# Anyone else get sad when they get near the end of a book they love?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 25, 2014, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685 "2014-01-25T13:28:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/1 "2014-01-25T13:28:52Z")
I just finished reading _In One Person_ by John Irving, and as I got near the end I felt myself not wanting the story to be over. I realized that happens to me frequently with books I enjoy. Pretty normal I guess, but for a little while after I read the last page I was actually a little down in the dumps. I hope I’m not the only one that gets that invested…
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### Author:  [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/2 "2014-01-25T13:31:23Z")
O my goodness yes. In my teens I couldn’t get enough of “The Once and Future King” and would actually be a little depressed for the last tenth of it or so.
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/3 "2014-01-25T13:35:04Z")
Yes! I’ve read the Narnia series out loud about three times to the kids. About 20-30 pages before the end of The Last Battle I begin to get weepy, knowing it will soon all be over. Definitely makes me sad.
I’ve had that happen with other books as well, though when I use my iPad now it seems to affect me less. The physical cues of the book ending (holding fewer pages in my right hand, and more in my left) just aren’t there, I guess.
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### Author:  [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/4 "2014-01-25T13:46:35Z")
Only with really good books, like 5/5 stars good. So it’s pretty rare, but when it does hit it can be a pretty powerful feeling … like walking a dear friend to a train after some great time together, knowing that you won’t see them again any time soon.
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### Author:  [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/5 "2014-01-25T13:46:40Z")
All the time. I never get people who say they don’t like reading fat books. If I like the book, the fatter the better!
It’s also why I really dislike short stories. Blech. If they’re good, I want 'em long.
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### Author:  [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/6 "2014-01-25T13:46:53Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#):
>
> … The physical cues of the book ending (holding fewer pages in my right hand, and more in my left) just aren’t there, I guess.
I was thinking that too, but the Kindle shows you a percentage of the book left to read and once it gets north of 95% …
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/7 "2014-01-25T13:48:08Z")
> [@Southern\_Yankee](#):
>
> I was thinking that too, but the Kindle shows you a percentage of the book left to read and once it gets north of 95% …
Yeah, my iPad does that too, and I feel the same way. It took me time to switch over from heft of the book in one hand to progress bar to trigger the impending sense of loss!
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### Author:  [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/8 "2014-01-25T13:52:05Z")
> [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#):
>
> Only with really good books, like 5/5 stars good. So it’s pretty rare, but when it does hit it can be a pretty powerful feeling … like walking a dear friend to a train after some great time together, knowing that you won’t see them again any time soon.
That’s a great analogy.
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### Author:  [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/9 "2014-01-25T14:00:56Z")
yes, and i remember steeling myself as the remaining pages dwindle only to be caught off-guard by a largish appendix.
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### Author:  [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/10 "2014-01-25T14:05:12Z")
When I finish a really good book, I’m always worried that I will never again find anything so good to read. Part of my sadness is a suspicion that it’s all downhill from here.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/11 "2014-01-25T15:01:16Z")
I felt that way about _Lonesome Dove_ many years ago. I was sad when I finished it, but also aware that I had just read one of the greatest of the great American novels.
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### Author:  [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/12 "2014-01-25T15:29:20Z")
I do sometimes. I think it’s just endings in general. A few times I ended up not reading the last few pages of a book I’ve read before, but didn’t want to end. I _still_ haven’t watched the very last episode of Breaking Bad. Maybe tonight…
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/13 "2014-01-25T15:41:13Z")
I don’t like being “surprised” at finding I’m at the end of a book before I’m ready.
Not a common occurrence with hard copy books, but happens to me now a lot with ebooks. The page numbers don’t mean much. There is typically quite a few pages of cruft at the end of an ebook. It’s very easy to glance to the end of a paper book and see how close to the end. For a really long book I even note the number of the last page so I can adjust how many pages to read in a chunk so that I finish at a suitable time (e.g., just before lights out). But trying to flip to the end of an ebook and avoid reading any of the text seems impossible.
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### Author:  [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/14 "2014-01-25T16:53:04Z")
I’ve had this experience a number of times. It is usually a combination of two things: sometimes simple regret that the pleasure of reading the book is coming to an end; sometimes wanting to see more of what happens with engaging characters and an odd sort of feeling that you’re going to miss them.
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### Author:  [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/15 "2014-01-25T23:47:40Z")
Oh yes I get very sad at ending a good book, and walk around sometimes for days missing the characters. The first time I ever read Where the Red Fern Grows - waaaaay back in the day - I actually was so sad that the next day I checked it out from the library again and started reading it all over from scratch.
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [January 25, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/16 "2014-01-25T23:59:45Z")
Only twice have I read a book so good, I was deliberately rationing myself to read only a few pages at a time, to make it last longer.
A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge, and
Omega by Jack McDevitt.
These are the two best “first contact” science fiction books I’ve ever read – and I’ve had the joy of saying to to Mr. Vinge and to Mr. McDevitt in person!
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### Author:  [@beandog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beandog)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/17 "2014-01-26T00:17:08Z")
When I was 12 or 13 I read the Mists of Avalon and cried through the last fifty pages or so. Partly because the ending was sad, but mostly because I knew I was going to have to say goodbye to all the characters I had just spent the last couple months with.
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### Author:  [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/18 "2014-01-26T00:55:49Z")
Yes. In fact, I’ve been known to take up another book before I end the one I am really enjoying. I just want to spin it out a bit longer.
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### Author:  [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/19 "2014-01-26T01:31:59Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#):
>
> Yes! I’ve read the Narnia series out loud about three times to the kids. About 20-30 pages before the end of The Last Battle I begin to get weepy, knowing it will soon all be over. Definitely makes me sad.
I cried for a day and was depressed for a week after finishing the Narnia series. It was like losing friends.
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### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [January 26, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-get-sad-when-they-get-near-the-end-of-a-book-they-love/679685/20 "2014-01-26T02:12:34Z")
I was this way with _The Red Tent_. Toward the end I read slower and slower and when I got to the end of the last paragraph, I sad and sobbed.
This also happened with an audio book, _All the King’s Men_. It was a loooooong book-- 22 hours! I used to have a 45-minute commute and listened to it on the way in the morning. I’d get to my client’s office and sit out in the car, still listening. I fell in love with the voice of the reader. I feel that I understood the story and the themes of the story much better than if I had read it. At the end, I was sad and heartachy for several days… missing that voice in my ears on the way into work every day.
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