Change the Ending

Jane Eyre's "Reader, I did not marry him. He was a miserable old sod then and the fact that he is blind now makes no difference..." would be a very good start I think.

Just leave them alone - they are great because they are written just the way they are - if William Shakespeare had written Romeo & Juliet differently so they ended up living happily ever after, do you really think it would be considered the greatest love story of all time? No. Jen

I must say I prefer the downbeat end of the American version of Clockwork Orange to our British version, where a photo of a dribbling baby changes our jovial amoral pyscho into someone who might grow up to be a useful member of society. So, I'd change that ending, because I've had the luxury of seeing how the book ends both ways. Usually it is risky, even an ending that irks might well ruin the book if it was changed. On Jane Eyre, there is a book by Jasper Fforde about an alternate world where she doesn't get together with Rochester. I want Simon to live and the beast not to spoil things every time I read Lord of the Flies, but the horror of what comes after is what makes the book worthwhile. Likewise, I wish Orr had not vanished halfway through Catch 22, but I wouldn't want to tamper with it. I quite often listen to songs and think of a better way of wording a particular line, but not many songs have a proper storyline these days.

I thought up about 12 different endings for Apocolypse Now but then again so did Coppola and he made most of them into versions of the movie.

It's the books that don't have an ending at all that drive me mad. I can't think of one off hand - and that's precisely the point - they remain unmemorable. Ooh, just thought of one - Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo coelho -a wonderful book that finishes three pages too soon. Does she die? Is she sorted out? I want to know!

when i read memoirs of a geisha i felt very let down by the ending which seemed to go all shmaltzy and romantic ... not credible at all ...

Are you a real manic depressive or just kidding?

Are you simply a carthorse?

Twice recently.. I know that "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" divides opinion as few others, but - the very idea of Corelli returning, after such a tragedy overload (sorry, don't mean to sound flippant), seeing Pelagia with a child, thinking "Bugger, what a waste of time" and going back home to Italy without saying anything? Come on! It's hardly the natural ending - or am I just a hopeless romantic? I've not seen the film, but I've been told that it's very truncated. Hardly surprising. "Charlotte Grey" likewise: why make the romantic male lead such a cardboard character and write him out for most of the book? Bringing him back for the big ending doesn't work for me, and - come to think of it - there's another ending that's been totally changed for the forthcoming TV version. I actually enjoyed both the above, but maybe that was because I found so much that I'd have done differently. PS - they both sold millions, so I'm sure the authors are gagging for advice from an unpublished amateur!

Yes thank you Roy! I spent a week of my life reading Captain Corelli's Mandolin and thought bloomin heck what a waste of time. I was so annoyed at the ending. My sister read this book after me and loved it. She accused me of having no soul! Away to sue the author for losing a week of my life. Sarah.

It's a funny one, this divided opinion over Captain Corelli. Personally, I loved it. I thought it had so many 'big' themes e.g. how bad situations (war) can bring out both the worst (Mandras) and the best (Corelli and others whose names escape me) in people, how the whole goddam 'humanity' thing transcends patriotism etc. etc. etc. but I know so many people who just don't seem to 'get' this from the book at all. I touched on this subject in another thread with Ralph (Bateman) who described Louis de Bernieres as 'Steinbeck without the warmth and an out and out liar' or words to that effect so there's two pretty diverse opinions just to be going on with. As regards the film, I let myself be persuaded to go and see it kind of knowing what was coming. All I'll say is; if you like sentimental love stories go and see it. Don't expect it to be anything like the book except in the most superficial way. Talking of differing perceptions of books, films etc., what does everyone think of American Beauty? Again, I loved it - maybe I'm just easy to please - but loads of my mates, especially the girls, think it's dross. I probably liked it so much because everyone says I'm just like Lester Burnham (attitudes not looks - don't want to insult Kevin Spacey) so I guess I identified. Then again, my kids tell me I'm just like Homer Simpson only slightly less yellow. As I see Homer as just about the greatest HERO of modern culture I guess I can live with that. Just in case any of us ever meet in the flesh I should say right here and now, I can drink more beer than Homer, no problem.

It's a funny one, this divided opinion over Captain Corelli. Personally, I loved it. I thought it had so many 'big' themes e.g. how bad situations (war) can bring out both the worst (Mandras) and the best (Corelli and others whose names escape me) in people, how the whole goddam 'humanity' thing transcends patriotism etc. etc. etc. but I know so many people who just don't seem to 'get' this from the book at all. I touched on this subject in another thread with Ralph (Bateman) who described Louis de Bernieres as 'Steinbeck without the warmth and an out and out liar' or words to that effect so there's two pretty diverse opinions just to be going on with. As regards the film, I let myself be persuaded to go and see it kind of knowing what was coming. All I'll say is; if you like sentimental love stories go and see it. Don't expect it to be anything like the book except in the most superficial way. Talking of differing perceptions of books, films etc., what does everyone think of American Beauty? Again, I loved it - maybe I'm just easy to please - but loads of my mates, especially the girls, think it's dross. I probably liked it so much because everyone says I'm just like Lester Burnham (attitudes not looks - don't want to insult Kevin Spacey) so I guess I identified. Then again, my kids tell me I'm just like Homer Simpson only slightly less yellow. As I see Homer as just about the greatest HERO of modern culture I guess I can live with that. Just in case any of us ever meet in the flesh I should say right here and now, I can drink more beer than Homer, no problem.

I absolutely loved American Beauty and still watch in on video to this day. I would advise anyone who watched this movie and liked it, to read the script by Alan Ball. It truly adds another dimension to the story. Also just wanted to add that I did enjoy Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis de Bernieres use of language was amazing. I just found the ending slightly hard to believe. Sarah.

I do really like American Beauty, but I think because of the performances more than the story, which is not really all that striking. Lester Burnham gets all of the sympathy and the his wife comes across quite badly. There's a sense in which it is quite misogynistic. Having said that, the moment where they almost reconnect and she spoils it by worrying that he will spill beer on the sofa was one of the best small scenes I've ever seen in a cinema. Never read Captain Corelli - it just didn't appeal. I never got more than forty pages into any Gabriel Garcia Marquez without giving up in despair either. They're both what I call "Christmas-pudding prose" - very rich and dense, but too much for me. I can't write descriptive paragraphs to save my life and I always have a sort of admiration for those who can, but I prefer writers who have a more stripped-down prose style. (It's very poor, I know, to criticise something when you haven't followed it through, but in a sense, given that I almost always complete books, my inability to get to the end is itself worthy of comment. )

The French Lieutenants Woman is worth a chat here...an utterly wierd way to write and then two endings...then the film intrudes some more material....personally I don't anyone who is is up to strutting out along the Cobb at Lyme Regis in a raging storm will have a very happy ending...it's incredibly wild under those circumstances...it's wonderful but with a cloak and clinical Victorian melacholia?? ..the ending could more aptly have been at the beginning...Lots of dramatic music and Meryl Streep rushes off to the end of Cobb and tries to fly...very sad...body washed up at Seatown and found by small child...who is scarred for life by experience...