Interesting post, Freidag. I have not read all of the above titles.

I would classify the endings of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and The Great Gatsby as "justifiably famous". The last paragraph of the latter is one of the most satisfying endings to a tragic tale of thwarted love.

I absolutely hated the ending of Villette, which otherwise is a wonderful story. As a reader I felt cheated.

(Not to throw in other choices, but I would have included the ending of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.)

Not one of those listed but I thought the ending of John Updike's "The Witches of Eastwick" was poorly written and did not fit with the rest of the book. It seemed to me as if the author had suddenly thought, "I'm sick of this book, I'll wind it up," and did so in about ten pages.

I can think of two books with endings that made me cross.
The first is Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. I thought she took the easy way out with the ending, after building the tension all through the book, not to mention that all the problems in the family were suddenly resolved.
Another is Geraldine Brooks' Year of Wonders. I really enjoyed this book but the last chapter seemed both tacked on and highly unlikely.

Of those mentioned above, I thought the ending of The Grapes of Wrath was heart-rending, as well as confronting to a student of 15 (as I was when we read it at school). But it was very fitting.
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd is thought by many to be cheating, but I just thought it very clever.
Gone With The Wind has just about the perfect ending; so typically Scarlett to 'think about it tomorrow' and leaves us wondering if Rhett will soften and take her back - is there any love left?
I don't remember the endings of any of the others that I have read from that list, but know that I was dissatisfied with the ending of the film of Picnic at Hanging Rock because it was so inconclusive. But I suppose that was the point *g*

Oh, yes, GWTW had the most perfect ending....I think everyone remembers it. I just finished Outlander, and the ending had me wondering. Life of Pi still has me questioning the whole book.....why couldn't it have been just about a boy and a tiger??? How about Edgar Sawtelle?

I thought the ending of Persuasion was completely satisfying. It is the ending the reader wants and has been lead to believe the characters deserve all through the novel. There is a great sense of fittingness.

The ending of The Road was ambiguous, which suits the novel, and it also has a very faint ray of hope. This hope is probably not justified (I keep thinking even when the debris clears, the sun comes, back, and plants start to grow again, humans cannot live without B12.) Otherwise reading the novel would be unbearable, so it is necessary.

The Dubliners is a book of short stories, not a novel. I've read some but not all of them. My favorite is "The Dead" and I also love the movie of the same name. I find the ending to that story to be exquisite. I get chills every time I read it or hear the words in the movie, and often if I just think about them.

Yes, I would agree that GWTW had the perfect ending, justifiably famous and completely fitting to the character and situation.

Some of the others I have not read. Others I read, but either long enough ago that I don't remember the endings clearly, or more recently and the endings did not make a vivid impression.

Rosefolly

Heh! I'm one of those readers who felt Agatha Christie cheated on the ending of Roger Ackroyd. I can actually see the cleverness of it, but with me it's a one-time deal -- it's too memorable! I like to reread mysteries after a few years, so it's better when I can't remember whodunnit.

Timallan, you didn't say what you think about the ending of Rebecca. Yea or nay?

Oh, I better not get started on what I think of the ending of Villette!

Kath, the film of Picnic at Hanging Rock is pretty faithful to the book, including the ending. I happened to read the book first and was thoroughly befuddled for years because I didn't know anyone else who'd read it. When I saw the film and it ended just as opaquely, I decided that really was the point. Sometimes I like enigmas -- thinking of D du Maurier's My Cousin Rachel -- and now that I've lived forty-something years without really understanding Picnic at Hanging Rock, I rather like it that way.

Rosefolly, "The Dead" is the last story in Dubliners, at least in every edition I've read. I can't imagine it in any other position. I'm with you: those last lines are so hauntingly fitting.

Re Persuasion: At another site I was informed that Jane Austen intended a different ending, but she died before she completed it. So, apparently the ending we are still reading two hundred years later is the unrevised one. I'd never heard or read that before (that I can recall), so I don't know if it's true. Do you know anything about it?

Friedag: If you can, get "The Murders at Hanging Rock" by Yvonne Rousseau. This book, written in the 1980s, gives some alternative theories about the disappearances. I never did like the 'parallel universe' propounded later by the author! When the film came out people believed it was a true story. Bit like the "Blair Witch" film later, perhaps?

The three which caught my eye were GWTW, The Historian, and The Great Gatsby. Each one of these, I thought, had brilliant endings that were appropriate to their stories. (In fact, the "green light" theme of the New World in Gatsby, is downright poetry, IMHO).

In The Road, the ending is purposefully left ambiguous, I think.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is supposed to be part one of a sequel. There were many unanswered questions at the ending which left the reader perplexed and wanting more, in my view.

I loved 1984 when I first read it decades ago, but cannot quite recall the details of its ending, so must go back and re-read it.

Frieda, I've never heard that about Persuasion, which does not mean it's not true. I've read several biographies of Jane Eyre and every scrap of information that came my way, but certainly I'm not a true scholar. It was published posthumously. Had she lived longer and in better health, she may well have worked on it some more, but I don't think she would have changed the ending. It is exactly the ending we have been lead to desire and expect, and Austen doesn't play games with that.

Frieda, apparently Jane Austen did revise the last two chapters. I looked on the Republic of Pemberly site, and they give the final chapters as originally written. According to them, JA felt her first draft was a bit flat (and I agree), so she re-wrote it. What we have is the revised version.

Here is a link that might be useful: Original last two chapters of Persuasion

The ending of Bel Canto was incredibly disappointing-the ending and then the second ending. Both had my book club spitting nails.

I agree with Kath about Picoult-I don't like Picoult in general, as I feel that she is an obviously manipulative writer, and that one was super-off-putting.

I like the ending of Roger Ackroyd because, when looking back, it is all there in the book.

I felt the same way about the ending of Atonement that I did the ending of Bel Canto. Cheated.

Freidag, I love the last few sentences of Rebecca. The fate of Manderley is treated in an oblique way, easily missed by an inattentive reader. The film and tv versions always treat the ending like a disaster movie.

Though I am not a fan of the Bronte sisters, I will say that both the endings of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are very well-done. The former ends, more or less, as a ghost story, with the highly unpleasant lovers haunting the moors. The ending of Jane Eyre is splendid too.

The last few sentences of "The Dead" are magnificent. If I am driving home on a winter's night, I often think of the ending when I pass our local cemetery.

Tim, I felt that way about Rebecca when I first read it in my teens. But re-reading it as an adult, I was so overwhelmed with annoyance at that passive little mouse of a main character, and that selfish, self-absorbed, depressing hero, that the beauty of the language is lost on me. I want to shake them both, and tell them to live their lives, not serve then as a sentence of doom.

Rosefolly

I must read too much. I haven't read all the books, but I can't remember many of the endings of the ones I have read. For GWTW, at 14 when I first read it, I was totally disgusted and said that I could have written a better ending. As an adult, I think it is perfect. For Rebecca, I agree with Rosefolly completely, and Susan Hill made Ms. No Name just as aggravating in her sequel. I do remember when finishing Roger Ackroyd (many years ago) thinking it was too tricky and not satisfying.

Aha! Rosefolly, thank you for the link to Austen's original ending. Seems my informant was confused. Actually, I'm relieved that Austen got to rework the final chapters and what we have -- and love -- is what she wanted for her readers.

I had to dig up a copy of Rebecca and reread the ending, because I couldn't recall if I was conflating the film/television versions into the one of the book. I was. The visuals are too darn vivid. Timallan, I like the oblique way, as you say, that DduM handled it. I haven't always liked how she wrote the endings of some of her other books -- The House on the Strand and The Scapegoat come to mind -- but in the case of Rebecca, I think her 'less' is definitely 'more'. However, I also agree with Rosefolly and Carolyn that there's not very much to like about the characters of Maxim and his second wife.

I agree that the endings of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are splendid. I'd say they are justifiably famous, whether an individual reader may like or dislike the characters or stories.

Woodnymph, I remember not liking the ending of The Historian the first time I read it, but I recently reread it and I've come round to thinking it is appropriate after all.

CC, I had just about flushed Bel Canto's ending(s). Erk! Thanks for reminding me. ;-)

Annpan, I once owned Rousseau's book but it disappeared! I haven't found a replacement. She does have some interesting ideas. Lindsay, on the other hand... I have to give her credit for her originality, and the story she told is enthralling. But the difference between the book she wrote and some of her later proposals is nigh onto nutty, in my opinion.

I never thought the book was anything but fiction, but I thought it might have been inspired by some real incident. Apparently not.

Here's another batch of books with endings that have drawn varied comments. Your opinions?

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
The Bookshop - Penelope Fitzgerald
Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis de Bernieres
A Coffin for Dimitrios (British title: The Mask of Dimitrios) - Eric Ambler
Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier
East of Eden - John Steinbeck
The Ivy Tree - Mary Stewart
The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters
Millennium Trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, etc.) - Stieg Larsson (I suppose the ending in consideration would be the last of the three.)
The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
My Brilliant Career - Miles Franklin
Oscar and Lucinda - Peter Carey
Possession - A.S. Byatt
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles
The Talented Mr Ripley - Patricia Highsmith
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
When We Were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro

In Captain Corelli's Mandolin, I was with the woman when she thew the dishes at him.

I was also pleased with the Girl books' ending. Knowing that the author had died, I thought the last one tied things up pretty well. Of course, who knows what will come next if his notes of future books are plumped out and published.

Huck Finn suited me, as did The Ivy Tree.

I don't like Margaret Atwood's books, and I disliked Cold Mountain all the way through. I didn't care much for Miss Jean Brodie either, so the end suited me. (I loved the Muriel Sparks book, A Far Cry from Kensington.)

I didn't like the ending of The Little Stranger. I would have liked it to clear things up. Happy endings--that's me--or at least definitive endings.

What was wrong with "The Ivy Tree" ending? I read it a while ago but cannot recall that there should have been a problem with it for anyone.
On the lighter side of fiction, I was enjoying Sarah Strohmeyer's "Bubbles" series until
SPOILER ALERT
she was revealed as a princess and it got ridiculous. I sent a very indignant email to her website over it!

I am a fan of the ending of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

friedag, is there a particular reason most of the books listed have also had movies made from them?

On the first list the ones that stand out to me are "Atonement" which I loathed, "The Road" that worried me and "Trainspotting" that was actually quite good considering the subject matter.

The rest that I have read I do not remember very well.

Is the ending of the "92 in the Shade" book (I have not read it) the same as the movie ending? I liked the movie alot but the ending came unexpectedly to me and I just do not understand why it was so abrupt.

"My Sister's Keeper" (Astrokath mentioned) has a total cop-out ending. I agree with ccrdmrbks that J. Picoult is a manipulator, so I blame it completely on her.

On the second list, I was bewildered by "The Bookshop" ending. I did not find the ending of "The Sheltering Sky" satisfying, but I guess it was appropriate. Again, I have seen several of the movie adaptations from the second list books, but I am afraid that I cannot remember the book endings very well of those I have read. The movies mess up my memory too, friedag.

I loved the ending to a Time Traveler's Wife.
Slightly ambiguous but clear enough for me.
I do wish I had known how she lived her life after but that would be another story.

One book I enjoyed, nothing literary but highly entertaining, that has the best cliffhanger ending is The Day After Tommorrow by Allan Folsom.
The very last two words illuminate the plot of the story.

Annpan, The Ivy Tree ending seems to meet the approval of most readers, but there's a vociferous coterie of naysayers. Let me see if I can state their objections without giving anything away: Apparently they think the whole story is derivative of Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar and that a certain plot twist is not much of a surprise -- to them anyway. Since I can't remember much about Brat Farrar, or The Ivy Tree for that matter, I'm unable to say if their grumblings have merit. I very much enjoyed Stewart's romantic suspense stories when I was in my Stewart phase. I don't recall any letdowns with any of her books, but I also don't know if they've held up well. The Ivy Tree is fifty years old in 2011!

Lydia, excellent observation! Wish I could say I was aware of it all along. But the truth about there being mostly books that have been adapted to film, I figure is because people are more likely to have read those books and can discuss them. The films add interest, and it's fun to compare and contrast the two efforts. I gathered the lists from a couple of sites I frequent and from discussions with my family and friends. Naturally, I was selective of those books that I actually know something about or at least have heard of. I won't claim that the books I've chosen are definitive by any means, but I do think they are representative of the sort of endings that inspire lots of cussing and discussing.

Re Ninety-two in the Shade: Lydia, Thomas McGuane wrote the screenplay adaptation of his own book, plus he directed the film himself! So, yes, he kept the warts and all, including that BAM! ending.

I had not read Brat Ferrar in "my Stewart phase" to quote you, Frieda, did figure out the plot twist in The Ivy Tree pretty early on, and did enjoy both the books.

The book that aggravated me was an Agatha Christie (name forgotten--maybe The Mirror Crack'd) that used a plot I had heard told for the truth about something that happened to a movie star a number of years before the Christie book was written. I thought she was much too famous to have used the idea in a new story, but I suppose authors have to use or reuse material as they see fit.

I have read both books and cannot see a plot connection excepting they deal with people who are claimants. One of each sex too!
The characters in "The Ivy Tree" mention copying "Brat Farrar" when setting up the imposture.
Spoiler...
I did not guess the twist at all and thought for a while the BBC actress was involved, using a disguise! When she appeared with the claimant, that was my theory shattered! I enjoyed both books which I read many years ago.
Incidentally, did you notice an identity hint which comes at the beginning but, like in one of the Reginald Hill books, is very slyly mentioned and meant to be overlooked.

Frieda, I have only read a few of the books you mention and of those some of the endings were quite unmemorable.
As you have already mentioned, the ending of Jane Eyre rounds the story off neatly, as does the one in Small Island.
A book I really enjoyed many years ago and one that depends on the ending is Little Boy Lost by Marghanita Laski.
I agree that My Cousin Rachel gives plenty of food for thought. What can happen when the little green-eyed monster takes over someone's life is truly nasty.
I suppose I really don't read much fiction these days and find I care less and less about whether they all lived happily ever after, or who stabbed whom with what in the drawing room, or if unusual sexual preferences led our gender-confused hero/ine to a fulfilling relationship. Certainly, these days, many more books are returned to the library unfinished. ;-)

I liked very much the endings of "The Sheltering Sky" and "The Secret History". I was shattered by the ending of "Cold Mountain", but liked the novel very much otherwise. I was surprised by the ending of "The Talented Mr. Ripley", but thought it fit the rest of the plot. I hated "Time Traveller's Wife", including the ending. "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" is one of my favorite books, but I found the ending disconcerting and amazing.

My mother gave me "Mill on the Floss" as a child, probably not knowing its plot. I still recall being utterly shocked at its ending and woould not recommend it to anyone.

Carolyn, I'm surprised when any of the mysteries I read don't seem vaguely familiar. I reread too much, but even with those that are completely new to me, I will often get a niggling feeling that I've read something similar. Of course some of the similarities are done on purpose, creating sub-genres; e.g., cozies, country-house murders, etc. You've read many more mysteries than I have, so I'm guessing that you can anticipate a lot of the endings. Am I right?

Annpan, which Reginald Hill book do you have in mind? I've only read a couple of his -- On Beulah Height and The Stranger House. I find Hill's mysteries so convoluted in plot and packed with all kinds of details that if I weighed everything he said, I wouldn't finish the story for weeks. I'm not much of a clue follower anyway.

Vee, yes, I also think Small Island has a good wrap-up. I'll look for the Laski book, Little Boy Lost. I know you read The Little Stranger: did its ending stick with you?

If Hilary Mantel doesn't hurry up with the sequel of Wolf Hall, I will be exasperated. I want to know what happens to T Cromwell. ;-)

About The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: If you've also seen the film, did it bother you that some of the characters were conflated, and things that happened to characters in the book were changed to happen to other characters, and that the ending was quite different?

Speaking of Muriel Spark and Hilary Mantel: Did you notice the likeness of Mantel's An Experiment in Love to Spark's The Girls of Slender Means? I thought, at first, that it was a downright rip-off; but I later found out that Spark is one of Mantel's favorite writers, so maybe she wrote hers as homage.

Lydia, Fitzgerald's The Bookshop has Muriel Sparkish elements. Sometimes, it seems, Fitzgerald in some of her other books was trying to out-Spark Spark. If you've never read Offshore, be warned. PF's The Blue Flower is another that draws ire.

Oh, Woodnymph, I feel for your child-self! What a traumatic reading experience The Mill on the Floss would be for a sensitive girl.

Frieda, I don't purposely (purposefully?) try to figure out who dunnit in my beloved mysteries, but you are right that frequently I do know. I do dislike figuring it out early in the book which makes it sort of boring, and for that reason I wasn't totally sure of the ending of The Ivy Tree. I started to think MS was setting me up.

Friedag, I'm not going to tell you! If you do read some of his other books, it would spoil the plot. I enjoy his books because they are so convoluted and I have to think more than with my usual cosies. Even if he does use words I have to look up later!

Heh! Well, Annpan, I assume that at least it's not in the two I've read. Hill has written a lot of books, so my chances of running across the particular one you mean are very slim. I'm not much of a series reader.

Frieda, I have just realised I couldn't remember the ending of The Little Stranger and had to try and look it up on line, as I don't own a copy. Many different sites are dedicated to the book and most of the participants can't agree on the whys and wherefores of the final chapter, so I don't know if it is an eg of brilliant writing, that keeps us all guessing, or Walter's not having a clear idea of how she should have rounded off the story.
The general conclusion seems to be that the Dr is somehow to 'blame'. I'm sure I missed that when I read it. ;-)

I first read The Ivy Tree in my teens. Since I completely believed what I was reading the ending was a satisfactory surprise. Re-reading it as an adult not long ago, I still enjoyed it. Knowing what was coming, I picked up hints I'd missed along the way first time through.

Rosefolly, Not surprising that you missed the hints. The claimant was clever at covering up her slips, both to the family and former close friend and also to the reader!

veer, if it is any consolation to you I could not remember the ending of "The Little Stranger" either. "The doctor was to blame" does ring a bell though.

annpan, like friedag I am curious about the Reginald Hill book you enticed us with. Could you narrow it down to four or five of his books without telling us which one? Otherwise we might have to read book after book and not recognize "the hint" even if we get lucky and read the right one.

friedag, too bad that McGuane repeated that non-ending. It is a little too much like "Easy Rider" don't you think.
I seem to remember there being differences between the book and movie of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie." The book was oddly constructed but I do not remember noticing the oddness in the movie. I did not like Jean Brodie or that priggish Sandy character either.

Oh, all right! It is in one of the early books in the Dalziel and Pascoe series. I liked being tricked and breathed "You clever b******d" at Hill when the murderer was revealed!

A bit of unfinished business before letting this thread sink into oblivion: I want to apologize for my seeming abandonment. I didn't intend it, but I got stuck in 'Ultima Thule'.

Lydia, thank you for talking Annpan into giving us a hint about the Reginald Hill book. Annpan, I've acquired the first four Dalziel/Pascoe books. I hope I'm perceptive enough to figure out which is the clever one you've talked about. It will be fun, as I do enjoy Reginald Hill even when he's being extra expansive. I usually burn out on any series after about three or four books (unless I read them over several years with lots of time between), so I hope the book in question is one that I have!

Lydia, re The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: the structure of the film is linear while the book is told in flashback. I can understand why it was changed for the film adaptation. Actually, Muriel Spark's way of telling the story annoyed me a few times, especially when, thunk!, she flashed forward to Sandy Stranger in the 1950s(?). This is typical shtick, though, for Spark as she employed it in at least a couple of her other books.

Easy Rider: Yep, I agree, Lydia. It was rather the fashionable thing to do in the late 1960s and into the 1970s -- leave the reader/viewer perplexed and asking "that's it?" Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid also comes to mind, and I think there were several others.

Freidag, I am overcome at your tenaciousness! You are going in the right direction. Good hunting!