Collection of short stories. The characters and situations are varied and interesting. ( )

This collection of short stories is a series of views into the lives of women, mostly. These are not extraordinary women or even very important instances in their lives. In fact, all of them seemed exceedingly ordinary. Also, none of them really end. I mean, you come to the last page of the story, and that's all it is. The last page. No summing up, no climactic moment, just....the end. After the first few it was hard to invest in any of them, knowing the conflict wouldn't be resolved and you wouldn't have any idea whether they went on the way things were or made some sort of dynamic change. It all left me feeling a little...disconcerted. I like for stories, all of them, not just short stories, to have an ending. A denouement, a punchy line at the end that changes everything, something that makes you feel the story is over and you can go on to the next.
All the stories were exceedingly well-written, though. The characters were well developed, as well as the settings, so hard to do in the protracted space of a short story. My only issue is the lack of endings, but that's enough to ruin the whole thing for me. Another reader without my particular hang-up on this issue might like this collection just fine. ( )