Okay, so a poster on 4chan's /lit/ forum recommended to me The Raw Shark Texts. I picked it up from the library today.

I could not put it down, and read through the whole thing in an on-and-off period of about nine hours.

The whole time through, I was thinking "this book is amazing, this is what I have been looking for all these years, how have I not heard of this book, this is completely my type of thing, this writing style is wonderful, this plot is gripping", etc.

When I got toward the end, I was eagerly anticipating the conclusion. I just knew that it had to be absolutely mind blowing, given the quality of the book so far. During the last few chapters, I sat there transfixed on the couch, heart pounding, not moving my eyes from the book. I can't really explain the feeling I felt at the very end, but it was that mix of dread and excitement that comes before a major revelation. I think you know what I mean?

I take a deep breath, and turn to the last page.

This was my face when I read it.

I felt so angry at the fact that I had loved this book so intensely while reading it, only for it to be completely ruined on the very last page by one of the worst endings I have ever seen in any work of entertainment. How can a book so wonderful have an ending so sophomoric and abysmal? How could a man that was creative, intelligent, and talented enough to create such a fantastic novel possibly think that this ending was a good idea? I cannot possibly imagine a worse way to end the book. Honestly, literally any combination of words other than the ones printed on page 426 would have been more satisfying than the ones that are there.

So, uh, yeah, the ending completely ruined this book for me. So strange that hours of enjoyment can be nullified by thirty seconds or so of sheer disappointment. I feel like I wasted my time. :(

This happened about a half hour ago. I posted this because I feel a need to talk to someone about the book. Does anyone else sympathize?

There are a lot of very interesting theories regarding the ending, many of which suggest that the newspaper article near the end is not entirely accurate. It really depends on your reading and interpretation of the novel. There is a lot that suggest that the characters, sounds, events and locations are all just reworkings/delusions of things Eric has already experienced. There is also a lot to suggest that he very well could have had a happy ending. Grope around on the site a little bit and I think you will find that there is more than meets the eye, and that the ending (despite your initial and seemingly literal reading of it) is actually more creative and happy than you think.

Notions of 'derivative' and 'original' interest me very much.

It seems to me that all stories, memories, narratives have always been heavily informed by, and even made from, other stories, memories, narratives to a fairly large degree - this is unavoidable now most of the information on the planet has been hyperlinked together into one super-text. What does 'originality' mean for us now - in terms of stories, but also in terms of who we are as people?

I feel that stories bleed together (the lake in my head becomes the lake in your head) either honestly or dishonestly, just as people are the sum total of their narrative references either knowingly or unknowingly. What makes a person and what makes a story are really the two big questions I set out to explore with Raw Shark. On the whole, I'm pleased with where I got to with it. Even though the ending is tough for some readers to swallow and plenty of other people have had problems with it, and been made angry by it, I'd say it remains the one thing I'm most proud of in that book.

I'm sorry it didn't work for you!

S