. It's really possible he made this for reason; let her ambivalent feelings kept going on.The Hopes mixed with doubts. Or he wanted to leave for us how we' d believe?

[Treadstone]

I also found the ending disconcertingly at odds with the rest of the book but in very thought-provoking way... For me, the glimpse into darkness behind the family symbolised a deeper existential crises of which the marriage difficulties, disillusionment with her job and questioning of herself as a "good person" may have been symptoms. Her self-image and meaning that had been predicated on being a good person in her role as a doctor and left-leaning middle class values had been largely eroded as far as I can make out by her inability to connect emotionally with her patients, her husband and children.

[WendyGwen]

Treadson’s comment resonates the most with me as well as the earlier comment a reader made about the character’s difficulty living in the moment... but yes I still feel disconcerted. Will take me a long while to sort out where to land on this one.

[Rosaleen]

Reminded me of the metaphor of The knife wound that is best treated with leaving the knife in place. It might hurt like mad but it staunches the blood. Maybe family is the same.

I think the together family scene is a sharp contrast to the nothing beyond. It’s not cosy, they are literally holding on to David for dear life. Anchoring each other. Mutually dependent but surviving the nothing beyond.

[Ralph]

I loved the book. My interpretation of that last sentence (he does not fall)… at the wrong moment means that if she looks again there might be some sparks some stars, she looks quickly to hold on to him and misses what will happen back there, there is still some hope, but she is happy to hang on to what she has now.

[Gazza]

Ralph wrote: "I loved the book. My interpretation of that last sentence (he does not fall)… at the wrong moment means that if she looks again there might be some sparks some stars, she looks quickly to hold on t..."

I think that's a very optimistic interpretation. I can't see that at all. It's open to a degree of interpretation but it's not a fairytale ending as far as I can see.

[Gazza]

I just finished this book and the first thing I did was google to find out what people made of the ending. Glad to see I'm not the only one a wee bit confused and disappointed.
On the whole I enjoyed the book but didn't love it. It's set very much in the real world so as soon as GoodNews came into it it felt like a bit of a jarring tone change and that mysticism side of things never sat comfortably with me - I was expecting a proper explanation later on about GoodNews' 'gift' that never came. And yeah, I didn't know what to expect near the end but that final paragraph/sentence was unexpectedly bleak and disconcerting. At first I thought she was going to let David fall but really I think she's just resigned to a life of unhappiness and alienation from her family. I wasn't necesarily expecting a happy ending but I certainly wasn't expecting such a depressing down turn.

[Eileen]

This was such a relatable view of a marriage on the brink of collapse, but the last line sent me looking for someone else's deep interpretation of the ending.

Best I can figure is that it tries to hint that the family stays nuclear, but that even while acknowledging that they have moments where they come together as a unit, those moments aren't really enough. Rather bleak.

(I was all in favor of the bedsit/studio apartment in their neighborhood. She needed to tell the kids and put that desire to be good into a strong co-parenting plan. Maybe we've just had 20 more years worth of change between publication and my reading for divorce to stop seeming like the end of the world for kids? Just committing to an hour of daily self-time for the next 15 years to cope with a loveless marriage after infidelity? Pass.)

[Bonnie]

Katie, find your inner child & just kick it out that window - find your own wings out of necessity & fly thru the dark. There's Good in us living our own best life each day that we try. Building a strong battery to persevere inevitable obstacles & find joy after sadness. The constellations still remain despite her final quick negative view. Katie, get a compass along with the used books & CD's. This book rates 5*s by me & helped to locate my humor bone while also pondering Stuff.

One's postal code/status doesn't help to solve the human quest for Life's Meaning. We're all in this together & we're also all alone, too. Religion might comfort & guide one with this dilemma.

Katie craves alone time but fears The Unknown. Hornby blends psycho-dynamics w/religion. There's a Bible Psalm Good News.

As an individual, am I crafting my future with positive beliefs? Gratefully aware of the present? Courage & confidence from self-awareness benefiting decision choices?

Emergency/crisis extra supply batteries of Faith vs. The Unknown. Climate Change? The Good News is all of us united together. The way Katie's family was at the end - For The Good of The Whole.