Much is made of the famous first lines in literary history - those lines that pull a reader in and perfectly set up the novel. But what about last lines? Those lines that you are left with, a line that might make or break a reader's opinion about all of the sentences that have proceeded it? Turns out, there are quite a lot of them and some are truly brilliant. And many of them are found in children's books.
"Are there any questions?"
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaseless into the past."
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
"It is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
"After all, tomorrow is another day."
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
"But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing."
The House At Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne
"Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?"
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
"Max stepped into his private boat and waved goodbye and sailed back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him - and it was still warm."
Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
"This is not a full circle. It's Life carrying on. It's the next book we all take. It's the choice we make to get on with it."
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller
"A LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR. I am haunted by humans."
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but it was already impossible to say which was which."
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Love these! Was the Handmaid's Tale a worthwhile read? Funny how Tale of Two Cities has two of the most memorable lines in literature -- the first one, and the last.
ReplyDeleteOh yes - read The Handmaid's Tale! It is very scary given when it was written and what has happened in the world since then.
DeleteI've always loved the end of Where the Wild Things Are and the Gone With the Wind line is amazing. I don't think I've ever really paid attention to last lines but I definitely need to start! These are fantastic!
ReplyDeleteI came across one on my daily calendar and it really did get me thinking. There are so many great endings. Many of them don't make as much sense out of context but some really give you the sense of the whole book. That ending of Wild Things is a sentence that I based my entire child rearing on - discipline with a love that says you will always love them no matter what they do.
DeleteYES! Often, last lines are as important, if not more so, than first lines. There is something uniquely fitting about Harry Potter ending with "All was well."
ReplyDeleteThat is a good one! I don't think it was on any of the lists I found but it should be!
DeleteGatsby and Tale of Two Cities...gah!! So great.
ReplyDeleteThey really do stand the test of time, don't they?
DeleteThese are great--and I love the last sentence of Where the Wild Things Are. And I'll never forget that ending to The Book Thief!
ReplyDeleteI often think of the ending of Book Thief when I'm watching the news.
DeleteI love these! Last lines really do carry a lot of weight. They are our last impressions of a book. I have often thought about keeping track of the last sentences of the books I read. I keep track of the first. So, it would be a nice way to round it out. I just might not share those like I do the first sentences since some might reveal too much.
ReplyDelete