# Books with great endings **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 30, 2009, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012 "2009-12-30T04:21:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/21 "2009-12-31T01:52:26Z")
I Am Legend and Animal Farm are two of my favorites. For good Stephen King endings, I’d include 'Salem’s Lot and Desperation. And of course, most of his short stories. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/22 "2009-12-31T01:58:33Z")
**Wild Seed** by Octavia Butler. Emotionally very powerful. **On Stranger Tides** by Tim Powers. Mostly because of the Epilogue, which is nothing like any epilogue ever written. **The Sot-Weed Factor** by John Barth, simply because the revelation of the McGuffin is so perfect – hilarious and bawdy, and evidently something that was actually done. The final scene also is perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/23 "2009-12-31T14:06:03Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > I made up a party activity based on that ending that I like to call TR Ex Machina, where players rewrite famous endings of books and movies to involve TR. If enough alcohol is involved, you can combine this with charades. Just want to say that I brought this game up after work last night, and the consensus winner so far is “Goodnight Moon”. Someone this morning sent out a quickly MS Paint version of [this picture](http://billjames.org/billjames.org%20Political%20Images/Teddy%20Roosevelt%20swinging%20a%20big%20stick.gif) in [this scene](http://www.bookpage.com/9705bp/images/goodnightmoonart.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/24 "2009-12-31T14:09:04Z")
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has a marvelous ending. I like the final paragraph/sentence of Kerouac’s On The Road. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/25 "2009-12-31T14:16:33Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > My favorite ending, which I always cite whenever this topic comes up is also from Clarke: > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by The Nine Billion Names of God > > [O]verhead, without any fuss, the stars were going out. Thanks. I was trying to remember which book this was from. Great ending! ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/26 "2009-12-31T15:38:51Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Just want to say that I brought this game up after work last night, and the consensus winner so far is “Goodnight Moon”. Someone this morning sent out a quickly MS Paint version of [this picture](http://billjames.org/billjames.org%20Political%20Images/Teddy%20Roosevelt%20swinging%20a%20big%20stick.gif) in [this scene](http://www.bookpage.com/9705bp/images/goodnightmoonart.gif). That, sir, is one bully ending. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/27 "2009-12-31T19:54:05Z")
For being an unfinished novel, _The Trial_ packs a hell of a wallop at the end - “It was as though the shame of it should outlive him.” ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/28 "2009-12-31T20:07:14Z")
The ending of _My Gun is Quick_ by Mickey Spillane is the ultimate hard-boiled, ultra-violent ending, and I can quote it from memory. > [@](#): > > He was screaming with all the fury of the gods dethroned, but my laugh was even louder. > > He was still screaming when I pulled the trigger. It’s like cheap wine - raw, and with no pretensions to culture - but a helluva kick nonetheless. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/29 "2009-12-31T20:14:07Z")
_1984_ is the only one that I can just quote off the top of my head. That one felt like a punch to the gut, and I loved it when I first read it (on a plane to Maui in 1998 at the age of 14). _War for the Oaks_ by Emma Bull has a good ending, too. They win the concert contest, the main characters kiss, and the battle’s won. And the book ends right after that; no coda, no anything. Just this awesome rush of a high point. Roll credits. Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/30 "2010-01-01T01:15:46Z")
Okay, I just made fun of Stephen King in the other thread, so this answer makes me a big old hypocrite. _The Long Walk_ by Richard Bachman has one of my favorite endings ever. The absolute definition of a Pyrrhic victory. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/31 "2010-01-01T05:11:00Z")
Obvious from my user name that I think LOTR had a pretty damn good ending. Also One Hundred Years of Solitude has a great beginning AND a great ending. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/32 "2010-01-01T05:23:55Z")
**For Whom the Bell Tolls** has an exquisite, perfect ending. The whole book is perfect. ---
**Author:** ![hobscrk777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@hobscrk777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobscrk777)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/33 "2010-01-01T15:45:47Z")
Do short stories count? I’d like to share the ending of my all-time favorite short story, “The Last Question,” by Isaac Asimov. And AC [super-evolved hyper-intelligent entity] said, “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” And there was light---- That ending absolutely floored me. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/34 "2010-01-01T15:53:13Z")
Tales of the Otori Otori Takeo is prophesied to be killed by his son who was raised by his arch-enemy. He is once again on the verge of losing his beloved government of peace and justice to the warlords Arai Zenko and and Saga Hideki. When his son Kikuta Hisao is brought to kill him by Kikuta Akio, he cannot do it. So Otori Takeo, on his beloved wife’s orders takes Hisao’s knife and plunges it into his belly taking his own life. But this is only after he has secured his legacy through his daughter, who has proved to the Shogun Saga Hideki that she deserves to inherit and rule the Three Countries. Otori Shigeko is promised to wed Saga Hideki, who now respects her because she has bested him in combat, twice, without killing him, by intention. Saga Hideki, and Otori Shigeko ride against the traitorous Arai Zenko, and put him down. Thus they secure the peace of the three countries as established by Otori Takeo fulfilling the grand dream of his adoptive Father, Otori Shigeru. Through Shigeko, the three countries remain, Otori. ---
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/35 "2010-12-31T17:22:10Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > I liked the ending of _Possession_. And the post-script. Yes, this! The epilogue was just so perfect and heartbreaking. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/36 "2010-12-31T17:38:42Z")
Let’s not forget **The Zombie Survival Guide**! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/37 "2010-12-31T18:18:53Z")
1984 by George Orwell “He loved Big Brother.” Made me throw up in my mouth when I read it the first time. Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/38 "2010-12-31T19:11:05Z")
Walter Jon Williams knows how to write some kick-ass endings. I love the endings he gave “Voice of the Whirlwind” and “Days of Atonement.” ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/39 "2010-12-31T19:19:49Z")
The ending of Terry Pratchett’s _Small Gods_ was a perfect ending to his best book. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012/40 "2011-01-01T01:20:44Z")
**A Storm of Swords** , the third book of **A Song of Ice and Fire** by George R R Martin, ends with what feels like about 7 pieces of total asskicking in a row. Sadly, book 4 wasn’t as good, and book 5 isn’t as existing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/books-with-great-endings/523012.md?page=3)