Happy Escapism vs Doom Gloom and Realism

Given a choice I would choose to read a book with a happy ending any day, reading fiction is for me an escape from a sometimes not very nice reality. Guess thats why I like LOTR,Narnia, that type of book.
If you were given a choice between reading a book that had a fairly positive outlook and a happy ending, or a book that was very gloomy and a sad end, which would you prefer?
I hate the type of book that is all about miserable gloomy people living lifes of poverty or suffering, falling in love with the wrongg person, struggling to escape their misery and always failing. When I read fiction I want to feel good, to feel happy, not depressed. How do rest of you feel?
Worst kind of book story is one that you read right through and then it doesn't even have an ending!!! That makes me so mad!

I find myself drawn to stories that have a happy ending, not necessarily 100% happiness though. I want a story that makes me dream and that relies a lot on symbolism and deeper meanings. I mean, most of the books ( and movies ) I call favorites are the story of a hopeless dreamer realising their dream.

I never really liked gloomy tales, mostly because they usually lack a sense of hope. The only exception I can think of is Jonas Gardell's En komikers uppväxt ( the growth of a comedian ).

I like a book that has a well writen story. The ending is not really as important as how the book gets there. I've read books that had happy endings that weren't all that good, and then I've also read books that had sad endings, that were great.

Neither. A combination of the two is the best, IMO.

A good book is a mix of all the elements mentioned. A good author is one who is willing to stretch the limits. Predictability is a big killer for me. As far as genres I want escapism as opposed to real stuff. If I want to read about true crime I'll pick up a newspaper.

I like books that have a relatively happy ending and a generally positive outlook, but have a darker, deeper streak through them, like LOTR--good won out in the end, but the elves, and all their beauty and magic, sailed over the sea at the end of the story. Not everyone arrives safely and happily with what they wanted, but the story does have a "happy ending."

I like both... However, I have much less respect for gloomy tales than for happy ones, which means that a gloomy one has to be very good for me to like it, but a happy one can be not as well written.

Good gloomy tales I've read are The Lord of the Flies, and that long tale about that anti-hero in Tolkien's Unfinished Tales (forgot the title). It was incomplete, but... that was so well written! That is not a story that I will forget soon.

I also don't really make a definite discriminatory distinction between books that have happy endings and those that have sad endings.

As for the Escapism-vs-Realism thing...

I think the distinction is overexaggerated and oversimplified. Many people don't seem to get the fact that escapist fantasy novels, if well-written, are no less "mature" than realistic ones. Even in the case of LOTR, which Tolkien has said is in no way allegorical, one can find symbolism and connections to other mythologies nonetheless.

However, when reading, I admittedly look for plot more than I look for allegory.

Oh, and to go off on a slight tangent, I also think Shakespeare's overrated, and that he is studied (overstudied, methinks) not because he was a very original writer (he wasn't) but rather because he was the first significant post-Medieval writer in the English language, and his contributions to the language are what merit his works.

generally I like books with happy endings, although I think it generally has to be a slight mixture at least. I read a lot when I'm down. It is an escape thing, really. the fact that I've been through most of my book collection in the past few months says something about my life. But some of the best and most powerful books I've read are about the Nazi concentration camps, and they have a really sense of hopelesness. They make you feel things much more strongly than happier books, in many cases. I don't read many books like that, but they are really good.

I read just about any type of story - as long as it has a well thought out plot and keeps me interested. That`s the most important thing in a story for me. I`ve been coping with the blahs the last few months so lately I`ve been trying to keep with more upbeat, positive, humorous. books and movies. I`ve been on a kick of those types of works that have feel good, positive endings. I`m with Miralya on the predictability aspect. I hate it when I start into a book or a movie and by the end of the first few chapters or first half hour of the movie, I already feel that I know what`s going to happen and how it will end. It`s such a disappointment.

...as long as it's fantasy! But "doom and gloom" ones are cool. It's kinda hokey if everybody is all happy-happy. Too much like Disney.

I personally prefer books based on reality which have hopeful endings, sort of a mix between the two I guess. Also, I like books which emphasize the strength of human character. The best example of this type of book is Grapes of Wrath. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves good writing. Another great book of that genre is Travles with Charley, also by Steinbeck. It's non-fiction, but the same style. Not everything is portrayed as being happy, but it's a very insightful book concerning human nature.

have had probs w/steimbeck. probably because I had to do so much work on Of Mice and Men last year, at a point what the last thing I really wanted was to have to write several essays on that kind of book.

Personally, I didn't much care for Mice and Men. I'm convinced that the only reson it's read so much is because it's short. The book that got me hooked on Steinbeck was Sweet Thursday. I read it in about three days. Plus, I usually dislike any book I have to write essays on. Don't dicount Steinbeck because of one bad experience. The first Steinbeck book I read was the Pearl, in 9th grade English, and I hated it. I vowed never to read another Steinbeck book in my life...and now I'm posting this message

ooh, the Pearl was disgusting. I can't stand disgusting, sick books where fate controls everything and there's no hope for people. Like Oedipus. Except I did like King Lear...

*Elanor smites IronParrot for his evil remarks about Shakespeare*

I contend that Shakespeare's greatness is his language and his ability to create a scene from words alone. The only Shakespeare I've really disliked is All's Well that Ends Well, because of the really dumb ending. But most of the rest of the play was still good.

For me whether or not a story ends happily is less important than the stuff in between. I love Frankenstein, King Lear, Les Miserables, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and in all of those the main characters die very poignantly or violently at the end. Does this mean they end hopelessly? No, in all of them there is still hope for humanity. They teach a lesson and give the reader new insight into life. They are very well written and worth reading regardless of how they end. I even love the sad endings themselves if they make me cry. One thing I hate is people taking a wonderful and meaningful story like the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen and turning it into a happy-fest with no real purpose but to entertain.

Even books that I don't like I can still appreciate for their meaningfulness and symbolism. Like Lord of the Flies (I detest this book, but it's very good), The Crucible, Grapes of Wrath, and Buried Child. Others I detest and I think they're dumb and overrated because people think "Oh, it has a sad ending; it must be full of artistic thought and deep meanings"; when all they do is just have a really depressing ending. One example is Ethan Frome. Was there ever a dumber book? And the Pearl.