Do you ever read the last word, of the last sentence, on the last page of a book and feel a little sad? A little loss?
If you're an avid book reader, the chances are that you have experienced, with at least one book, what has been colloquially called a "book hangover". It's that slight sadness that the story is over, the characters are gone, and you can never discover them for the first time again. It's gone forever.
There's something about a good book, a good story. It requires your time and your attention. A really good story might just change your mind about a few things, or at least challenge some preconceived notions. But, then again, it might just hold you tight in its embrace, and reassure you of the goodness of you and life. Whatever the story and its message, if you've found something between the covers that has captured you, it is understandable that, when you reach that last page, you could be left a little shaken.
Often it is works of fiction that have this effect. When the reader goes on a journey with the characters, and the journey comes to an end, and the reader has to go on beyond the book. Has to sort through the feelings the work has left them with.
Good art is supposed to have an emotional impact, or challenge ideas. It is not absurd that you should leave a book feeling a little shaken, or otherwise effected.
Kazuo Ishiguro, Aldous Huxley, and Jonas Jonasson have all gifted me - and probably some of you too - with books that I didn't want to end. As have many other wonderful writers.
I am currently reading Oscar Wilde by Richard Ellman, a Pulitzer Prize winning biography of the famous Victorian poet, author and playwright. I have read it before, but it is well worth reading again.
I tell you this because some of the books that have most effected me, as I have closed the books' cover on the final page, have been biographies. Almost feeling as though I had lived the life of the subject right along with them - I can only imagine how the biographers themselves must feel! - and that feeling of loss at the last page is keener, for me, because it was real. The people in the pages had lived real lives. Especially when the ending is somewhat tragic, as we know it was for Wilde.
When I was younger I was a little obsessed with Marilyn Monroe for a time, and I read a number of biographies about her. They made me wish that there was a heaven, or that time travel could be possible. I had similar feelings when I read a biography of Bill Hicks, the American comedian, later on. The books left me wishing that I could have met them, or at least see them perform. But then, perhaps that's one of the marks of a good biography.
What about you? Which books have left you feeling a sense of loss? With the joy of having read the book, but a sadness for having reached the end?
Drop some titles in the comments!
Thank you for reading. Before you go, can I please ask you to consider supporting this blog with a coffee from ko-fi.com - the caffeine gets me through those book hangovers, and returning to the keyboard!
Though this blog is affiliated with a couple of booksellers, I have resisted putting ad space in these blog posts as much as possible. I write about books because I have a passion for books - as simple as that. I would prefer that that shines through, rather than this being a space geared towards selling a product to consumers. I'd rather generate discussion that sales.
But it would be unrealistic of me, trying as I am to pursue writing work, if I didn't seek some remuneration for the research, writing, proofreading, etc. that goes into every piece of content. So, if you can, you can support this blog on ko-fi.com - thank you to every reader and supporter! Thank you!
No comments:
Post a Comment