Some of my writing group reading THE LINEUP.I first read THE LITTLE STRANGER (Sarah Waters) last year and was both enthralled but somewhat mystified by its ending. I wonder if anyone stopping by here has read it. I began following comments on it, right here. My guess is there are discussions in other places as well.
This is one of the gifts of the Internet. That you can find people who've read the same book you have and get their take on it. After some thought, I believe I understand the ending. But lots of th
e commenters on here saw it differently.Most books are not as ambiguous as THE LITTLE STRANGER. Or are there ones you found enigmatic? What book's ending puzzled you?
4 comments:
I've commented before--both here and elsewhere--that I thought the last 50 pages of THE LITTLE STRANGER deflated everything that had come before it. It wasn't the ambiguity that bothered me, it was the sense that Waters didn't know which way to go with the story and just ran out of steam. Either way you decide to read the ending (supernatural forces versus embittered human ones), it leaves too many unanswered questions.
I had to think about it a long time before I came to the conclusion she left it up to the reader to decide what it was that was going on. I enjoy reading what people make of it on that site. It almost lets the reader become part of the narrative. I can understand your frustration however. In general I like a tightly structured plot. But once in a while...
I haven't read it. There is much I still need to get.
I admit to getting rather tired of The Little Stranger by the end - too long and drawn out leaking out the tension that had been built up at the beginning. It was only towards the end that I began to realise who was the problem. But I did enjoy the social commentary and historical setting very much. I wrote more about it on my blog - here.
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