How did you feel about the ending? (spoilers)

Use this forum to discuss the March 2018 Book of the Month, "Final Notice" by Van Fleisher.
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How did you feel about the ending? (spoilers)

Post by freakkshowx »

I truly felt like the ending was rather unbelievable, and that the author was encouraging violence. The main characters celebrated a mass killing and were overall portrayed as justified. Was this off putting to anyone else?
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Post by nobunkum »

I thought that that was kind of ironic but accurate of a lot of people's thinking. That they don't see their own moral blind-spots. I thought that it was rather weird that Trudi's friend was convinced to come along and she bought into the idea that Trudi's plan would actually accomplish something and didn't mind risking her own life in the process.

I think that it was less off putting but more instructive of real life. How a lot of people who complain about things contribute to the problem but because of their own self righteous attitude they can't see it. Or aren't willing to do the hard things to make it actually better. I used to be surrounded by people who would talk about how bad the air quality was and how the government or businesses should do more to make it better. These same people had free public transportation passes provided by the government and yet they chose to drive each day to work. Large and small distances. Bad air quality days and good air quality days. They were contributing to the problem but they saw it as someone else's responsibility to take care of.

The same logic can be found in the book with the discussion with the watch development team. Basically, through the discussion they conclude that it wasn't their fault at all that there were adverse events with the watch. They should keep going with what we are doing because people want it. And it is the fault of the NRA that anybody would kill, not what they are doing.
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Post by freakkshowx »

Hm, I hadn't thought of it like that before. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but it makes the ending seem a bit more conclusive and important to the theme of the novel. I agree that it was strange to have Rasha immediately want in on the plan, especially because the author made an effort to highlight her experiences in Syria.
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Post by Raya raymond »

The ending put me off too. I believe in justice but not in that way. A wrong can never right another wrong
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Post by Shrabastee Chakraborty »

I did not think of the ending in that way! To me, it was like they got paid in their own coins, also that they faced the consequences of their own actions. But I suppose you are right. A few precious lives were lost, not only the NRA staffers, but also people attending the program. Can we call it 'justice' simply because they were the ones to encourage guns? I don't think so..rather what Vince realised about not being a killer was the perfect sentiment to end the story, I believe. But then again, everyone from an entire population feeling the same way is just not believable, so I don't think the end could be that. I felt good that Vince did not resort to violence, as I feared he might. Trudy's actions caught me off guard, though. Do you think she meant to shoot someone, or merely showed the gun in order to initiate chaos? Or did everything happen just as an inevitable course of events?
However, I like how the epilogue ends in a hope for a better future, even if that is only fictional!
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Post by freakkshowx »

Raya raymond wrote: 21 Apr 2018, 08:51 The ending put me off too. I believe in justice but not in that way. A wrong can never right another wrong
I agree. The ending felt so celebratory, that was my problem with it. The characters who initiated the shooting were portrayed in such a positive light afterwards that I felt rather discomfited by it, as well as by the fact that it got pegged on a mentally ill and disabled "disposable" character.
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Post by freakkshowx »

Aryastark wrote: 21 Apr 2018, 21:05 I did not think of the ending in that way! To me, it was like they got paid in their own coins, also that they faced the consequences of their own actions. But I suppose you are right. A few precious lives were lost, not only the NRA staffers, but also people attending the program. Can we call it 'justice' simply because they were the ones to encourage guns? I don't think so..rather what Vince realised about not being a killer was the perfect sentiment to end the story, I believe. But then again, everyone from an entire population feeling the same way is just not believable, so I don't think the end could be that. I felt good that Vince did not resort to violence, as I feared he might. Trudy's actions caught me off guard, though. Do you think she meant to shoot someone, or merely showed the gun in order to initiate chaos? Or did everything happen just as an inevitable course of events?
However, I like how the epilogue ends in a hope for a better future, even if that is only fictional!
I think it would feel more like retribution if only those immediately responsible for the gun craze were killed. A huge crowd of innocent people thrown into a shootout on purpose just didn't have the same sheen of victory for me. I liked how Vince didn't end up killing the two men and their dog, and I feel like his emotional distress in that situation was realistic. The big issue for me was that Trudi and Rasha never even gave their plot a second moral thought.
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Post by Shrabastee Chakraborty »

freakkshowx wrote: 24 Apr 2018, 11:49
Aryastark wrote: 21 Apr 2018, 21:05 I did not think of the ending in that way! To me, it was like they got paid in their own coins, also that they faced the consequences of their own actions. But I suppose you are right. A few precious lives were lost, not only the NRA staffers, but also people attending the program. Can we call it 'justice' simply because they were the ones to encourage guns? I don't think so..rather what Vince realised about not being a killer was the perfect sentiment to end the story, I believe. But then again, everyone from an entire population feeling the same way is just not believable, so I don't think the end could be that. I felt good that Vince did not resort to violence, as I feared he might. Trudy's actions caught me off guard, though. Do you think she meant to shoot someone, or merely showed the gun in order to initiate chaos? Or did everything happen just as an inevitable course of events?
However, I like how the epilogue ends in a hope for a better future, even if that is only fictional!
I think it would feel more like retribution if only those immediately responsible for the gun craze were killed. A huge crowd of innocent people thrown into a shootout on purpose just didn't have the same sheen of victory for me. I liked how Vince didn't end up killing the two men and their dog, and I feel like his emotional distress in that situation was realistic. The big issue for me was that Trudi and Rasha never even gave their plot a second moral thought.
True! After they were shown to be anti-gun throughout the book (although Trudy finally felt the need of having a gun after Miles and Vince were attacked), they simply went on with their plan afterwards. And Rasha, who was the victim of not one but two attacks on her school and so valiantly defended her students, she also did not object to Trudy's plan? That did not feel right.
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Post by freakkshowx »

Aryastark wrote: 25 Apr 2018, 04:37
freakkshowx wrote: 24 Apr 2018, 11:49
Aryastark wrote: 21 Apr 2018, 21:05 I did not think of the ending in that way! To me, it was like they got paid in their own coins, also that they faced the consequences of their own actions. But I suppose you are right. A few precious lives were lost, not only the NRA staffers, but also people attending the program. Can we call it 'justice' simply because they were the ones to encourage guns? I don't think so..rather what Vince realised about not being a killer was the perfect sentiment to end the story, I believe. But then again, everyone from an entire population feeling the same way is just not believable, so I don't think the end could be that. I felt good that Vince did not resort to violence, as I feared he might. Trudy's actions caught me off guard, though. Do you think she meant to shoot someone, or merely showed the gun in order to initiate chaos? Or did everything happen just as an inevitable course of events?
However, I like how the epilogue ends in a hope for a better future, even if that is only fictional!
I think it would feel more like retribution if only those immediately responsible for the gun craze were killed. A huge crowd of innocent people thrown into a shootout on purpose just didn't have the same sheen of victory for me. I liked how Vince didn't end up killing the two men and their dog, and I feel like his emotional distress in that situation was realistic. The big issue for me was that Trudi and Rasha never even gave their plot a second moral thought.
True! After they were shown to be anti-gun throughout the book (although Trudy finally felt the need of having a gun after Miles and Vince were attacked), they simply went on with their plan afterwards. And Rasha, who was the victim of not one but two attacks on her school and so valiantly defended her students, she also did not object to Trudy's plan? That did not feel right.
That's exactly what I was thinking! The author made a point of drawing in Rasha's experiences in Syria, which I found to be a great move, but then totally abandons its effect on her moral compass when it no longer serves him, which made no sense.
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Post by FilmStar »

I thought it was very farfetched to have Trudi literally try to kill the NRA and that she didn't get in trouble for attempted murder. I guess it was the farce that what started as one attempted murder ended up being everyone shooting at each other.
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Post by freakkshowx »

FilmStar wrote: 25 Apr 2018, 10:39 I thought it was very farfetched to have Trudi literally try to kill the NRA and that she didn't get in trouble for attempted murder. I guess it was the farce that what started as one attempted murder ended up being everyone shooting at each other.
I think so too. I had trouble wrapping my mind around how it was supposed to be a happy ending, it seemed. Why was Vince proud of Trudi when he had recently resolved that violence was not the answer to conflict? Why was pegging it on a disabled man with PTSD morally acceptable? Just because he outwardly doesn't speak means that he doesn't have complex thoughts or feelings? As a disabled person with PTSD, that becomes more offensive the more I think about it. The tone and the plot at the end were horrifically dissonant.
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Post by FilmStar »

Yeah I know what you mean. It's like they were trying to Hunger Games it where the NRA is the capital and Trudi is Katniss Everdeen trying to kill President Snow. But like I said in my review, don't take the book seriously as it is a farfetched satire of the author's picture of what he thinks the world will come to.
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Post by Jackie Holycross »

I think Trudi was trying to show that guns were not the answer. If such violence could happen in a room full of guns, then carrying them does not protect a person. I found it ironic since there seemed to be so many clues that Vince would be the one to do something drastic, so that part was well done.

I did find the ending a little pat with Vince and Trudi both beating their illnesses and even the government trying to fix it's ills.
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Post by holsam_87 »

I felt that the ending was very unbelievable, with how things are done in society, I think that both of the women would have been caught. It just goes to show that is very fictional and shouldn't ever be attempted in real life. I'm just glad that everyone was alright at the end.
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Post by sarah92480 »

nobunkum wrote: 16 Apr 2018, 17:16 I thought that it was rather weird that Trudi's friend was convinced to come along and she bought into the idea that Trudi's plan would actually accomplish something and didn't mind risking her own life in the process.
I found that really bizarre as well. There wasn't much leading up to that trip; it felt like it was written hastily and a lot was left out. And why exactly would her friend be so easily convinced to go, especially knowing what she knew about the book's NRA and also being a somewhat (albeit, wrongly) "vilified" ethnicity? It seems she would have some hesitation, even thought she hated the group, and did her husband have any input on why she would suddenly want to go to this thing? There were a lot of things I scratched my head about in this book but that was one of the bigger ones.
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