I read a book entitled "Charles and Emma: The Darwin's Leap of Faith" over the summer. I had lots of mixed thoughts about it, but ended up with a pretty healthy respect for both Charles and Emma Darwin. I came to really like them. They had a fantastic marriage.
Charles Darwin said: "I often bless all novelists. A surprising number [of novels] have been read aloud to me... and I like all if moderately good, and if they do not end unhappily--against which a law ought to be passed. A novel, according to my taste, does not come into the first class unless it contains some person whom one can thoroughly love, and if it be a pretty woman all the better."
I have to say I am in complete agreement with Charles Darwin on this point. I was having a discussion with a friend on her blog today. (Lots of back and forth comments until she finally wrote a whole entry to respond to me.) :) One of the things I kept mentioned was I hate when stories ended unhappily. I always felt like I wimp about that, but now I justify myself. Charles Darwin thought so too. :)
4 comments:
But I like unhappy endings, sometimes, Sara Lyn. There's a time and a place for them.
Could you imagine how trite (or perhaps, more so than it already was) Titanic would have been if Jack lived?
Imagine if Moulin Rouge, Hamlet, Macbeth, The Namesake, Ethan Frome, The Age of Innocence, Call of the Wild, Washington Square, Anna Karenina, or Doctor Zhivago, to name just a few, had ended happily.
I don't always want things to end well. Tragedy serves the reader as well as Comedy.
Note: Which of those do I actually enjoy? Um... Not Titanic. Not Moulin Rouge. Not any of those except Hamlet and Macbeth and the only reason I like those is because well, they're well-done Shakespeare. Hamlet frustrated me out of my mind because there were so many times when so much tragedy could be averted.
I'm totally okay with others liking tragedy and things that don't end happily. Just don't expect me to like them. :) Or read them. Or watch them. Ugh.
Sara Lyn - I mixed here because I love stories with happy endings - but I also love songs that make me cry because they're so sad... I'm weird.
But now I really want to read this book. Thanks for the suggestion. :)
Shara - I hope you enjoy the book. It was interesting to hear about his struggles with faith and what he observed. I think a good talk with Gregor Mendel and (obviously) Joseph Smith would have answered all his questions. I'd love to know what you think.
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