How do people feel about stories with a surprise ending, which is to say, an ending that surprises the reader in some way because it seemed inevitable, but its ironic turn was unforeseen? The turn can have comic, serious, or (even) terror implications. O. Henry is notorious for this kind of maneuver, but I think he's usually disqualified because the ending is more a simple "shock" rather than something that seemed inevitable.
My own feeling is that if it is handled cleverly, it's a very nice maneuver. It tends to work better (probably) in short stories rather than long ones, because it requires singleness of effect, for one thing; for another, if the ending really seems inevitable, it will occur to the reader before the conclusion is reached if the story is long.
Some stories I like that fit this category:
- "The Reticence of Lady Anne," by Saki (H. H. Munro)
- "The Interloper," by Saki
- "An Imperfect Conflagration," by Ambroise Bierce
- "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," by Ambroise Bierce
- "Mr. Arcularis," by Conrad Aiken
- "Pythias," by Frederik Pohl
- "Eurema's Dam," by R. A. Lafferty
- "Mouche," by Guy de Maupassant
The Aiken story probably isn't as well known as it ought to be.
Anyone want to give it a try?
LSN
My own feeling is that if it is handled cleverly, it's a very nice maneuver. It tends to work better (probably) in short stories rather than long ones, because it requires singleness of effect, for one thing; for another, if the ending really seems inevitable, it will occur to the reader before the conclusion is reached if the story is long.
Some stories I like that fit this category:
- "The Reticence of Lady Anne," by Saki (H. H. Munro)
- "The Interloper," by Saki
- "An Imperfect Conflagration," by Ambroise Bierce
- "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," by Ambroise Bierce
- "Mr. Arcularis," by Conrad Aiken
- "Pythias," by Frederik Pohl
- "Eurema's Dam," by R. A. Lafferty
- "Mouche," by Guy de Maupassant
The Aiken story probably isn't as well known as it ought to be.
Anyone want to give it a try?
LSN
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