Although there were mixed reactions to the ending of this book, I thought it was fairly good. One point that might be argued against it is the cheesiness of the ending, and the sort of perfectly fitting and almost creepy appearance of Norma when Smithy is with Bethany. I think that this ending works, with Smithy's incredibly bad luck it feels like something good should happen to him and Norma showing up seems to fill that hole.
I think the ending also resolves Bethany's narrative fairly well. Although I would have liked more explanation about what happened between when she left and her death, but her family doesn't know so it makes sense that we don't get the whole picture. In addition, Smithy is able to distance himself and move on from his sister's presence, and this is shown through his taking her advice and moving away from being fat as well as her disappearing into the clouds.
The Norma/"I love you" story line also finished up pretty well. We get the culmination of all the phone calls and near "love" drops, but the way the book ends really solidifies it and makes you certain that their relationship is progressing in some way. I enjoyed that there was something here that Smithy could look forward to in terms of someone who can understand where he comes from and support him after the has pretty much lost everything.
Overall, I like this ending because is shows us that Smithy has something good happen to him after everything that he has been through. It also gives us some understanding of what this journey gave him.
I think the ending also resolves Bethany's narrative fairly well. Although I would have liked more explanation about what happened between when she left and her death, but her family doesn't know so it makes sense that we don't get the whole picture. In addition, Smithy is able to distance himself and move on from his sister's presence, and this is shown through his taking her advice and moving away from being fat as well as her disappearing into the clouds.
The Norma/"I love you" story line also finished up pretty well. We get the culmination of all the phone calls and near "love" drops, but the way the book ends really solidifies it and makes you certain that their relationship is progressing in some way. I enjoyed that there was something here that Smithy could look forward to in terms of someone who can understand where he comes from and support him after the has pretty much lost everything.
Overall, I like this ending because is shows us that Smithy has something good happen to him after everything that he has been through. It also gives us some understanding of what this journey gave him.
You articulate something important about the structural role of this ending. Remember that Smithy is feeling increasingly depressed as his journey comes to an end--in part this is because the journey itself has become his life, and now he has to face life without the journey that has given it meaning for the last few months (and he understandably dreads returning to anything like his "old life," but he has no sense of what a new life might look like).
ReplyDeleteUp to this point, Norma has mainly been a part of his past, an unfinished story from the old days that he's trying to reconcile in the memory portion of the narrative. With her appearance at the ending, she enters Smithy's present story--there can be forgiveness, and we get a picture of a positive future for Smithy who, like you say, has lost everything.