I’m not an avid reader, but with my Kindle and the ability to read sample chapters from anything, I have started reading more. As such, I am not particularly familiar with many modern books and their style.
I just finished two books, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. These books cover entirely different eras and subject matter, but they both have relatively ambiguous endings, where the reader is left to fill in the blanks.
Is this a clever (and standard) literary device that says things indirectly, using implication rather than direct statements in order to not state the obvious? In other words, is the author intentionally avoiding saying “And Sally and Joe were married and went on to live together in perpetual marital bliss,” opting for indirect references to the outcome, which would (perhaps) be seen as a more polished and literary approach?
= or =
Is this an intentional “sequel option” built in to the story, possibly required by contract, possibly demanded by the publisher or editor?
My cynical side tends to feel that there are strong forces present in the literary world, encouraging authors to leave themselves wiggle room for sequels, for the latter reasons. However, my own reading is not extensive enough that I can even say for certain that my premise is correct (that most books have this ending style).