Friday, March 2, 2012

Friday Round-Up - #195






Kay Strom asks the question, "Happily Ever After - Yes or No?"

Writers & Readers: Must all the books you read/write have a HEA ending? Please elaborate.

Have a blessed weekend!


12 comments:

Karen Lange said...

I always appreciate a happy ending and I prefer books in a series that can stand alone. Thanks for the link!
Happy weekend,
Karen :)

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Karen -

I'm with you Karen. :)

Blessings,
Susan

Jaime Wright said...

I don't think ALL books must have a HEA so much as they need to satisfy me. Maybe it's a Spiritual resolve or something of that nature. Wuthering Heights for example - not a HEA - but somehow the ending stays with your forever.

Sarah Forgrave said...

I tend to fall in the HEA camp, or at least somewhere close to it. I know life isn't perfect, and even if the couple ends up together at the end, their life won't be all sunshine and roses. But it's hard for me to be satisfied if the ending leaves too much unresolved.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Jaime - I think the key in your answer is, "..they need to satisfy me." Each one of us has different ideas concerning this. For me, the heroine dying is NOT a satisfying ending.

Hi Sarah - Oh, unless the book is part of a true series, I don't like unresolved endings. They totally frustrate me.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Marja Verschoor-Meijers said...

I must be honest, I like happy endings. Nothing worse than watching a movie for hours or reading a book for days and walk away with stomach ache because of an unhappy ending :)

Jean Fischer said...

I like HEA's but a book's message is more important to me than a happy ending. I read more nonfiction than fiction, and many memoirs don't have happy endings, but they carry strong messages about life.

Happy reading!
Jean

Carol J. Garvin said...

Others have already said it... for me, an ending doesn't have to be happy so much as satisfying. Things need to be resolved so that the story seems complete. I think of Gina Holmes' "Crossing Oceans", where a death was inevitable throughout the book, but a dilemma had to be resolved.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Marja - I agree. :)

Hi Jean - I guess I'm talking primarily about fiction here. Non-fiction, especially biography, doesn't always have HEA. Fiction also covers a portion of life where many memoirs and biographies cover a lifetime.

Hi Carol - I haven't read that book yet, but have heard good things about it. I can't quite bring myself to read a story where I know the heroine will die.

Blessings,
Susan

Linda O'Connell said...

I like a happy ending but I can deal with it if I am not left hanging. I don't like book sor movies that allow the viewer to make his or her own conclusion. Thanks for dropping by my blog, Susan :)

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Linda -

Oh, I don't like to be left hanging either! Gone With The Wind is a classic, but the ending disappointed me.

Blessings,
Susan :)

quietspirit said...

Susan:
At one point in my life I disliked the memory of hearing, "And they lived happily ever after." For me life wasn't happy living.
I liked what Kay said about the ending of a story can be hopeful and not completely happy.
Recently, I have read stories that each had the hopeful ending.
Life is LIFE, not a fairy tale. Can everyone be happy every day? I hven' met anyone who can say they are. But, if the know the Lord, they have hope to be able to get through the rough spots.