i just finished reading the final harry potter (don't worry - i'll do my best not to put any spoilers) - and i was thoroughly contented until i came to the epilogue.
i think i have decided that i'm rather un-fond (that being the opposite of fond - apparently i am now using newspeak - i'll really try to avoid it in the future) of epilogues. sometimes, yes, they are good. but that's if they're used effectively and correctly. but ... for the most part, they seem to be used to tie up the story - wrap it in a nice neat little package, if you will.
i seem to think that the masses seem to be craving this more and more. movies are more often ending up with those nice little synopses of what happens to the characters of note in the future - and i'm finding books are doing the same thing.
isn't a book or a film or whatever medium through which the story is told supposed to just be a glimpse of what happens in people's lives. it doesn't have to be the whole thing. the necessary parts of the plot need to be there - but we don't need to see each person's life to conclusion. is this just an extension of "happily ever after"? do we not trust "happily ever after" any more? instead do we need to be told exactly how happily ever after happened (or how the unlikeable character got his or her - for lack of a better expression - just desserts?)
perhaps it's just again the confusion of story telling and writing ... the two are not necessarily the same thing. a good writer doesn't *have* to be a good storyteller - the beauty of the prose and the imagery in and of itself can be enough to carry a book (for me - this is the wonder that is ondaatje) ... and a good storyteller doesn't have to be a good writer in order to become popular (the best example of this, i think, has to be the da vinci code, which i will not go as far to admit whether or not i have read, here).
i guess it comes down to what you're using the medium for. are you appreciating the art that went into crafting the piece ... or do you want pure plot and escapism? and why, oh why, do these two things seem to be increasingly separated? or am i just becoming increasingly sensitive to it and, dare i say, cynical?
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3 comments:
Epilogue...
...and Melissa and her fedora lived happily ever after.
Although I haven't read any Harry Potter, the 'idea' of Harry Potter that I have is a very plot-driven story. Thus Harry Potter's popularity with children. Thus Harry Potter's marketing mega-machine that continued the story through 7 books. Thus Harry Potter's easy conversion into movie material.
Thus Harry Potter's epilogue.
i wouldn't say that i'm surprised about the harry epilogue ... just disappointed. it wouldn't be as bad if it were actually a good epilogue ... but it's not. for me ... it made the book worse and it's bad when a few page epilogue can do that.
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