", "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 himand it was still hot. ", "The men began singing, a grave, slow song that drifted away into the night. Of course, former slaves and historians had described the horrors of slavery before, but nearly 125 years after Emancipation, Morrison made the psychological legacy of the Souths peculiar institution palpable as no other book ever had. The dreaminess of this entire novel is punctuated with this final sentence, which is more of an ellipses than a stark period. 4 min. It's an action-filled finale that leads to Neo's poignant last words. ", "She opened the door wide and let him into her life again. Hint. The final scene finds him with the statue in his hands. 2. For everything to be consummated, for me to feel less alone, I had only to wish that there be a large crowd of spectators the day of my execution and that they greet me with cries of hate. Although shes still a teenager with a teenagers silly attitudes and interests, death has given her preternatural insight into the suffering of those shes left behind. His opponent duly humiliated, Al turns to the throng of spectators and gleefully announces "Hey, everybody! Filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) corrects the officer, saying "no, it wasn't the airplanes. That line has several layers, but, most prominently, it acknowledges that their relationship has changed. 3.66 avg rating 137,082 ratings. We can stop at Mancini's and have a little dinner on the way. Only after getting away from it for a while does she realize just how happy she is there. E.T. Their land will then be re-watered, leading to growth and prosperity for the new owners. The 2008 Marvel movie Iron Man tells Tony Stark's origin story, showing how the billionaire playboy industrialist develops his trademark suit of armor and starts fighting crime. Please enable JavaScript for the best experience. Everything about The Matrix is designed to make the viewer's head spin. The cults of the famous and the dead. 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars. Its also one of the most poetic novels ever written, as this gorgeous closing line demonstrates. After a near-catastrophic experience that nearly erases his own existence, Marty McFly (Michael J. Weve already given you a rundown of our favorite opening lines in literature, but since every beginning needs an ending (and youd be surprised at how many works with awesome first lines also have awesome last lines or perhaps you wouldnt be surprised), we feel compelled to treat you to a list of our favorite last lines as well. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.From The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. 10. We held each other. Her extraordinary novel Their Eyes Were Watching God fell out of print and was essentially forgotten, until Alice Walker rediscovered it in the 1970s. This is the very famous last line of "Casablanca" which starred Humphrey Bogart, Paul Henreid and Ingrid Bergman. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. ", "It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. ", "I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the valley of Panjsher on my lips. ", "But the naming game involves only male names, because if it's a girl, Laila has already named her. At the end of Henrik Ibsens play Hedda Gabler (1891), a trapped and passionate woman shoots herself in the head, and her old friend exclaims, Good God! 11. A Perfect Day for Bananafish, J.D. Osgood announces his intention to marry Daphne, at which point Jerry rips off the wig and exposes himself as a man. It was, in so many ways, a film ahead of its time. The Finish Line - 10 questions - 3 mins. And we never forgot it. All was well. This pays off in the final scene, where they're driving a yacht away from a pier. ", The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway, "Whatever our struggles and triumphs, however we may suffer them, all too soon they bleed into a wash, just like watery ink on paper. Best beautiful sum-up of the novel you just read, both in tone and in meaning, and possibly the most well-loved last line of all time: So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (1936) Set around the American Civil War, the Pulitzer-winning epic about collapsing worlds, rape and murder, slavery, starvation, war and doomed love not only gave literature the most brutal break up line in literature ("My dear, I don't give a damn"), but also one of the most hopeful final flourishes. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling. The car slowed suddenly pressing Brett against me. Although two centuries have passed since Dr. Victor Frankenstein turned loose into the world a depraved wretch, his creatures plaintive cry still moves anyone who has a beating heart. The final moments find the Caped Crusader (Christian Bale) in a tough spot. Ethereal and evocative, this line nicely wraps up Capote's deeply personal and heart-wrenching story. A fitting conclusion to a book about globalization, and its power to rapidly change the world. Her first book, Barracoon, never found a publisher during her lifetime. Alices Adventures in Wonderland , Lewis Carroll. Following our massively popular and lovingly selected list of the 100 best opening lines from books, its now time for the closing lines to shine. It's virtually impossible not to tear up in this touching, heartfelt moment. Repetition and cynicism may have reduced Tiny Tims final prayer to a saccharine cliche, but the tale of lives reformed and saved has lost none of its real sweetness. Although it inspired considerable condemnation at the time, its now recognized as one of the earliest modernist novels and a foundational feminist text. In many respects, the last sentence is elegiac. Gittes is not happy. Tarantino is known for several stellar films, and its status as a masterpiece isn't often contested. ", "How wonderful the flavor, the aroma of her kitchen, her stories as she prepared the meal, her Christmas Rolls! If On a Winters Night a Traveler , Italo Calvino. Renault, for starters, has come around and decided to take up the Allied cause. LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT by Eugene O'Neill [1956]. He twists his head from one side to the other. Tortured by loneliness, the monster ultimately flees to the North Pole, and the doctor dies in pursuit. II,1,385. The tale of Max, the mischievous boy sent to bed without his supper, was Sendaks greatest achievement, the perfect pairing of text and image. THE 101 GREATEST PLAYS FROM THE PAST 100 YEARS (1920-2020} 1. A few quotes stand out, whether for their wit, the poetic elegance with which they ponder love, or their heartbreakingly accurate depiction of anguish. ", "And here she is, herself, Clarissa, not Mrs. Dalloway anymore; there is no one now to call her that. Kong takes one of the planes down, but he ultimately loses his balance after being shot, leading him to fall to his death. Ending an entire book in the middle of a sentence is a bold and playful choice. "There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air." "The Awakening," by Kate Chopin (1899) At the end of Henrik Ibsen's play "Hedda Gabler" (1891), a trapped and passionate. 21 Amazing Last Lines From Literature That Will Make You Want To Read The Whole Book. I am invisible, the unnamed narrator says at the start, simply because people refuse to see me, but by the end, no one could ever ignore him. "This game is seven-card stud" A Streetcar Named Desire Journey's End Dealer's Choice Reveal 2. The lines belong to Lily Briscoe, the novel's resident artist, but could just as easily describe the work of art that Woolf has just concluded. "From Ulysses by James Joyce. ", "There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air. These famous lines appear in the fourth act of Henry V, one of Shakespeare's most commonly read history plays. ", RELATED: 13 Best Shark Movies To Watch This Summer (That Aren't Jaws). In voiceover, as Batman flees, viewers hear the cop state that "he's not our hero. A Complete List of Shakespeare's Plays. by Charles Dickens (1843). ", "The eyes and faces all turned themselves towards me, and guiding myself by them, as by a magical thread, I stepped into the room. And to all others in this story profound shooms of lip-music brrrrr. In that haunting last line, we see the ultimate success of Big Brothers deception, and we feel the full atrocity of whats been done to Winston. After all, tomorrow is another day. Rabbit eventually crawls home, determined to be better, but his flight instinct is not so easily quelled. What early event in American history was the backdrop for Arthur Miller's play in which this line appears? Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them. Everyone is now free to have a good time at the club no matter who they are, where they come from, or how much money they have. ", Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells, "And so farewell from your little droog. by Mark Twain (1884). This Civil War story cleverly blends biographical details about the real Bronson Alcott, Louisa Mays father, with elements of the fictional Mr. March, who has gone south to serve as a chaplain to Union soldiers. In the final pages, the narrator knows some readers will continue to ignore the relevance of his life: Youll fail to see how any principle that applies to you could apply to me. But he knows thats not true. Censors objections have shifted over the years (from truancy to the n-word), but its been banned in parts of the country ever since. The miracle vitamins, the cures for cancer, the remedies for obesity. "Dont ever tell anybody anything. That might be the subject of a new story, but our present story is ended. A Gate at the Stairs, by Lorrie Moore (2009), Novels and short stories make different demands on their forms and their readers. Like Fitzgerald's final lines, Cather's provide a poignant thesis statement. "From A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. Soon the road was empty. What Jack tells Marla at the end of the film underscores the primary idea behind the story which is that he has lost himself and can't quite find his way back. Inside, the agent comes to the shocking realization that he just let the real Keyser Soze get away. Huck Finn is the most contentious Great American Novel. 8. quiz, Canyou identify the first lines of these plays? Isnt it pretty to think so?From The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. ", "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. You can feel the rawness as soon as it starts, as a. At that moment, McCarthy suddenly breaks away from his characters and describes trout that once swam in mountain streams. Not love, necessarily, but a protective form of kinship. "From How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid. Goodfellas ends with him stuck in the kind of lifestyle he always hoped to avoid. ", "Her lips move and a moment before the door splinters off its hinges she says, her voice strong and quiet, 'My name is Alisa. ", "And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea. Four decades later, I can still feel the shock of reaching the end of Steinbecks novel about an Oklahoma family traveling to California in search of work. But over the old man's head they looked at each other and smiled. The Maltese Falcon has a plot that confuses a lot of viewers, at least on first viewing. Dickens didnt invent Christmas, as a recent movie starring Christopher Plummer claims, but the Victorian novelist certainly taught us how to celebrate it. They show the delusions of Norma Desmond, who remains a legend in her own mind. His days in the mob are officially over. The definitiveness of this brusque sentence has a blunting effect, highlighting the bleakness of Orwell's predictions. Most superhero stories end triumphantly with the good guy taking down the villain and receiving public adoration as a result. In prose of striking clarity, Rev. ", "'Rest assured, our father, rest assured. God, is anything more beautifully, simply written than these final lines? ", A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali, Gil Courtemanche, "'When the day shall come, that we do part,' he said softly, and turned to look at me, 'if my last words are not I love you yell ken it was because I didna have time.'". The point, driven home so forcefully in those five words, is that corruption is so deeply ingrained in the situation Jake is investigating that he's wasting his time trying to expose or change it. "From Continental Drift by Russell Banks. He watched it leap off the end and disappear through an air vent. Shakespeare's Opening Lines: The Quiz If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it. Perhaps the greatest failure of American literature, which is so bravely explicit about all other aspects of life, is its nervous avoidance of anything explicitly religious. Best pessimistic diagnosis of a resigned and wistful generation: Yes, I said. From classics such as George Orwells Animal Farm to L. Frank Baums The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and Jung Changs Wild Swans, weve scoured the Stylist book shelf for the best closing lines (or, in some cases to give context, the best final few lines) ever written. II,1,368. A vague last line casts a shadow over the entire novel, whereas a powerful and poignant one will keep you wondering for weeks to come. All that was left was love and wonder. Here are a few examples. Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision.From To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Even today, Chopins final image of sensuous natural beauty is deeply unsettling. But which Shakespearean drama opens with the line, "I wonder how the king escaped our hands?" Take our quiz and see how well you know your Shakespeare. (Hamlet) "To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the . "From Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. All of them wrap their respective movies up beautifully. ", "Later on he will understand how some men so loved her, that they did dare much for her sake. Beloved.. The entire Toy Story series deals with the connection between playthings and the children who own them. The strains of the piano and violin rose up weakly from below. Speeches (Lines) for Puck in "Midsummer Night's Dream" Total: 33. print/save view. These days, the movie is seen as something of a modern classic, as well as a treatise on the cost of living in a world that is becoming increasingly materialistic and soulless. (Hemingway condemned this section as cheating.) But that last lonely line is pure genius. Some of those great final lines remain markers of our favorite novels, holy relics of our most cherished reading experiences. ", "He turned away to give them time to pull themselves together; and waited, allowing his eyes to rest on the trim cruiser in the distance. By Benjamin Voigt. The plot of Sebolds debut novel sounds equally gruesome and mawkish: Susie, a 14-year-old girl, is raped and murdered by a neighbor, and then she describes her familys reaction from heaven. Her parting words are Sunset Boulevard's stinging, darkly funny punchline. He uncovers a corruption scandal within the Los Angeles Department of Power and Water.

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