You venomous, unfeeling whore. You scat eating eel lover. How fucking DARE you end a book like that?
I waited for you Donna. I waited almost TEN YEARS for you to give me a gift. I panted, I drooled, I read The Secret History OVER AND OVER AND OVER, relishing each word like a fine, smooth chocolate, exclaiming aloud how you were my idol, my muse, the greatest of female writers and story spinners.
I wept with unreserved joy at the announcement of your second novel: The Little Friend.
Imagine my continued joy as I began falling in love with Harriet and Allison, and Danny Ratliff and all of the characters presented in such a rich, colorful format.
Now, imagine me literally throwing your fucking book across my living room and listening to it hiss against the carpet like the lump of hell that it is.
Is this the new HIP thing for writers to do? IS IT? Untangle, untie as many threads as you can and then leave EVERY FUCKING ONE OF THEM unresolved? Is that what the kids are scrambling for these days? Is it cool and fun to introduce a major plot point on the LAST GOD DAMN PAGE OF THE BOOK and then explain NOTHING about it?
HOW DARE YOU DONNA??? HOW FUCKING DARE YOU? I gave my heart to you, you sly ice queen. My love for you is diminished, tarnished…chilled.
You disappoint me Donna. I can only hope you suffer from a mild case of the ricketts.
I think the “major plot point” at the end is clearly sign posted all the way through.
But you do get the impression she cut it short to get the thing out. The book is quite big enough without more chapters and 10 years is a looong time writing.
I felt the same way. Here’s a synopsis of my reading experience:
“Hmm, interesting…”
“Oooh, this is getting good!”
“This is good!”
“This is getting better!”
“I can’t believe she did that!”
“Must stop reading to see how it all shakes out!”
“Wait, what? THAT’S the END?!”
No doubt. But why? I can look back and say oh, of course, but it didn’t tie up any loose ends any better. It’s not like end of Fight Club where you say “OH, NOW IT ALL MAKES SENSE”. That ‘major plot point’ doesn’t solve the murder which WAS THE WHOLE FUCKING PURPOSE OF THE WHOLE FUCKING BOOK.
Read TLF, agree with OP (though I would phrase it differently and put it in Cafe Society, but the Pit is fine too) and other posters. It doesn’t look like an intentional open end but more like a premature finish.
Harriet having epilepsy has nothing to do with anything dealing with Robin. And what about Allison’s dreams of the billowing sheet? And why is it revealed at the end that Danny and Robin were actually FRIENDS, not enemies. Nothing makes sense!
Hi
I totally agree with astro about the little friend by Donna tartt , I found it absolutely brilliant, even better than the goldfinch.
This is not a thriller, the point of the book is not to find the murderer, if there is one, it’s all in the characters imagination or re creation of the past, all about memory and what we do with it. And it’s about Harriet 's loss of innocence, her quest in the adult world , landscape mindscape, it’s mind blowing.
When I put the book down, I started reading it back again to stay in the atmosphere…
Loved it, yes the ending is unexpected, but it’s great, it’s open and it’s up to us readers to fill in the gaps.
