Endings
Jo Beverley
>
>On a broader note I don't often give a lot of thought to what happens
>after the end of a novel. Romances all have happy endings, and that's
>one of the reasons I like them and read them. Many characters in
>romances are unrealistic and that doesn't bother me. I don't read them for
>realism.
>
>Christina
Ah, Christina, you bring up something I was thinking a lot about recently,
and I don't think I raised it here. I've decided that among the many types
of romance readers there are the "happy ending" readers and the "happy
ever after" readers.
The HE readers, shut the book and never think about what happens next. The
HEA readers absolutely need to be convinced that this love will endure and
that this couple can handle life and stick together.
I think it makes a difference to the books we like. I'm a HEA and many
books that people rave about don't work for me because I'm thinking,
"First time the baby has colic, that guy's going to lose it." Or, "That
heroine is such an emotional mess she'll drive him nuts within 5 years."
Or, "When he's balding or she puts on weight, it's over."
Comments? Anyone know they fit into one or the other?
Jo :)
--
Jo Beverley, JO.B on GEnie
Judith M. Gourdji
Jo: You are absolutely right! I am definitely a HEA and that's why the
ending of Grand Passion bothered me so much. I am so glad you made it
clear to me. I do choose books with people whom I feel can make it
together forever. My favorite heroes and heroines have to be mature with
a lot of self understanding. Now I also understand myself better.
Thanks. Judy
Sue Smiley
In Message Sun, 20 Mar 1994 13:14:16 EST,
Jo Beverley <ab...@freenet.carleton.ca> writes:
>Comments? Anyone know they fit into one or the other?
Jo,
I'm definitely a HEA-type which, at least in my case, that is the way I
experience *my* fantasies. I guess that's why I enjoy reading "sequels" so
much since in most cases I am reaffirmed in the "ever after" of so many
couples that I have learned to care for. Of course, some authors offer us
this look into the future with well-placed epilogues which tie things up
very nicely -- Elizabeth Lowell is a good example.
However, I can remember one instance of a follow-up which sent me into a
great depression. It had nothing to do with the relationship not enduring
but with what I thought was *extreme* trauma dealt to them over the years.
I am referring to Susan Johnson's couple in _Blaze_ (can't remember the
names) who appear in the next book about their only remaining child
(_Silver Flame_). As it turns out they had *five* children of their
marriage but *four* of them died at some time during their early
childhoods. I really had a difficult time accepting all the pain involved
with this and found it hard to focus on the story at hand. Wow, their
"happily ever after" was certainly qualified! It almost made me wish I
hadn't read either one of those books.
Sue Smiley :-)
Cindy Davies
Jo Beverley (ab...@freenet.carleton.ca) wrote:
: Ah, Christina, you bring up something I was thinking a lot about recently,
: and I don't think I raised it here. I've decided that among the many types
: of romance readers there are the "happy ending" readers and the "happy
: ever after" readers.
I agree, and I like the names you came up with.
...
: I think it makes a difference to the books we like. I'm a HEA and many
: books that people rave about don't work for me because I'm thinking,
: "First time the baby has colic, that guy's going to lose it." Or, "That
: heroine is such an emotional mess she'll drive him nuts within 5 years."
: Or, "When he's balding or she puts on weight, it's over."
: Comments? Anyone know they fit into one or the other?
I have read so many books that I finish, and toss into the "off to the
used bookstore pile" while muttering I'll give them six months tops...
This is one of the reasons I have a problem with the stories where the
couple has broken up/divorced over some little thing. What assurance can
you give me that they aren't going to split up again the minute there is a
problem.
It's bad enough when the "fight" was before the story starts, but when you
have them settled HEA at the end of the first book, and you pick up a new
one, and you find that they've blown it. Grrrr. What do I have to do to
get you people settled???
This probably explains my difficulty with soaps.
: Jo :)
: --
: Jo Beverley, JO.B on GEnie
--
Cindy L. Davies clda...@silver.sdsmt.edu clda...@nyx.cs.du.edu
Carol Prescott
Jo--
Count me among the HEA crowd. I'm NEVER satisfied if at the end of the book ho
rmones are all that are keeping our happy couple together; I need to know that
whatever they've learned about themselves and each other over the course of the
romance will help them to sustain a forever relationship.
I've never actually thought about it in these terms, but I do believe you have
codified the difference between a keeper and a book I donate to Friends of the
Library.
Carik
Tamar Bihari
It seems like most of us are the happy ever after types. I know I am! If
a couple have been fighting bitterly through the entire story, I have
trouble accepting that they will have a good relationship in the land
beyond the page. And I too like seeing couples pop up in other books by
the same author.
One peeve of mine, though, on this front: I hate when we
see a couple who we've gotten to know real well in "their own" novel
acting genericallly "happy" in another book. Sometimes it's like they
have no identities anymore. Their individual characters are gone --
they're in "happy ever after" land. Not that I want to see them going
through the angst of their early relationship! But any real marriage has
its ups and downs, agreements, disagreements, compromises... I'd prefer
to see some of that. The book that I can think of that does this the best
is Jo's _Forbidden_. I haven't read the other Rogue books, but I could
get a sense of what the other characters were like, and I could believe in
their relationships. Another author who does this pretty well, and whose
name I haven't seen mentioned here yet is Jill Marie Landis. I haven't
read the first of the trilogy, but I do think the characters from _Rose_
act consistently and believably in _Come Spring_, and their relationship
is clearly nurturing and good.
Just my 2c on the subject.
Tamar
(tam...@netcom.com)
Tracey Amey
About this whole "HE" and "HEA" thing - has anything ever been written about
a couple who surmount all odds, fall in love, and then one of them (I'd love
to see it be the woman) says, "I love you- but I gotta go see what this thing
called life is all about" and they separate. THEN, some years later, they
meet again, and we take the story from there.
I'm talking about a story where there isn't a problem or a misunderstanding
that separates them, just a case of one saying, "I have to go see what is
like on my own?"
Tracey Amey
ta...@cap.gwu.edu