The Travelling Cat Chronicles: Does the cat die at the end? *Possible Spoilers*

[gmw]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Well sure. But "is it a tear-jerker" is a bit of a different question, IMO, than "Does Bob die at the end of 'The Chronicles of Bob?'" One seems slightly more specific to me than the other.

Before you start, sure, the specificity matters, but once you get into the book the relevance of even general comments like "tear-jerker" usually become apparent ... unless the author pulls a swifty like King near the end of The Stand

Spoiler:

And they never saw Stu Redman again.

[BookCat]

I wouldn't want to know the answer re human characters, although I have a general preference for happy endings. However, with cats (and other animals) I get very upset if they die at the end of the book. I also feel cheated: I've been lead on a story journey with this cat, invested a lot of time being with him, only to have the author end the book on a sour note. If it was a paperback, I'd throw it at the wall.

I'm very fond of cats in particular.

In the past, I've read books based on real animals which have this fault. Okay, it happened, but I want to put the book down with a smile on my face.

Spoiler:

I seem to remember Ring of Bright Water (the book) doing this. Even though this was supposedly non fiction, I just hated that ending.