Upbeat choice in 1001 list?

I am looking to start a book from the list that doesn't involve rape, suicide, or torture and might end on a (relatively) "happy" note. Seems like the majority of the ones in the 2000s (which are the ones I'm most familiar with) are melancholy and violent. Normally, I can handle these topics but I'd like a break from them for just a bit. Anyone have recs that they've read lately? They can be from any century.

Well, all of Jane Austen's works end on a pretty happy note. Most of the Victorian era novels end well, though there may be struggle in the middle bits :) Jane Eyre is great, David Copperfield is great. The Lord of the Rings, though that is a trilogy. Cranford. Cold Comfort Farm is sort of neo-Victorian, and very funny.

You seem to know Austens and Little Women, and Victorian era indeed has its share of good endings...I'll throw in also Around the World in 80 Days.

Of a bit newer, there's Pippi Longstockings and The Summer Book (though the latter does have a dash of melancholy in it)...Italo Calvino books are not big on plot so there are rarely real endings there but getting there is often phantasmagorically cheerful. The Nine Taylors is a whodunnit but Sayers shies away from overt violence and does keep things upbeat.

Then there's The Nose and The Enchanted Wanderer, the latter has violent parts in it but the whole thing is told in tall tale fashion so it doesn't come off bad...
These for starters.

There's a thread about this very topic. I try to add to it whenever I come by one of the more uplifting books . . . they do indeed seem to be far and few between on this list! Check out:

http://www.librarything.com/topic/22752

Although I have already read all the Austens, I will look into the others. I'll also look to that link for the future works.

Thank you all!

Oh gosh, the Victorians are FAR from upbeat. Titles like Bleak House and Hard Times say it all.

I was actually surprised by how non-bleak Bleak House was. I expected social commentary and detail about living in the slums of London, but there was very little of that in the 900+ pages. I haven't read Hard Times yet, but I hope it's nastier ;-)

I don't think Bleak House was a difficult read in the terms the OP was talking about. There's no rape or overt violence, it ends quite happily for most of the characters- at least the one you care about. I haven't read Hard Times yet, but I don't think one book discounts the general feeling of a whole era of literature.

I recently read Banana Yoshimoto's "Kitchen" and really enjoyed it. Well it does center around death and how individuals respond to and cope with its reality, it does so in a way that I found quite beautiful.
Additionally, her depiction of the relationship which develops amongst the "survivors" -for lack of a better word- is touching. I suppose everyone has their own subjective definitions of what is uplifting, but I definitely found this book to be so.

A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy by Laurence Sterne is upbeat from start to finish. Sterne intended his book to be a counterpoint to travel narratives (one in particular by Tobias Smollett) that found fault with every place they visited. Sterne does just the opposite, but in his trademark unconventional rambling style. It's a delightful book and easily the most upbeat of the ones I've read from the 1001 list so far.