The books I brought for my long flights were addictive, but both had horribly depressing endings. Depressing is different than tragic. Tragic doesn't have to be depressing. In fact, in tragedy there can remain the triumph of love and hope. An author who does not choose to convey hope is merely using fiction to dump their angst on the rest of us. Basically, when I finished the two books I wanted to chuck the best sellers in the trash.
But here is a quote that was quoted in one of the books, which I did like:
I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known--cites of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honor'd of them all,--
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravel'd world whose margin fades
For ever and for ever when I move.Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Ulysses"
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