The end is bad. It does not make the whole stuff bad. Plus everything is clearly set up from the get go. No surprise. Owen had a dream he knew was a prophecy. He just ensured the prophecy went as he wanted it because he is nice. That the story of a man living to fulfill a cheesy dream where he is the hero. But that not the good part, that's the pretext. A book is only long when it bore you. If I remember, it seems you dont like Proust. I admit he is boring sometime. But he wrote some of the most funny scene ever. And Irving wrote some of the most lukewarm, cheesy scene ever in those 600 page Yeah, it clearly not about revealing something. It's just 600 pages of cheesy emotion about growing up and stuff. Chick Lit for boy. You dont read it for the plot. You read it to cry and be happy. You have to admit SPEAKING IN ALL CAPS IS KIND OF A NEAT GIMMICK. (I know the gospel did it before Irving, but that make the gimmick even more cool)