I have to admit that I really enjoyed the discussion on My Year of Meats that we had in class on Friday. My Year of Meats is definitely a novel with a message and one that makes me thankful that most of the beef I consume comes from a pasteurized animal. However, I did have a few problems with way Ozeki ended the novel. Especially the way she ended things with Jane and the Comissioner. I liked how the author described their meeting after his concert, but I don’t exactly like where she ended it after that night. It seemed like both characters continued on with their busy lives without letting the reader know fully what their relationship would be like after that point. I’m sure that was the author’s goal, to leave it up to the reader’s imagination, but I for one would have appreciated an extra clue. A hint as to what might happen next.
Actually, the whole ending itself seemed kind of abrupt. I’m not saying that I wanted the author to describe every mundane detail leading up to the conclusion because even explaining most of those details would just cause the story to drag on, but each piece of the wrap up seemed short and quick. Here I had been following each character throughout the whole book (filled with really long chapters I might add), becoming emotionally invested in each one and then every problem seemed to reach a conclusion in what seemed like one of the shorter chapters within this novel. I just feel like Ozeki needed to elaborate on most of the conclusions. The only one that I didn’t feel like she rushed a lot was Akiko’s story. The only part of that story I felt was rushed was the transition from when Akiko first arrived in the US and when she finally met the couple that had helped to inspired her to leave “John.” What I want to know about this is what happened while Akiko stayed at Jane’s apartment? Here the two characters where the voices of the whole book and when they finally meet the reader learns nothing of their interaction.
Despite all my complaints I really did enjoy the book but the ending left me wanting just little bit more information.
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I completely agree with you. I thought that Ozeki throughout the novel almost required us to invest in the characters with her wordy descriptions and extended inner dialogues and then when it came to the end it was like she abruptly yanked out our investment. She made these characters almost seem like they were flat. Her ending left much to be desired. Actually, to me this ending reminded me of one that appear in a short story.
I also agree with you in that I really wanted to know what happened between Jane and Sloan. The author definitely provided us with no closure in that aspect. Come to think of it, Furgeson in “Happiness” also didn’t give us much to go off of on the love front. He gave us a bit more closure than Ozeki but still made us wonder about the future of their togetherness. Maybe this whole open ended love thing is done on purpose. There are so many love stories out there that provide you with a solid ending of either happily-ever-after or not, that some authors are now tying to step away from that and let the audience decided instead. If that is the case then from now on I am going to stick to the movies of books that I know will provide me with a solid love story ending because this whole muddy water representation of romance is just not working for me.
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