Why I Love Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Alexis at Reflections of a Bookaholic. Every Wednesday, she discusses a different literary topic. The topic this week is your favorite type of ending.
Why I Love . . . Epilogues
It's been so long since I've participated in Why I Wednesdays. My last WILW post was in October! But I'm happy to be taking part in this again. This is a great meme that can lead to interesting discussions on so many bookish topics.
Anyways, in this post I want to talk about my love for epilogues. I love it when I get to see what the characters are like and what they're up to years later. Not enough authors do this. I mainly see epilogues in the romance novels I like to read (Susan Elizabeth Phillips often includes a short epilogue in her books). I was so happy to find an epilogue at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. That was the first time I can remember seeing an epilogue in a young adult novel, and I don't think I've come across another since then, which is a shame. Epilogues really should be utilized in fiction more often. It was great seeing Harry, Ron and Hermione all grown up with kids of their own! It seems that quite a few fans disliked that last chapter though, saying that it read too much like fanfiction, so obviously not everyone cares about reading about favorite characters in future years, and I'm sure there are many who would prefer to use their own imagination and come up with their own ideas about how those characters' lives turned out.
My opinion: It's all fiction anyway, so if you don't like what the author wrote in his or her epilogue, you can easily disregard it and come up with your own ending, which would be just as legitimate. I think it'd just be interesting to read how the author imagines these characters' lives panning out and see that they really did have a happily ever after.
My opinion: It's all fiction anyway, so if you don't like what the author wrote in his or her epilogue, you can easily disregard it and come up with your own ending, which would be just as legitimate. I think it'd just be interesting to read how the author imagines these characters' lives panning out and see that they really did have a happily ever after.
You are so right! Epilogues are wonderful because you get to skip forward. I also agree that it is easy to skip if the reader prefers. I think you picked the best ending of all. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you! I like Epilogues too :) I like the one in the end of The Hunger Games trilogy! It was so good to see Katniss and Peeta after so many year and see who she still feels about the hunger games :)
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