continuation.
i realized:
as i was reading, i was afraid to look to see the number of pages because it is one of the few things that bugs me more than anything to have a book ruined for me, so i didn’t look to see how many pages i had left (not that it was really dreadful to read it, just sometimes i can’t focus so i count pages and things), so i wouldn’t accidentally glance up the page and see a revealed ending.
but now, i realize that i could have looked at the end of the book
because it wasn’t anything revealing.
it wasn’t a terrific secret that kept me on the edge of me seat until the end of the book.
it was a lame ending.
with no closure, so even reading the last page pre-emptively, wouldn’t have ruined it.
inconclusive endings bother me, in case you didn’t realize…
i’m done.
April 10, 2007 @ 7:35 am
Mikala!
I am very surprised by your reaction! Please do explain what caused such an adverse response to the novel. I look forward to more details once your group has met the next checkpoint (which I believe was yesterday…so hopefully more posts will be coming soon).
Mrs. P
April 10, 2007 @ 8:55 am
Well, Mrs. Peaslee, i didn’t want to ruin the end of the book in case david hadn’t finished it because, like i mentioned before, that is something that bothers me more than anything else, but since you asked…
the book ended with her and her best friend, Tao, going to see if her lover had been captured (because they were pretty sure he was a fugitive) and his head put in a jar. allende does not tell you if it’s his head in a jar, all you know is that after seeing it Eliza says “i’m free” and walks off hand in hand with Tao. you don’t know how things ended up with the family she left, even though you got updates on them even after she was in california, and you don’t know if she is free because she saw her lover’s head in the jar and she can move on with her life and possibly love someone else or if she didn’t see his head but she can finally rest assured that she’ll never find him.
my first post i posted literally RIGHT after i finished the book, so that was my raw reaction. uncut version.
i don’t dislike the book, i still think it was a really good book. i just wish that it had ended slightly more conclusively.
April 23, 2007 @ 9:19 am
I agree with Mikala’s feelings about the book being inconclusive. The book has one of those little “P.S.” sections at the end, which makes it seem as though there are more pages left in the book then there actually are. Still, there is at least one point in the book where Allende references a conversation between Tao and Eliza when they are older and together. I suppose a basic epilogue wouldn’t have hurt the book, but aside from assuaging your concerns, Mikala, I don’t know how much more it could have done (what else can any epilogue do anyway?).
April 23, 2007 @ 11:05 am
yes, i agree zach, and i would also like to ask how in the world do you remember such small little details such as a conversation about their lives in the future?
ps-i dont care that dice-k pitched last night.