Books With Twist Endings
by Jenners • 11/18/2008 • Book Recommendations • 3 Comments
I love books with twist endings. Just like the movie The Sixth Sense, these books pull the rug out from under you. Suddenly, everything you thought was true changes and makes you look at everything that happened previously in a new light. I’m not going to comment too much more on these books…don’t want to ruin the surprise!
- Life of Pi by Yann Martel
- Atonement by Ian McEwan
- We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
A little bit more information on each book…
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
A boy and a Bengal tiger marooned on a life raft in the sea. What transpires is gripping, disturbing, thought-provoking. This was a book I read based solely on the cover art, and it ended up being one of my favorite books that I read last year. And the twist at the end might cause you to go back and read it all again.
Atonement by Ian McEwan
This was a big movie last year, but the book is better. At its heart, this is a book about paying for the decisions you made in a split second and must live with forever. I was blown away by the ending and found it very satisfying. I think it made for a better book.
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
An ambivalent mother finds her son Kevin difficult to love. Her husband doesn’t see the same darkness she sees. In a series of letters to her husband, the mother talks about Kevin — perhaps openly and honestly for the first time. As the book evolves, your sense of dread and discomfort build. And the ending is just so brutal and sad. One of my favorite reads from last year, but be warned, it is disturbing.
I don't know if you've perhaps found this book already (since it's clearly been quite awhile since this post) but there's an excellent twist in the book Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris. It blew me away. One of my favorite books ever.
Life of Pi – one of my favorite books ever.
Another writer that seems to build twists into her endings that change the whole perception is Claire Calman. I'd classify them as small-to-medium twists, though, in contrast to the big one in Pi or Atonement (which I only know as a movie).
I read three of hers, all had a significant kernel in the end, however my enjoyment dropped off with each one, sadly. The one I really enjoyed was 'Love is a Four Letter Word' – a quiet, thougtful sort of look at real people (no spies, explosions, heiresses, tigers, wars…..) but well done, not overwritten.
Charlotte Bronte’s “Vilette” — a totally underated classic — has such a subtle twist ending that it’s possible to miss it entirely if you don’t pay attention right to the end.
“Life of Pi” kind of freaked me out — one of my favoriter of recent popular lit.