As a kid, I read Batman in the early-mid 60’s and as much as I can recall, the strangeness of their relationship never entered my mind.

It's not just you, at this time of year. "Twist" sounds corny and overwrought to me. Nauseating word-salad.

Interesting. Will be in touch.

Sorry to distress you Steve, but Agnes Callard wrote a much-ridiculed essay for the New Yorker which you might remember. "When the philosopher Agnes Callard fell in love with her graduate student, she knew she had to leave her husband. For the first time in her life, she felt as if she had access to a certain “inner experience of love,” a state that made her feel as if there were suddenly a moral grail, a better kind of person to be. . . She now lives with her new husband and her ex-husband, and speaks frankly about the experience in hopes of showing students how philosophy can apply to the most consequential decisions of their lives." If I were you, I'd leave the book outside, open in the rain.

I watched a pretty recent movie called "The Holdovers" that has a scene filmed in the bargain lot of The Brattle.

I think you are right that Chernow will be very widely read--partly because of Chernow, but also because Twain is having a moment because of Percival Everett! Even I, resister of long books, is thinking about reading it.

And Robin gets an outfit…and the outfit is STRANGE! 😅

The Leonardo book sounds like it's trying to get at something that's at the heart of the Shakespeare authorship controversy for instance, and so it's probably even more up your alley!

Holy hole in a donut!

I would love to try for that position for a film reviewer. Unfortunately, I'm swamped with my classes and my thesis proposal this semester

100% agree about Stephen King dropping the ball on his endings... Exceptions may be Carrie and The Shining.... other than that, for him, I love the RIDE he takes us on, so can often just accept the ending for what it is. 100% agree with you on Hannibal. The ending actually soured me on anything else Harris writes/had written oTHER than SotL and Red Dragon. The Odyssey, I didn't mind the war being thwarted, though the outing of the "traitors" and justice against them would've been nice. Usually I'm a "journey" person when it comes to books, often because even a "good" ending can be painfully anticlimactic. Never heard of The Delivery, but may one day pick it up just to experience the betrayal. But I don't get much time to read anymore so maybe won't waste time on it Thanks for all the breakdowns!

Thank you Steve!

Hi Steve. Call me Ishmael. I would like to see a revised ending to Scott Smith THE RUINS and also Richard Layamon's the Travelling Vampire show

I'm glad to see this feature on your channel return.

Do more of these Steve!

Desert power!

Introductory Video 1 - Dune Primer kzbin.info/www/bejne/eH_CoZ1rrq-Iick Introductory Video 2 - Core Cast kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKPQn51vn5p2ja8 Video breakdown - Chapter by Chapter Dune - In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKDYY2V4gdlrbdk Chapter 1 - It was a relief globe of a world, partly in shadows, spinning under the impetus of a fat hand that glittered with rings. kzbin.info/www/bejne/foLGgX1jrdGdnsk Chapter 2 - “Well, Jessica, what have you to say for yourself?” asked the Reverend Mother. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bHq3haR_iNCgaKs Chapter 3 - Thufir Hawat slipped into the training room of Castle Caladan, closed the door softly. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHndh6WOrc6setE Chapter 4 - Although he heard Dr. Yueh enter the training room, noting the stiff deliberation of the man’s pace, Paul remained stretched out face down on the exercise table where the masseuse had left him. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHq7nY2Ii5ytqsU Chapter 5 - Paul watched his father enter the training room, saw the guards take up stations outside. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZime4CGlrVgodU Chapter 6 - All around the Lady Jessica-piled in corners of the Arrakeen great hall, mounded in the open spaces-stood the packaged freight of their lives: boxes, trunks, cartons, cases-some partly unpacked. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKKsYYqoiciBh8k Chapter 7 - The door stood ajar, and Jessica stepped through it into a room with yellow walls. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3nJfWSeeatoasU Chapter 8 - Paul lay on the bed feigning sleep. It had been easy to palm Dr. Yueh’s sleeping tablet, to pretend to swallow it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ony7kGdvhrCmibs Chapter 9 - At the end of the south wing, Jessica found a metal stair spiraling up to an oval door. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJXTk56NitmlrdE Chapter 10 - The Duke Leto Atreides leaned against a parapet of the landing control tower outside Arrakeen. kzbin.info/www/bejne/maPMhXV_orlsj5I Chapter 11 - “The whole theory of warfare is calculated risk,” the Duke said, “but when it comes to risking your own family, the element of calculation gets submerged in … other things.” kzbin.info/www/bejne/gpTQaGmpm82pl7c Chapter 12 - The Duke found Thufir Hawat alone in the corner room to which a guard directed him. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKa8i2V9ZsuArs0 Chapter 13 - The Duke said: “Paul, I’m doing a hateful thing, but I must.” kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXiWioKipbesZ7c Chapter 14 - His first encounter with the people he had been ordered to betray left Dr. Kynes shaken. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJqXqKRsitmcbc0 Chapter 15 - In the dining hall of the Arrakeen great house, suspensor lamps had been lighted against the early dark. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZucooePis2lfpo Chapter 16 - Jessica heard the disturbance in the great hall, turned on the light beside her bed. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iGKuf2uqfZlkj7M Chapter 17 - Leto stood in the foyer of his house, studying a note by the light of a single suspensor lamp. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqTWZnSPjZ2rl7s Chapter 18 - Jessica awoke in the dark, feeling premonition in the stillness around her. She could not understand why her mind and body felt so sluggish. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f5mrhmCqh5ygfsU Chapter 19 - A man in Harkonnen uniform skidded to a stop at the end of the hall, stared in at Yueh, taking in at a single glance Mapes’ body, the sprawled form of the Duke, Yueh standing there. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4G0ea1rgKeImdE Chapter 20 - The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen stood at a viewport of the grounded lighter he was using as a command post. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKfUYaijm996apY Chapter 21 - Paul felt that all his past, every experience before this night, had become sand curling in an hourglass. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eX2xfqqEjq-HiaM Muad’Dib - “Now Harkonnen shall kill Harkonnen,” Paul whispered. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWbLhGV5oq1rotk Chapter 22 - “I’ve always prided myself on seeing things the way they truly are,” Thufir Hawat said. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpKYomCChLqteMU Chapter 23 - As the ornithopters glided out of the night above them, Paul grabbed his mother’s arm, snapped: “Don’t move!” kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppCok4uZipafqrs Chapter 24 - “They are dead, Baron,” said Iakin Nefud, the guard captain. “Both the woman and the boy are certainly dead.” kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4ecioFte5WDebM Chapter 25 - As Paul fought the ‘thopter’s controls he grew aware that he was sorting out the interwoven storm forces, his more than Mentat awareness computing on the basis of fractional minutiae. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aICWn2N_rp6aqaM Chapter 26 - “So you’re the great Gurney Halleck,” the man said. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n33MhoWkirqkqaM Chapter 27 - Paul stood outside the stilltent in the late afternoon. The crevasse where he had pitched their camp lay in deep shadow. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYXcZ2Bne7etppY Chapter 28 - The man crawled across a dunetop. He was a mote caught in the glare of the noon sun. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaPEf4aLna6kgZI Chapter 29 - “Get their water,” the man calling out of the night had said. And Paul fought down his fear, glanced at his mother. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3_NoIuHet6IjKM Chapter 30 - They approached Cave of the Ridges at dawnbreak, moving through a split in the basin wall so narrow they had to turn sideways to negotiate it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/anitdqxopciggZY Chapter 31 - Jessica awakened in cave darkness, sensing the stir of Fremen around her, smelling the acrid stillsuit odor. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZbMeJiCl9Gkeas Chapter 32 - In the stillness of the cavern, Jessica heard the scrape of sand on rock as people moved, the distant bird calls that Stilgar had said were the signals of his watchmen. kzbin.info/www/bejne/h53amntnoJWCkMU Chapter 33 - On his seventeenth birthday, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen killed his one hundredth slave-gladiator in the family games. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHyxkn9jgd6CgZo Chapter 34 - Stilgar’s troop returning to the sietch with its two strays from the desert climbed out of the basin in the waning light of the first moon. kzbin.info/www/bejne/op6cfoV_ityLeJo Chapter 35 - Phosphortubes in the faraway upper reaches of the cavern cast a dim light onto the thronged interior, hinting at the great size of this rock-enclosed space … larger, Jessica saw, than even the Gathering Hall of her Bene Gesserit school. She estimated there were more than five thousand people gathered out there beneath the ledge where she stood with Stilgar. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aYuraqWtfraaoac The Prophet - The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen raged down the corridor from his private apartments, flitting through patches of late afternoon sunlight that poured down from high windows. He bobbed and twisted in his suspensors with violent movements. kzbin.info/www/bejne/haC7gHx_edNmjtk Chapter 36 - I’ve sat across from many rulers of Great Houses, but never seen a more gross and dangerous pig than this one, Thufir Hawat told himself. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmqyfa2Dms2lppI Chapter 37 - Paul-Muad’Dib remembered that there had been a meal heavy with spice essence. He clung to this memory because it was an anchor point and he could tell himself from this vantage that his immediate experience must be a dream. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3KcZJdmmrZ0sLs Chapter 38 - A thought came unbidden to Jessica’s mind: Paul will be undergoing his sand-rider test at any moment now. They try to conceal this fact from me, but it’s obvious. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3yuYpJ5eNqSgpI Chapter 39 - Paul waited on the sand outside the gigantic maker’s line of approach. I must not wait like a smuggler-impatient and jittering, he reminded himself. I must be part of the desert. kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKLbqn6baN1-lbM Chapter 40 - The smuggler’s spice factory with its parent carrier and ring of drone ornithopters came over a lifting of dunes like a swarm of insects following its queen. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaLZg4iel5mGebc

Old Yeller…for the win!

I’m not sure exactly what category this would fall into but for me: No Country for Old Men. I was pretty low on Cormac McCarthy by that point anyway, but the dismal, cynical, middle finger to his readers of an ending that he gives for anyone bothering to care at all about his characters was what I needed to realize his novels aren’t for me.

I agree with you 100% as regards Stephen King. I don't like his endings and I don't like his writing style. I guess we hold a minority opinion however because he has sold over 400 million books worldwide!

Huckleberry Finn.

Lonesome Dove. A terrible, pointless ending.

There are two camps. Each camp probably has something valid to say. If forced to choose a camp, I'd probably go join the kids who didn't adore the second epilogue of War and Peace.

We need an independent writing collective that has local groups as well as online communities. There is no reason NaNoWriMo should be the sole place for what we do. We could make the Camp months additional novel-writing months as I've done each time.

I've later seen movies come out that resembled things I've submitted to Nano. I figured it was a coincidence. Maybe not.

the endrhymed fourteeners homage Golding’s Ovid - which is more individuated a la Dryden, “making it live in English”

The ending of The Odyssey always bothered me. Not because of Athena, but because we know that Odysseus is leaving with the oar. He single handedly kills two generstions of Ithacans, the remaining men hate his family, and he is going to leave again.

A serious novel so serious it informs you it is a novel on the font cover. The writer is good, the story is fascinating but main character has to die in order to emphasis that this is a serious literature. I can see it coming a mile off, the story doesn't warrant it and it is a disappointment when it happens.

I read the title of this video and instantly said "Hannibal" and there it is, Steve agrees hahaha.

Took me a while to fall in love with this book, but The Two Tower section of this novel is fantastic; I have loved every single chapter. I have also read the Hobbit previously and enjoyed my experience very much. So I have found a favorite writer in Tolkien and I couldn’t be happier:)

I find it funny that you still call Odysseus “Ulysses” immediately after vowing not to. Not trying to make fun of you Steve, just found it funny. 😂 Great video.

Tess of the d'Urbervilles. From masterpiece to silly melodrama

Going to try out Blue Sky. Your vision for it is quite enticing

fahrenheit 451 ending Made no sense

My god, the riot act your Bean would read if you were gone 20 years...

Steve: you once again took what i started and made it elegant and insightful! Really enjoyed your responses and examples! Well done sir!

Something that happens towards the end of Cabin at the End of the World made me hate reading the last 70 or so pages of a book that I was really enjoying up until that point

Fun video, Steve! I would change the ending of Le Carre's The Perfect Spy. Maybe because of how it made me feel more than it being bad. I remember enjoying Hannibal (ending seemed for Hollywood) but Red Dragon is what all other dark and prickly thrillers are measured against.

Stephen King's It was my first experience by feeling betrayed by a bad ending. I read the book as teen in the 80s. I was even proud of myself for reading such a thick novel and then I got to the end and said "What?! That's it?" Still burns.

I'm going to try and make a response video to this (as well as the impossible to adapt movie video). Hopefully it will work out.

I would, at this point, appreciate an attempt at an ending.

I’m also part of the Xodus and I love Blue Sky! Will make sure to follow you! 👍

I never liked the ending of Dracula, it always felt extremely underwhelming.

There was something about the ending of _God Bless You, Mr Rosewater_ that I didn't care for, but I dont know what. It may be that the main Rosewater character seemed to change rapidly. Perhaps I desire more detail. Not sure. Interesting take on "The Iliad". Also, I cant tell if I ought to read Harris' books or not.

With Stephen King, I believe his popularity has been due to the idea that many readers & aspiring writers have of popular writers in that one can have great success early in one's career without extreme effort. Unlike most writers who toil for years, King achieved success at a relatively young age. King has enjoyed a high visibility for a LONG TIME.

I've just read your review of The delivery, on open letters review, it's easy to see your feelings about the end of the book, I'm almost tempted to try it but do I want to invest time into a book with such an unworthy ending?. The ending of Hannibal has always left me feeling angry, knowing everything that had happened during the silence of the lambs and most of Hannibal, the ending just made no sense, it read like a twisted jump scare.

I thought the ending of Hannibal was just to end the story with no more sequels. The worst ending of all time goes not to a book, but a movie. Blade Runner. I saw it on opening night and it still makes me gag.

I knew The Delivery would be on this list! I wish you’d tell us the ending, I’ll never read it and I’ve been curious for years. The worst ending of a book for me was The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay. It was so awful I haven’t been able to read anything else by him since then.

Alex Michaelides Silent Patient...I wanted to smack the s**t out of my screen when i finished it 😠

H.G. Wells for me does bad endings, The Time Machine feels like he thought his homework was due a week later. I used to think War of thè Worlds was bad but as I have got older it is one that makes sense. (Love how your dog gets up when you mention the dog.)