Do you prefer fictional stories when they have a happy end?

[noname223]

Today I finished The Broom of the System. The ending did not satisfy me. As in many David Foster Wallace stories there is a lot of room for speculations.
His stories often have no happy ending. I am not sure what bothers me more the open questions or the fact there is no happy end. At the same time when there are so many open questions are we really sure there is no happy end? I had the feeling the book did a big joke on its readers with this ending. The joke is on you.
I like deep and philosophical books but I think to fully understand this book I would need degree in both philosophy and literature. And this book was way easier to understand than Infinite Jest. Something I might start soon.

The main protagonist was pretty neurotic, struggled with love, was anxious and had a tendency of overthinking. I could very well relate to him in many instances. This is why I was sorry for him that his girlfriend leaves him for a more attractive man. Especially because the other guy is manipulative and that's the reason why both split up. When I read the book I thought a lot about my crush and my romantic loneliness. Ironically my life also won't have an happy end. And very likely my obsession with my crush is another love delusion which will just tear apart my heart one more time. It is ironic. I hoped for an happy end for this Rick Vigorous. I also hope for a happy end in my case. But in the bopok there was none. Maybe I should stop hoping for a miracle in my case. And kill myself instead.

The stories of DFW are often so sad. It is probably one reason why I like them so much. But the sad endings get me sometimes. Except the stories where the protagonists kill themselves these stories rather comfort me because I think this is also how my life will end.

At the same time many animes have pretty mediocre happy endings. They are so corny and full of clichees. I really dislike many anime/manga endings because of that. Ironically if there is a negative ending like in Death Note I sometimes wish for a happy ending. In case of Death Note this would be Light Yagami emporer of the world. When I grew older I realized maybe this would be a bad ending either.

There are stories where happy ends fit. And sometimes it doesn't. Many mainstream movies have to often endings full of clichees. I don't watch that much anymore but I think Joker had a good end. American History X had a good ending. BReaking Bad had a good ending. All in my opinion. And there were no happy ends in these movies.

But for a story like One Piece or Detective Conan (Case Closed) a series with more than 1000 episodes there is a need for a fulfilling happy end.

What do you think?

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I prefer stories to have a satisfying end. Whether that means it ends happily or not is up to the author. If they are going to end it on a negative note then it can still feel satisfying as long as it doesn't make me go "but wait what happened to ______?" Or if the ending springs up even more questions that it's never going to answer that can be annoying too. A decent ending should at least provide some context as to what's gonna happen next even if it doesn't plan to revisit that later.

I'm talking mainly about show or movie endings here. I'm too stupid to read books anymore.

 

[Agon321]

It depends.
It's nice when some stories have a happy ending. It's just a better option in some stories.
But I wish there were more stories that didn't have a happy ending.
For example, I wish "villains" would win more often.

I most appreciate stories that do not have an obvious division into "good" and "evil". Unfortunately, this is rare.
Moral gray is very good.
We usually have good heroes and evil enemies.
In the end, our heroes win.
Even if they made some sacrifices, the end is not very bad in the end.

For example, I like the ASOIAF universe.
There is probably no happy ending in this universe.
Of course, the story is not over yet, but I don't expect a pleasant ending (whatever that means).

It all depends on the story.
I just hope that the creators will start to be more brave and creative when it comes to endings.
I'm bored with the fight between good and evil, where good always wins in the end.
Also as I mentioned above, I want more morally gray characters and stories.

 

[wCvML2]

No, I don't have a preference. An ending that is bad for the characters in the book doesn't effect the quality of the story in my opinion because it is purely fictional. So even though you get emotionally invested in them, you still get over it relatively quickly once you put the book down. I like endings that make sense, and leave you satisfied like it has been said in a comment above. And honestly most books I read have an ending that is somewhat ambiguous. I don't remember any book that has a strikingly black and white ending to it, or maybe I just personally don't consider them to be ones but it is debatable.

 

[avoid]

I enjoy the plot journey more than denouement, but the latter is still important to me. I want to be caught off guard; to be surprised by a plot twist I would never have expected. Lucky for me, I can get carried away by a story relatively easily and have trouble with predicting the ending of a story. Sometimes I manage to predict the ending and that's alright with me provided that the story is (really) good. But the latter is not the case if the story has too many clichés at which point, I often mumble and complain under my breath.

Also, as a side note, I hate a forced happy ending. Moreover, the ratio of happy endings to sad endings is so great that bad endings feel like a breath of fresh air to me. I can't remember one story where a sad ending didn't make sense or wasn't fitting, but there are plenty of stories where a happy ending made no sense at all.

 

[Superdeterminist]

No, I mostly hate happy endings. They're too idealistic and I can't relate to them remotely.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I like both in a way. I suppose the pessimist in me thinks a negative ending is more realistic. Even an ambiguous ending in a way. It feels more reflective of life sometimes if we aren't given all the answers. I'm ashamed to say I don't read much but I love thriller films with weird endings. Like the very last part of 'The Shining' that just makes you go: WTF?!! Sometimes, I really don't buy the happy ending though. That's the pessimist in me again I guess.

I find it kind of interesting when people hate the endings to things. Like- I think the ending to the series of 'Game of Thrones' wasn't universally praised. But, it's like- what would have been better? What else could have been done with the characters?

I just find it interesting in general with things like long running series that many do seem to have a prime era and some do kind of 'go off' well before they are cut. Like, they almost become a parody of themselves. It's sometimes difficult to put your finger on what makes something good or bad. Obviously, it's personal taste too. Plus- I've wandered off topic... Sorry. It's an interesting question though.

 

[floating_cloud]

It depends on the story
Happy endings are liked by a lot of people cuz its isn't something u can fuck up easily
Unless u do which isn't uncommon
Bad endings on the other hand u do need to make it in a way to let it be satisfying enough
Imo bad endings are great especially when written well since they add realism to the story
Good endings aren't that bad either as long as the author doesn't write a lazy one