I like stories with happy endings.
I like romances because the guy and the girl always end up together on the last page. I like women’s fiction because the main character learns something and is a better person on the last page than the first. I like mysteries because the mystery is always solved. I like suspense novels because the good guys always vanquish the evildoers.
I am not alone in this. I was listening to an episode of the Gracewriters podcast a few weeks ago, and Belinda Pollard made a comment to this effect: that we are programmed to want the happy ending.
So the I prefer not to read books where the characters don’t get their happy ending, or where good doesn’t win in the end. I guess that’s why I prefer fiction over nonfiction: in fiction, the author can choose the happy ending. In nonfiction, the author has to share the actual ending … and that might not be happy.
If I want to see the pain and ugliness in the world, I can watch the TV news. But for entertainment, I don’t want those topics and issues. I want the security of knowing I’m going to get a happy ending.
I prefer not to read fiction that looks too much like a newspaper headline. That includes:
- Fiction based on real crimes. I enjoy reading mysteries and suspense novels, but I’ve discovered I’m less interested in true crime, even historic true crime such as Barbour’s excellent True Colors series. Yet I’m happy to read historical (or even contemporary) fiction featuring real people, places, and events, especially when that can give me an insight into history or ideas.
- Anything about modern slavery or sex trafficking. Sex trafficking and slavery are real modern problems, so there’s a fine line between this and true crime. Now, you could say the same about most mystery or suspense stories, and you’d be right. For some reason, they bother me less (which may well be a different kind of problem).
- Anything related to Covid-19. As I write this, Delta has just arrived in New Zealand so we’re back in lockdown. That means I’m probably back to reading historical fiction or contemporary fiction published before 2019, as anything newer set in the USA or UK that doesn’t mention Covid or lockdown seems about as relevant and realistic as a contemporary novel where the characters don’t have internet or smartphones.
- Novels where the main character’s problem or the villain’s motive is related to health costs (because I’ve always lived in countries with universal healthcare, and while that is not perfect, I still have trouble comprehending how a rich, first-world country forces citizens to choose between medical care for cancer or diabetes and bankruptcy/death).
I think my problem is that I try to stay informed about current events, so I know all these things are real issues. That makes them current events, which are not entertaining or enjoyable.
