What is it called when the end of a story is at the start of a book?
By NatashaBird
@NatashaBird (640)
October 8, 2011 7:08am CST
I've been trying to think of the literary term for when a book opens with a scene from the end of the story, so that the main body of the book is about how the characters arrived at that point.
For example in New Moon where the book opens at a scene with Bella in Italy, which happens towards the end of the story.
Does anyone know the term for this sort of technique?
birdie -
3 responses
@darapmonsta (653)
• India
8 Oct 11
The best it is known as is "Epilogue"
I have read it in many books.
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
•
10 Oct 11
An epilogue is a chapter at the end of the story that goes beyond the timeline, not an ending at the beginning. i.e. What happened to the characters after the story, much like the scene at the station at the end of Harry Potter 7, where we see them grown up.
@nishant5n (1067)
• India
8 Oct 11
"Flashback," I think.
When the story starts from the very end/last scene and then rewinds to the begging reaching at the very same scene, it is called Flashback story/movie.
@SpikeTheLobster (6403)
•
10 Oct 11
That'd be the modern term. The literary term is "in media res", which is Latin for "in the middle of things". Or so I'm told!
@bucklord (349)
• United States
10 Oct 11
It's called a wrap around ending. I heard it discussed on a documentary.
