Les Arts, Top-5 ListsJanuary 17, 2007 10:34 pm
Top-5: Closing Lines in Novels
In an earlier post I gave my top-5 opening lines in novels. Here is that post’s counterpart, which gives my favorite closing lines. Be forewarned that some of these may contain spoilers and others won’t make much sense unless you know the context of the whole story. Do you have any favorites?
- He loved Big Brother.—George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). Perhaps the most haunting closing line I know.
- He drew a deep breath. “Well, I’m back,” he said.—J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King (1955)
- And it was as though he had said: Everything has begun.—Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptation of Christ (1951)
- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.—F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby (1925)
- I’ll pray, and then I’ll sleep.—Marilynne Robinson, Gilead (2004)
James Clavell, Shogun. I don’t want to post the line because it is such a spoiler. Though I guess I should have foreseen it, it came as an astonishing and marvelous surprise turn from the prior 1200 pages. It would be a shame to spoil 1200 pages of wonderful reading if you haven’t read it yet.
Comment by Bill Ekhardt — January 18, 2007 @ 8:43 am
“Thank goodness for that”, he said, and handed him the tobacco jar. (The Hobbit)
Comment by Rick L in Tx — January 18, 2007 @ 9:09 am
The two that come to mind for me are The Picture of Dorian Gray (“It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was”) and To Kill A Mockingbird (“He would be in Jem’s room all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning”)—the latter of which is also the last line of the film (which would make for another great top five question).
Comment by Timbo — January 18, 2007 @ 4:26 pm
Wish I’d read more novels. Good to get the world in a creative 3-D take.
Gotta like the Last Temptation of Christ. Even the bible doesn’t articulate the seduction of living a ‘normal life’ any better than Katzanzakis.
Comment by Tom Pratt — January 18, 2007 @ 8:06 pm
These are great, thanks for the post.
Comment by Julie Clawson — January 19, 2007 @ 9:32 am
“Just because some of us can read and write and do a little math, that doesn’t mean we deserve to conquer the universe” Kurt Vonnegut, Hocus Pocus.
and this next one is almost as brilliant as the line from 1984:
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” George Orwell, Animal Farm.
Comment by Matt Martinson — January 19, 2007 @ 8:46 pm
Top 5: Closing Lines in Films
In the comments of an earlier post on my top 5 closing lines of novels, Timbo suggested that a top 5 list of closing lines of movies would make a post. I agreed. Now, remember, these are my top 5 lists, not lists that I’m arguing are the best of…
Trackback by The Space Between My Ears — February 26, 2007 @ 9:25 pm