But generally, when presented with a movie or a book that doesn't fall into the predefined "expected predictability" category, I like being surprised. I don't like the ability to predict the end within the first twenty minutes of a movie, the first half of a book, the first ten minutes of a TV show.
Interestingly, today I encountered two things that I easily predicted the ends for. One was a TV show, one was a book.
The TV show was this week's "House, MD" which I'm not going to spoil but I am going to say I felt it was better than last week's episode...even though I predicted the ending in a very thorough manner before half of the events of the show had even happened.
The book was "Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger. It's her second novel, her first being "The Time Traveler's Wife" which maintains its spot as Steff's Favorite Book Ever. So I did go in expectant, I'll admit, but not so much expecting the true emotional grip that her first novel had (and still has) on me. Not too many authors can achieve that twice, especially since a lot of good authors blow their load entirely on their first novel and spend the rest of their careers trying to live up to it.
It's not a bad novel, mind. I'd recommend it. It's written in the same cadence as her first novel, which makes it a fun read and hard to put down (obviously; I bought my copy something like fifteen hours ago). But I knew about halfway through the book that it wasn't going to end in a manner that would please me. This is not to say that all books should please me; I'm generally classifiable as a peculiar person and I know damn well the world does not revolve around me. But. The ending was simply not satisfying to me. True, it was an Ending -- solid and obvious and with no desire to see any more of the character's lives afterwards. Which I suppose is what bugs me; I've always felt that a good novel should leave you wanting more -- a satisfaction tinged with desire, longing. I feel the same way about movies: end it, but leave the audience wanting to know what happens afterwards, no matter how poignant the ending may be. Give them characters they love and want more of, even when it's over.
But, like I said: it's a decent book, it's just not great. It reminds me strongly of Neil Gaiman's stuff -- reality tinged with surreality and mysteries; no real explanation, just kind of throwing you in there -- but that could be just because it takes place in England. There were moments I adored, truly, and moments that brought a tear to my eye -- but they were short, temporary, and didn't go as deep as they could have. I was always vaguely reminded of some of Stephen King's stuff, which always leaves me with a kind of raw, riled up but burned out, unsatisfied feeling when I finish it.
Of course, this is an immediate opinion. I did just finish reading it, and perhaps in the morning my opinion will have softened, morphed, changed. Likewise, a second (or third) read may lend itself to a warmer review.
"Her Fearful Symmetry" by Audrey Niffenegger - Get from the library, borrow from a friend, or wait for softcover. Worth a read, but definitely an "acquired taste" sort of novel.
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