Fairy tales or my childish need for happy endings

I finished Vernon God Little at lunchtime. I wish I knew someone else who'd read this book because there are two ways of taking the ending. All the reviews I've found on-line in five minute of looking say "this book is too good for me to spoil by describing the ending" which I do kind of agree with but, dammit, I still I need to know whether I should be happy or sad.

It's like that book I read years ago where a guy is meant to be hanged from a bridge and the book describes his miraculous last minute rescue and 150 pages of how he plots and achieves his revenge on everyone who dun him wrong and he gets the girl and riches and a relaxed old age growing grapes but then you get to the last page and it was all in his imagination and he really dies at the end of the rope. I hate having my emotions toyed with THAT way.

I just don't know if THAT'S what DBC Pierre has done or if I can take it at face value.