"And then she woke up."

[tsukikage]

from officialgaiman

Ever read something really interesting that ended with a disappointing "And he woke up. It had all been a dream"? Normally it tends to be an incredibly irritating ending to a good book or short story, because it breaks part of the compact between reader and writer, that, in fiction, you're being told something that matters, and that you'll care about, and which will have consequences, and won't leave you feeling cheated.

Amen. I've never before realized why I hate those endings, but Neil's got it.

Comments

[tiernsshadow.livejournal.com]

Exactly. There are indeed unwritten compacts between reader and writer, as he says.

Like, don't kill off your comic relief. God, I hate it when people try to do that. If he's the comic relief, he represents the humor and hope in the world! You don't kill the hope! Gah!

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

*nods enthusiastically* Evil script-writer-peoples.