Where do we begin to talk about the end? I found this last portion of the book ripe with confessions, regret, and the acceptance of the imperfect, and although the specter of death hovered, there was a glimmer of last- minute hope. At least that was my interpretation.

As we open, morning has come to O’Hare and Bennie has had it. My heart sank when he had that confrontation with the gun-wielding cop. I thought, it can’t end like this. But that scene brought us to what we’ve kind of suspected all along: Bennie’s suicidal tendencies and his longing for that great escape. “The desire for action—even final, irrevocable action—feels so much better than no desire at all. The tingle of ambition is still a tingle, even if the ambition is merely to quit.” It’s a devastatingly sad quote that we see really connects him to his mother. The scene where Miss Willa picks up on Bennie’s plans is painful, as is her plea to him, a scribbled “no” on a Post-it. She sees herself in her son. What a tragic legacy.

Imagining Bennie’s childhood, scattered with those images of his mother’s suicide attempts (in particular the one where she tries to take him with her), reminds us of how broken he really is. Both Bennie and his mother think that they want out of life, but they don’t take the direct route; it’s as if they don’t really try hard enough. (As awful as that sounds, I think you know what I mean.) He drinks, but that’s long and slow, and it doesn’t always end in death; she sits on streetcar tracks, probably knowing, in the back of her mind, that streetcars have brakes. Neither is really able to see death through to the end: “The pair of us, two whales unable to find a shore on which to beach ourselves.” And yet they’re not able to see life through either and are never able to find some happy medium.

Bennie finally gets a flight, though of course it won’t allow him to make it to the wedding on time. You just want to throw your hands up, but at least he’ll get there. I was impressed by how accepting Stella Jr. was when he told her. She doesn’t seem to harbor the bitterness that she’d have every right to feel.

I was touched by the conversation between Bennie and Stella Sr. The years of wrongs weren’t righted in a single conversation, but I sensed a softening, finally some sort of peace, about their broken union. And, God, do we feel Bennie’s regret over all of his “inactions” as he probably imagines all the things he could have done differently. When he repeats that Polish saying to Stella—“przykro mi” (which he roughly translates as a cross between ”I’m sorry” and “I’m in pain”), my heart just broke for him.

Earlier on, Bennie says that everyone hopes to be more than what they are, and his line “Maybe you get what you get” is a very sobering assessment of it all. What do you think of that philosophy? Is it a cop-out or is it about realistic acceptance?

And what about our two endings? Bennie’s in-flight glimpses of gorgeous blue sky are what seem to shake him from his gloomy reverie. “Dear American Airlines, I’m not leaving. I apologize for all your time but I’ve changed my mind. You can keep your money after all.” There is hope in those lines. Maybe not for a “happy ending,” but perhaps for one that doesn’t end tragically. As for the Walenty passage (which I have to say I grew weary of toward the end), I found it interesting, but I’m not sure how to read it. We know that Bennie has taken the liberty of rewriting Alojzy’s violent conclusion—what did all of you make of it? For me that last line, “There was no Free State of Trieste and there could never be,” recalls the theme of accepting the imperfect, all the flaws, the cracks, and the illusions that are often a part of our lives. Again, this is not a happy ending, but perhaps it’s not a tragic one either—at least with Bennie’s translation. I guess it’s all in the interpretation, isn’t it?

I’d like to thank Jonathan Miles for a beautifully written novel that manages to be both poignant and hysterical, and I’d like to thank all of you for reading and “chatting” with me this month—it’s been great. Look for Jonathan’s answers to some of your questions at the end of the week.

Next month’s read is Anita Shreve’s Testimony with realsimple.com senior editor Maura Fritz. Enjoy!

—Suzanne Rust