Do surprise endings surprise you?

[shereads]

It's a rare pleasure to be ambushed by a novel. It's exhilarating to follow a narrative and know where it's leading, only to be run over by the Sherman Tank of surprises.

"WTF?" is followed by "How the hell did I not see this coming?" and "Clever bastard."

I'm not talking about mystery novels. I find it tedious to be so busy looking for clues that I can't enjoy the flow of words. The surprise endings I appreciate occur in books that might have been perfectly satisfying without one.

"The Life of Pi" is like that: a good read, so fresh and unexpected that it would have been worthwhile no matter how it ended. The "WTF!?" that came in the final chapters didn't just make a memorable ending; it elevated everything that came before.

If you've seen "The Sixth Sense" or "Memento" you know what I'm talking about. The ending changes the entire movie. (Poor M. Night Shamalan. The Sixth Sense must follow him around like a cloud whenever he tries to end a script. Whatever else the movie was, the famous twist at the end was so twisted, it was straight.)

Why does it feel so good to be fooled that way? I think I crave unforseen endings because there's hope in chaos. Especially now.



Questions for the pornsters:

How frequently are you really surprised by a plotline? Astonished? Humiliated by the evidence of your gullibility, to the extent that you become a serial sniper?

Without giving away the endings, which books/movies have the most unexpected twists?

This quiz does count toward your final grade and there is an automatic "F" for anyone who says it was clear all along where "The Life of Pi" was heading. Liars!

 

[steve w]

Shereads,

I think we like a clever twist because it shows us that some real thought went into the book, as opposed to someone churning out some formulaic crap for the money. Especially if, on discovering the twist, you think back and realise that it had been woven into the story fromm the get-go. That was what made the Sixth Sense twist so effective. As you say, once you think "clever bastard" the author has done their job.

My nomination would be "Night Caller" by Armistead Maupin. A potential twist about two-thirds through that, for the only time in my life, had me audibly gasping "fucking hell" as I read it.

 

[shereads]

My nomination would be "Night Caller" by Armistead Maupin. A potential twist about two-thirds through that, for the only time in my life, had me audibly gasping "fucking hell" as I read it.

That definitely trumps "WTF?!"

 

[cantdog]

Fight Club-- Chuck Palahniuk

And even subtler than that is the feat performed by Peter Straub in Ghost Story-- the young man who so appallingly kidnaps a child from a schoolyard and drives off with her, contemplating whether and when to knife her (in the first chapter), who is handled so masterfully that by the end of the novel when we return to that car, the reader is urging him to kill her! "Kill her, you idiot! Kill her without delay!"

Somewhat less masterfully, King does the same for a political assassin in Dead Zone.

 

[shereads]

Two things I didn't see coming in the movie, "Red Rock West":

(1) plot twists

(2) how annoying Nicolaus Cage would eventually become

 

[scheherazade_79]

I love surprise endings - especially the kind that are so unexpected they make your head spin. Speaking of M. Night Shamalan, did anyone see The Village? I thought it was a really lousy movie until it got to the end - then I couldn't get it out of my mind. Definitely reccommended.

 

[TheEarl]

No spoilers here - everything's couched in terms so that it won't spoil the film:

Memento is the best example of a film screwing you over. The first time I watched it, I felt so sorry for Carrie Anne-Moss when Leonard doesn't remember her. Then it became clear what she'd done earlier.

The ending of Memento is actually slightly open, depending on whether you believe his wife was diabetic or whether Teddy was just fucking with his head.

The Earl

 

[SnoopDog]

No spoilers here - everything's couched in terms so that it won't spoil the film:

Memento is the best example of a film screwing you over. The first time I watched it, I felt so sorry for Carrie Anne-Moss when Leonard doesn't remember her. Then it became clear what she'd done earlier.

The ending of Memento is actually slightly open, depending on whether you believe his wife was diabetic or whether Teddy was just fucking with his head.

The Earl

Gotta love Memento, especially the three different director commentaries. Pretty mean but pretty awesome.

By the way, I LOVE surprise endings. And there can be some really clever ones, like those (in no particualr order)

- Fight Club
- The Usual Suspects
- The Sixth Sense
- The Village
- Signs (kinda sruprise)
- Memento
- Runaway Jury
- Arlington Road
- Identity
- Wild Things
- Fallen
- Primal Fear

These are the ones I can think of right now.

Snoopy

 

[R. Richard]

I think we like a clever twist because it shows us that some real thought went into the book, as opposed to someone churning out some formulaic crap for the money. Especially if, on discovering the twist, you think back and realise that it had been woven into the story fromm the get-go. That was what made the Sixth Sense twist so effective. As you say, once you think "clever bastard" the author has done their job.

I agree with Steve W. A clever twist is fun when you realize that the clever twist is woven into the story long before the ending. If the 'clever twist' just jumps out of nowhere, it is not nearly as clever.

JMHO.

 

[bloodsimple]

Oh My God yes,

The Usual Suspects

Not just a great twist, but beautifully filmed. The noticeboard, the falling cup.....

The twist in The Village didn't reallt work for me, as I was expecting some kind of twist and guessed it.

 

[fogbank]

In regards to Life of Pi, yes, perfect ending in so many ways. Definitely not just a twist for the sake of a twist. It's really necessary to tie together the first and second parts of the book. (Though I still have no idea about the thematic point of the meerkat island, as wonderful as it was.) It's so appropriate though that Shyamalan is going to be filming the screen version of the book.

My girlfriend is masterful at figuring out endings. Me, I'm blissfully ignorant, which I think I prefer. There are some times that I figure it out (The Village was hugely disappointing for that reason, though I liked the film for other reasons).

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind had wonderful twists throughout it. Absolutely astonishing the way that each thing casts light on everything previous.

 

[Belegon]

The twist in The Village didn't reallt work for me, as I was expecting some kind of twist and guessed it.

and there is the rub for an author who likes to use them. If you do it everytime, or even half the time, it becomes expected and then there is no "twist" left...

 

[SnoopDog]

I also liked the twit in 'A Beautiful Mind' which was on top a superb movie.


Snoopy

 

[CrazyyAngel]

Well ... the only really surprise ending I can come up with on top of my hat is last seasons finale of "Star Trek: Enterprise". I sat there for several minutes, mumbling "what the fuck" over and over again. Not that it was necessarily a good twist, but it came so far out of left field you had to be surprised.

CA

 

[gauchecritic]

I'm surprised The didn't mention Red Dwarf and the squid of despair.

Terry Pratchett generally get some nice 'in between' twists lately, not that they dramatically alter the plot or tie things up but do make you go; "fucking hell".

Gauche

 

[SnoopDog]

I wished I would have lived a little bit earlier so I could have witnessed the 'twist' of Darth Vader being Luke's father.

Damned, I can only imagine sitting in the theatre, being hyped by the succes of Star Wars IV - A New Hope, and then at the end of 'Empire' going 'WHAT THE FUCK'

Snoopy

 

[Guest]

You want surprize endings?!

Romeo and Juliet
King Lear
Cymbeline
The Taming of the Shrew
The Winter's Tale
The Merchant of Venice

Perdita

 

[TheEarl]

M Night Shymalan is never going to recover from the 6th Sense. Everyone's going to expect a sensational twist - if there's none then people will be disappointed and if there is one, then people will set to trying to second-guess it and will be disappointed because they guessed.

One film which I quite liked was The Hole. I started watching it when it was on television, expecting common-or-garden low-intelligence shlock-horror, but was actually quite impressed with the way the story rewove itself as Thora Brich changed her testimony and the entire thing twisted around to completely flip over your opinions of Thora Birch. Sat there thinking about that one for the rest of the evening.

The Earl

 

[shereads]

I love surprise endings - especially the kind that are so unexpected they make your head spin. Speaking of M. Night Shamalan, did anyone see The Village? I thought it was a really lousy movie until it got to the end - then I couldn't get it out of my mind. Definitely reccommended.

I haven't seen it, but I will. I was disappointed in Signs, his sci-fi film about crop circles. For creepiness potential, crop-circles ought to be a slam-dunk.

Unbreakable has a "gotcha" ending nearly as clever as The Sixth Sense, and a great premise: a down-on-his luck blue-collar dad (Bruce Willis) inexplicably survives a train wreck that killed every other passenger. He befriends the owner of an art gallery that specializes in comic-book art, and is encouraged to believe he has dormant superpowers.



The first surprise is that it's credible. Shamalan walks a tightrope between two possibilities: #1 "I'm watching a movie starring Bruce Willis as a reluctant superhero. How embarrassing." #2 "Willis' character is delusional."

Of course, the answer is #3

 

[shereads]

I wished I would have lived a little bit earlier so I could have witnessed the 'twist' of Darth Vader being Luke's father.

It was pretty disappointing when that mask came off and Vader was Bob Newhart.

 

[doormouse]

One of the guys I used to work with used to always say I reminded him of the girl from The Crying Game.

I was really flattered when I saw the movie, she's really pretty .. until the end... OMG did he get slapped!!! LOL

Brat.

 

[shereads]

In regards to Life of Pi, yes, perfect ending in so many ways. Definitely not just a twist for the sake of a twist. It's really necessary to tie together the first and second parts of the book. (Though I still have no idea about the thematic point of the meerkat island, as wonderful as it was.) It's so appropriate though that Shyamalan is going to be filming the screen version of the book.

shereads: "No way!"

fogbank: "Way."

Now there's a challenge. Is it possible to make that movie with real animals and not some cheesy CGI?

CAUTION: SPOILER BELOW:














Forget the meerkats. It was the teeth that freaked me out. Eww.

 

[carsonshepherd]

One of the guys I used to work with used to always say I reminded him of the girl from The Crying Game.

Oddly I was completely oblivious to the "twist" in the Crying Game. A friend of mine was mouthing "She's a guy" at me but I wasn't paying attention, I was too busy thinking about the guy I was sitting next to. It turned out... he really was a guy. But his dick wasn't as big as the chick in the movie. Talk about a surprise ending....