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That librarian's advice about skipping the last chapter nearly ruined a classic for me
Last spring I joined a small reading group at the library in Des Moines, and the organizer, a retired English teacher named Carol, told us to skip the final chapter of any book if the ending felt too neat. She said authors often tack on a happy wrap-up that kills the mystery, and it was better to stop where the questions start. I tried it with a 400-page thriller about a missing lighthouse keeper, and I stopped about 20 pages early. Turns out the last chapter had the one twist that explained why the keeper's logbook contradicted itself, and I spent a whole week annoyed at myself for following her rule. The group split over it too, half said my experience was the point, half called Carol's advice lazy. Has anyone else had a specific person's ending advice backfire like that, or do you have a rule about when to quit a book before the final pages?
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simoncarr1mo ago
That "stop where the questions start" advice sounded smart till it bit me too.
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