Epilogues

Submitted by Ok-Dirt8743 t3_z7s319 in books

Alright, I definitely thought that I didn’t have a pet peeve when it came to reading. I enjoy books from multiple genres and nothing has really bothered me, until this week.

In the last month I have read It Starts With Us (gasp a CoHo lover 😂) and Book Lovers by Emily Henry. Both books have these epilogues at the end with a fast forward glimpse of the future. It irks me that they are like “snapshots,” they are just too short! It makes the ending feel rushed and incomplete!

Anybody else feel this way? Is it just this genre maybe?

TL;DR: Short epilogues create abrupt endings that feel incomplete.

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SAT0725 t1_iy8lpsz wrote

I think you're looking at epilogues the wrong way (if there is a "wrong" way). Epilogues aren't meant to be an ending; epilogues are what happens AFTER the ending. So if it feels like an abrupt ending, that's because it's not an ending. It's just a "Hey, this is what happened later, after the story was over."

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jhhtheu t1_iy84oyx wrote

I like a short epilogue as long as the book's central story has already wrapped up nicely. In that case it's a bonus that gives the curious reader a look at the future without bloating the plot structure of the main text.
I just finished Philip K. Dick's Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said which gives a quick summary of where the characters and institutions end up in a few years; it's important for reinforcing the book's social commentary while maintaining the power of the central story by keeping it streamlined.

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krokett-t t1_iy7xj7w wrote

I think it very much depends on the story. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, had a relatively short epilogue (if my memory serves me right), but it was crucial for the story.

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cloudwalker0909 t1_iy851s4 wrote

When I finished the last chapter of crime and punishment I was moved to tears and thought I had just read a masterpiece. Then I read the epilogue and hated it so much it almost ruined the book for me lol. I understand it was important for giving Dostoyevsky’s “answer” to the nihilism presented throughout the book. But it was so heavy handed, completely lacking any subtlety whatsoever, completely lacking humour whatsoever, and completely different in tone than the entire rest of the book while lacking everything that made the book special. Also the last chapter ended everything so perfectly it really didn’t need anything added to it imo.

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krokett-t t1_iy85lci wrote

I cen see your point and maybe it's my worldview that resonates more with Dostoevsky's, but to me the epilogue was a very nice "send off" for Raskolnikov. But as I said, I can see why it's not for everyone.

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cloudwalker0909 t1_iy86qnk wrote

Fair enough. I personally like stories ending on a more ambiguous note.

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wutttttttg t1_iy8paik wrote

Romance as a genre loves an epilogue. You are in for A LOT of them if you stay in this genre.

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