We know quite a few great first lines of books. They are often repeated in articles I read.
What are the great last lines? We all know this one - so often quoted - ''It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." That's Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities.
And of course this one from A Christmas Carol - perhaps the most famous last one in our time: Tiny Tim's prayer, “God bless us everyone.”
I went looking for more famous last lines and found an outstanding Washington Post article HERE. The article's author, Ron Charles, provides an insightful paragraph about each novel and its last line. Here is what I've selected:
“I got to light out for the territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she’s going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can’t stand it. I been there before.” “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” by Mark Twain (1884)
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” “The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
“Are there any questions?” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” by Margaret Atwood (1985)
“After all, tomorrow is another day.” “Gone With the Wind,” by Margaret Mitchell (1936)
“He loved Big Brother.” “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” by George Orwell (1949)
Remember this? Found it at Brock University's Performing Arts School and turned it into this black dn white woodcut.
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