Happy Endings V.S. Bad Endings

Online fictions go viral as internet spreads out. These fictions are free of charge, but not free of time: anyone with access to internet can register and post his/her novels regardless of their qualities, and screening always costs readers quite a long time. For me, the challenge lie more on these fictions' endings rather than the qualities. It's not too difficult to sniff out a well-written fiction - the first few lines can give us a glimpse of the author's writing styles and levels, however it's very hard to tell whether the stories are happy ending or not, serial novels in particular. I used to spend several hours reading a humorously-written fiction which unfortunately ends very badly, and got upset for quite a while.

Tragedies impress people with the beauty of imperfections and poignance. If I recall all the fictions I read, what remain in my memory are those ending miserably: either A abandoning B or B betraying A, or a couple deeply in love failing to stay together as a result of unfortunate accidents or distressing misunderstandings. When I was in teenage, I cried over deaths of heroes and their friends, wishing they would resurrect like Sherlock Holmes in the following chapters. I waited for a few weeks, nothing happened except the writer announced "the end", leaving myself unable to get extricated from the mire of sadness and depression for another few weeks. Authors have been enjoying torturing their audiences with bad ending classics for centuries, and they know tears are better at gripping people's heart than laughter. Though loving tragedies so much, I found myself too emotional to read many of them. Therefore I carefully avoid tragedies and choose more with happy endings. Some internet writers have reputations for offering happy endings to all characters, and I feel relieved reading their works. But some of them abuse their reputations a little bit, and give sudden reversions in the last few chapters when all the sweet stories turn into a plot and some important ones die - like a thunderbolt out of a clear sky. Poor me can only moan for a while, swearing I will never read his/her books any more. However, when attracted by the beautiful beginning of his/her next novel, I tend to forget about all the old pains.

Some readers look for perfect love and lives in fictions because they are so rare in the real world, and some prefer to bad ending ones due to their profound meanings and enlightening inspirations. In either case, good fictions open windows to different life styles and show us alternatives to our current lives: what might have gone wrong and what could be corrected. Reading novels which tell stories of people relevant to us can easily arouse empathy. For example I read a love story earlier today about a young man doing master degree on journalism at Berkeley. He rents an apt in Marin and hates clam chowder. The story has not ended yet, and I sincerely hope it will have a happy ending as I subconsciously take it as a fictitious orthogonal of my own life.

I read for fun. When I hold a book (or iPad) in sunny afternoons in California, and spend a few hours reading a virtual world created by other people, I want a joyful experience rather than memorable regrets. All the characters - though unreal - are blessed by me.