tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post1452681478572975664..comments2023-11-05T05:01:58.563-05:00Comments on Ward Six: Gimme some happyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-81490914611756478732011-03-22T17:01:09.671-05:002011-03-22T17:01:09.671-05:00Hey--my longer comment got eaten by the blog. So ...Hey--my longer comment got eaten by the blog. So I'll try to keep it short this time . . .<br /><br />Why do you describe "happy ending" and "Republican" as opposites? I think the usual assumption is that Republicans like Mom, apple pie, Norman Rockwell, and happy endings, while Democrats enjoy non-representational art, transgression, unhappy endings, and edginess in general.<br /><br />Also, I'm surprised you describe Stuart Little as having a happy ending. I remember, as a kid, being upset by Stuart Little's indeterminate ending. I think it was the first book I read that <em>didn't</em> have an unequivocally happy ending.Andrew Gelmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02715992780769751789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-27631591165654257962011-03-20T12:53:55.772-05:002011-03-20T12:53:55.772-05:00Franny and Zooey (considered as a book) has a happ...Franny and Zooey (considered as a book) has a happy ending. Remember the Fat Lady? Professor Tupper? Christ? "For some minutes, before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, [Franny] just lay quiet, smiling at the ceiling."Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08700077737827482112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-13255704381214778582011-03-20T07:55:20.155-05:002011-03-20T07:55:20.155-05:00JRL - Love this post. How about - maybe the first ...JRL - Love this post. How about - maybe the first happy ending in a gay novel - Patricia Highsmith (writing under the pen name Claire Morgan) "The Price of Salt." She got fan mail for years and years thanking her for the happy ending....It was written in the fifties.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09019673399837993232noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-80890882278516944572011-03-19T23:34:06.353-05:002011-03-19T23:34:06.353-05:00It's funny literature is so downbeat, because ...It's funny literature is so downbeat, because Hwood is ALL about the happy endings.<br /><br />You can't even have a sociopathic monster anymore without a redemption arc. See: the wussification of the supernatural. <br /><br />So even though I confess to bawling over that Anna Karenina quote, overall, I'm actually wishing for a few more bitter takeaways.Sashahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901858502467579784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-63601907488493859072011-03-18T14:19:41.210-05:002011-03-18T14:19:41.210-05:00Funny enough, but I just began re-reading *Stuart ...Funny enough, but I just began re-reading *Stuart Little* and *Charlotte's Web* for a course I'm teaching in the fall. I was struck how these books were "allowed" happy endings in ways that adult novels are not.georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09582484437034521599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-2571936291018166542011-03-18T10:23:21.025-05:002011-03-18T10:23:21.025-05:00As an aside: it's this work of trying to confr...As an aside: it's this work of trying to confront and transform what feels wrong about ourselves and/or our lives that seems to be a major difference between literature and entertainment.Gingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-82584266368700576222011-03-18T10:11:44.353-05:002011-03-18T10:11:44.353-05:00A few reasons, just off the top of my head, why se...A few reasons, just off the top of my head, why serious fiction might tend toward unhappy, or at least complicated endings:<br /><br />1. I think maybe it's harder (even as readers) to experience/empathize with other people's happiness when we're in pain than vice versa.<br /><br />2. Our own happiness, when it occurs, requires perhaps less literary affirmation. That is, it doesn't evoke the same desire to question, probe, and seek solace in reading or writing as the various pains we're eager to fix.<br /><br />3. Real joy springs from our connections with others, whereas pain and sadness are isolating. If what we're seeking when we read and write is an escape from solipsism, opening up the places where our most profound isolation occurs may counter our loneliness better than the already communal ground of happiness. <br /><br />So yeah, a happy conclusion that doesn't alienate the reader seems exceedingly difficult to pull off. And definitely worthy of respect.Gingernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-13546662635988872292011-03-18T07:54:32.127-05:002011-03-18T07:54:32.127-05:00What I want to know is this- can a novel be funny ...What I want to know is this- can a novel be funny without some bad business happening to the main character? (Probably, but it's early and I can't think of any.)5 Red Pandashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15625556395114591952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-84343157254526082512011-03-18T04:30:37.938-05:002011-03-18T04:30:37.938-05:00Yeah, you're like, "But she's just a ...Yeah, you're like, "But she's just a LITTLE GIRL!"<br /><br />I suddenly remembered Laurie Colwin's novel Happy All The Time, which I remember liking--it's about happy people, period. But I don't recall how it ends.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-39589157636248985592011-03-18T00:39:03.209-05:002011-03-18T00:39:03.209-05:00I wept like whoa when Laura got married.I wept like whoa when Laura got married.bigscarygiraffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16806095510307166962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-74849244631972013412011-03-17T23:09:41.149-05:002011-03-17T23:09:41.149-05:00http://storiesandnovels.com/facts-about-blakeyhttp://storiesandnovels.com/facts-about-blakeyFranz Neumannhttp://storiesandnovels.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-49844158987136418022011-03-17T20:06:37.614-05:002011-03-17T20:06:37.614-05:00The final chapter of _Anna Karenina_ (the very las...The final chapter of _Anna Karenina_ (the very last sentence). Also, the final paragraphs of _Howards End_:<br /><br />Margaret was silent. Something shook her life in its inmost recesses, and she shivered.<br /><br />"I didn't do wrong, did I?" he asked, bending down.<br /><br />"You didn't, darling. Nothing has been done wrong."<br /><br />From the garden came laughter. "Here they are at last!" exclaimed Henry, disengaging himself with a smile. Helen rushed into the gloom, holding Tom by one hand and carrying her baby on the other. There were shouts of infectious joy.<br /><br />"The field's cut!" Helen cried excitedly--"the big meadow! We've seen to the very end, and it'll be such a crop of hay as never!"Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-54459580902275582702011-03-17T17:51:27.306-05:002011-03-17T17:51:27.306-05:00Absolutely. From a painting prospective - those w...Absolutely. From a painting prospective - those who can capture happy expressions in a painting are also badass.Macnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-21483645900253702162011-03-17T17:16:53.987-05:002011-03-17T17:16:53.987-05:00polarity? hmm.
moving on...polarity? hmm. <br /><br />moving on...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-75121006051208708032011-03-17T17:13:11.188-05:002011-03-17T17:13:11.188-05:00I absolutely agree that those who can successfully...I absolutely agree that those who can successfully pull off a happy ending are badass. <br /><br />Happiness seems to have lost itself in the ironic or oblivious or absurd (or some combination of the three). I cannot think of one novel or film I enjoy that employs happiness in a sincere light.<br /><br />Maybe it's an issue of polarity. I can stick with a story (in any medium) that errs on the dismal side, but I find those that lean strongly towards sentimentality are un -readable/-watchable. <br /><br />Interesting topic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com