Best ending of a novel

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Best ending of a novel

Following on from the worst opening line thread, what which book has the best ending (factual rather than fictional this time)?

It's not a competition (although we are looking at some ideas for competitions that have made their way to ABCtales from people in this forum...)

Apologies for being cliched, but my favourite ending of a novel has to be 'The Picture of Dorian Gray'. Even after approximately a gazillion re-readings, it still makes me catch my breath.

Sue
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"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
andrew pack
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Surely this thread should have 'SPOILER' at the top, as we are giving away book endings. The Big Sleep has got to be up there , by the end of the story, the hardboiled detective is wondering what it matters to someone who is dead who killed them and that the murder is solved, the crime is hushed up and the detective can't really decide whether by investigating he has only made things worse. That's quite a stretch for what is supposed to be pulp fiction.
kurious_oranj
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i'd say the bible has the best ending, altho i was disappointed that the bad guys dont win.
Gabrielle
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I'm not certain what you mean, Emily when you say in the first posting which opens this thread - factual not fictional this time. I am assuming (cos I'm pretty quick off the mark) that you mean published - a real end to a real novel. I've written a real novel and it has a real ending but its not published ....and I think it's ending is the best I have ever read. But I can't share it with you because it would be a real spoiler (as Andrew points out) and I want it to be published. End of plug.
kurious_oranj
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bwahahaha well you would, wouldnt you?
Emily Dubberley
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Gabrielle, I did mean a published novel (ie, along the same lines as the favourite short stories thread) but I look forward to reading yours (I certainly liked your ghost story)
IFB
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*wistful over The Great Gatsby*
Sue
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mmmmmmmm...me too!
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