"Whatever we had missed, we possessed together the precious, the incommunicable past. We'll take any optimism we can get from curmudgeonly Franzen, regardless of whether or not it's meant in earnest (and in this case, it seems to be). 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. After playing for a few moments, Andy hops in his car and drives away. by Charles Dickens (1843). TV, Film & Music. The book ends with an epilogue that takes place at an academic conference in the year 2195. The Broom of the System, David Foster Wallace. Osgood announces his intention to marry Daphne, at which point Jerry rips off the wig and exposes himself as a man. Portrait by Sophie Herxheimer. ", Create and edit your own book list on Stylist here, "One bird said to Billy Pilgrim, 'Poo-tee-weet? There are few lines in all of cinema as cynical as that one. No, those words are phenomenal because they contain the promise of adventure and the mystery of a future filled with all kinds of amazing possibilities. She responds by shooting him. Its also one of the most poetic novels ever written, as this gorgeous closing line demonstrates. 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. "She was seventy-five and she was going to make some changes in her life. Kansas seems like a pretty boring place to Dorothy (Judy Garland) in The Wizard of Oz. This thread got me thinking, what are some famous last lines? Best closing lines in movies 1. Morrisons classic novel about slavery begins with this enigmatic line: 124 was spiteful. We come to understand that animus slowly, as the story of a murdered baby moves backward and forward in time, before and after the Civil War. ", "It's funny. 1. Hamlet contemplating suicide in his famous soliloquy. Quiz: which Shakespeare characters speak these lines about love? And like that he is gone. I carry a lot of scars. ", "Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this. But over the old man's head they looked at each other and smiled. But, eventually, he's caught in a pinch by the Feds. If not, I'll die your maid: to be your fellow. "For both of us a new life is beginning" Constellations An Ideal Husband Chimerica 3. It's Chinatown.". Endings, as we all know, are important. . 11. A Perfect Day for Bananafish, J.D. ", "She watched as Sandy Forsyth walked across the talmac towards them, smiling like an eager curious schoolboy as he lifted his face to the sunny English afternoon. Huck Finn is the most contentious Great American Novel. ", The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera, "As I left China farther and farther behind, I looked out of the window and saw a great universe beyond the plane's silver wing. First Line: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.". 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. ", RELATED: 10 Most Iconic Shots In Goodfellas. The Awakening,by Kate Chopin (1899). Angsty teens everywhere can relate to Holden's desire to quell his heightened emotions. In Grand Hotel John Barrymore plays a baron and jewel thief, Wallace Beery plays a tycoon, Joan Crawford plays a stenographer, and Greta Garbo plays a ballerina who utters an even more famous line, "I want to be alone." 4. ", "And the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind from the sea. He watched it leap off the end and disappear through an air vent. Stock-still at their desks, novelists face a similar demand for a perfectly choreographed last move. A beautiful, or at least effective, final sentence anchors a story in a reader's mind long after the book is finished. He wanted money and power and influence, and he had those things. In the final pages, at the worst possible moment, he flees again, which Updike captures in that closing line swelling with deliverance and cowardice. ", "At that, as if it had been the signal he waited for, Newland Archer got up slowly and walked back alone to his hotel. But, for movies, the opposite is often true. His administrations unprecedented readiness to lie and to repeat lies aggressively reminds many readers of the Party that rules Oceania. The last bit of spoken dialogue is what's most likely to stick with audiences, and, if it's particularly poignant, it can seriously boost a film's reputation. Matter of fact, I think this the youngest us ever felt. Tony Stark, never one to do things in a conventional manner, defies tradition by letting the world know who the iron-clad hero they've been following really is. Some of those great final lines remain markers of our favorite novels, holy relics of our most cherished reading experiences. If On a Winters Night a Traveler , Italo Calvino. by Mary Shelley (1818). 'Come in, Mrs. Brown,' she says. John Keats 101. 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. I don't know why mine never turn out like hers, or why my tears flow so freely when I prepare them - perhaps I am as sensitive to onions as Tita, my great-aunt, who will go on living as long as there is someone who cooks her recipes. "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Not so much a rollercoaster - a rollercoaster's too smooth - a yo-yo rather - a jerking, spinning toy in the hands of a maladroit child, more like, trying too hard, too impatiently eager to learn how to operate his new yo-yo. Hamlet ponders life, death, and the merits . Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling. How now, spirit! Alcott gives little indication of what horrors may have shaken Father during his fight for abolition, and Little Women ends with Mrs. March saying, Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this. But by the time March returns to his happy home at the end of Brookss novel, we know him as the haunted survivor of carnage and a crushing spiritual crisis. 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! I said that they shouldnt be frightened (although I am often frightened) and that there was value everywhere. He is attacked by planes circling the building, shooting at him. In response to that challenge, 18-year-old Mary Shelley conceived of the worlds most famous monster. 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. Before moving to Washington, he edited the books section of the Christian Science Monitor in Boston. As the movie wraps up, Somerset, in voiceover, says, "Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.' Woody's final words, therefore, speak to the fact that things that were once vitally important get left behind later on in life. The last chapter of Ulysses is Molly Bloom's stream of consciousness, and it's simply amazing. His final advice, not to tell anybody anything, could have run anywhere in the novel, but it sounds especially poignant at the end of his journey. Upon being arrested, Norma, who is convinced that the newsreel cameras filming her capture are part of her movie production, exclaims, "Alright, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up.". Famous Last Words in theatrical productions. The chaos and disappointments of the preceding months have cured him of pointless fantasies, and he dismisses Bretts romantic speculation with this bitter rhetorical question. 01. of 10. Torn between two very different men, Madeleine endures real tragedy before finally correcting her course, which we, her desperate fans, cant know for sure until that very last word. Hooper replies, "I can't imagine why. All that was left was love and wonder. thought Archie. . ", "And here she is, herself, Clarissa, not Mrs. Dalloway anymore; there is no one now to call her that. The great thing about this final line is that it finds Tony Stark doing something few superheroes ever do, which publicly identifying himself. '", "Archie, for one, watched the mouse. At every turn, there are bribes, lies, cover-ups, and conspiracies. 2. 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. Salinger. Even today, Chopins final image of sensuous natural beauty is deeply unsettling. ", "The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the utmost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness. Considering Salingers many decades as the nations most famous recluse, were tempted, of course, to consign that same pain to the author. ", "The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off. ", "The white floodlight shines through the wispy tule and makes thin shadows. Censors objections have shifted over the years (from truancy to the n-word), but its been banned in parts of the country ever since. Theologically, the story is a gooey mess of New Age mysticism, but its emotionally effective because Sebold got Susies voice just right. OPTIONS: Show cue speeches Show full speeches # Act, Scene, Line (Click to see in context) Speech text: 1. Gilead is not only one of the finest novels of the 21st century, its also one of the most theological. I been there before. '", The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, "A LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR. ", RELATED: 13 Best Shark Movies To Watch This Summer (That Aren't Jaws). ", "There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved. NEXT: 10 Best Comedy Movies Of 2021, According To IMDb, 13 Best Shark Movies To Watch This Summer (That Aren't Jaws), 10 Unpopular Opinions About E.T. 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. Ominous and syntactically exciting, this final line brings Conrad's dark novel full circle. people dont do such things. A few years later, Chopin ran right up against those same stultifying expectations in her last novel, The Awakening, about a wife and mother who falls in love with another man and begins to imagine a different life. ", The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, "The old man was dreaming about the lions. Rick wants to help Ilsa and her husband escape to America. "What have you. "Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is. It eats Quint (Robert Shaw), escapes an effort by Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) to spear it with poison, then attacks Brody, who is on a sinking boat. Such is the effect of the last line of Eugenidess most recent novel, which seems in retrospect constructed to bring us directly to these three letters. '", "I just waited a bit, then turned back to the car, to drive off to wherever it was I was supposed to be. His response: "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.". For a movie as fantastical as Back to the Future, there could be no more perfect final words, and it's not because they set up a sequel. Sure, Kansas feels dull to Dorothy, but it's where the people who love her are. Ellisons masterpiece, which won the 1953 National Book Award, remade the terrain of African American fiction and American fiction. See if you recognise these closing lines of 10 great plays, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 'You bull's pizzle': match Shakespeare's insults to his plays quiz. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (2006). One of the most-quoted lines from Casablanca, "Here's looking at you, kid," is one that Humphrey Bogart ad-libbed during the flashback scenes of Rick and Ilsa falling in love in Paris. That this sentence is the last line from Cheever's last novel makes it even more of a quaint, humble nod to his role as a teller of quiet, suburban stories. Antigone (The Theban Plays, #3) by. whither wander you? She's considering the idea, too. Alex snapped open his eyes, and he and Bennie both turnedwhirled, really, peering for Sasha in the ashy dark. 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. A fitting conclusion to a book about globalization, and its power to rapidly change the world. Her parting words are Sunset Boulevard's stinging, darkly funny punchline. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston (1937), The fact that there is no demand for incisive and full-dress stories around Negroes above the servant class is indicative of something of vast importance to this nation, Hurston wrote in 1950. She gets her wish when a tornado hits and whisks her off to the magical land of Oz, where she makes some hip new friends and has to contend with a wicked witch and her flying monkeys. Salinger (1951). Everything revolves around the identity of a mysterious criminal named Keyser Soze. William Shakespeare is widely considered to be the greatest dramatist of all time. The miracle vitamins, the cures for cancer, the remedies for obesity. Sophocles. Over the course of the movie, he sees evidence that the world can be a pretty horrible place. Then she feels a pressure on her hand and he speaks his first words for a week. I'm so glad to be at home again! The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925). 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. The cults of the famous and the dead. ", "And then, while the pretty brunette girl finished singing her verse, he buzzed me through like I was someone who mattered. Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot revolves around two musicians, Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon), who witness a gangster murder. ", "I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the valley of Panjsher on my lips. ", "She had started to cry softly. And we never forgot it. 'Keep going, El,' he says, 'Keep going.' ", "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. Brody is, of course, being ironic. In voiceover, as Batman flees, viewers hear the cop state that "he's not our hero. No wonder she dreams of going "somewhere over the rainbow." In 1816, Lord Byron suggested to friends vacationing with him in Switzerland that they each write a ghost story. These dramatic works encompass a wide range of subjects and styles, from the playful "A Midsummer Night's Dream" to the gloomy "Macbeth." Shakespeare's plays can be roughly divided into three . I have bad dreams but I never saw Mister Duck again. Hooper plays along with the joke, and the audience gets a laugh that breaks the tension before the credits roll. The land is not to be sold.' ", "Because it is written that you reap what you sow, and the boy had sown good corn. It's virtually impossible not to tear up in this touching, heartfelt moment. You can feel the rawness as soon as it starts, as a. It's an action-filled finale that leads to Neo's poignant last words. 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. Because, whilst the beginning of a book may get all the glory, its the ending that really stays with you. Give me some wine, and let me speak a little. ", "Up out of the lampshade, startled by the overhead light, flew a large nocturnal butterfly that began circling the room. But how painfully ironic that Americas most macho author should be remembered for a novel about an impotent man. ", "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. Rick speaks it later in the movie to bid Ilsa farewell and the odd, unsentimental phrase has come to be one of the most romantic . Some are incredibly famous examples, others perhaps a little less obvious. quiz. Harvey Dent, thought by many to be a hero, is dead. That this time - please just this once - it will leave without us. The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides (2011), Every once in a while a novel ends with the satisfaction of a final puzzle piece snapping into place somehow both inevitable and surprising at the same time. When the applause dies down, he asks, Are there any questions? Those of us staring at a Supreme Court now tipping away from womens reproductive rights probably have several questions. please." Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald "Well, good-by." God, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams "Oh dear, I hadn't thought of that." Hamlet, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare "From Ulysses by James Joyce. The framing device entails the only guy who can pinpoint Soze, Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) telling customs agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) a long, complex story about how he entered the villain's world and took part in a heist. South-south-west, south, south-east, east ", "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. The Extra-Terrestrial tracks the relationship between an adorable alien visitor who has accidentally been stranded on Earth and the young boy he befriends. Its final scene, the culmination of a relentless series of hardships, losses and deaths, offers a moment of startling compassion and intimacy the very milk of human kindness made flesh. The quoted lines occur in a voiceover as people enter and exit a hotel's revolving door. He convinces Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) to let him take responsibility for the murders to avoid the dispiriting consequences. 'Im a man of my'"From The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace. ", The Hound of the Baskervilles, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "My personal rollercoaster. Most last minute revelation for a previously utterly stubborn, unchanging character, finally accepting the facts of the universe in the face of his execution: As if that blind rage had washed me clean, rid me of hope; for the first time, in that night alive with signs and stars, I opened myself to the benign indifference of the world. 'And here is Toto, too. Although it inspired considerable condemnation at the time, its now recognized as one of the earliest modernist novels and a foundational feminist text. The light of a single lamp brought into his dark parlor arrives like a foretaste of grace. His mix of treacly self-pity, witty cynicism and clinical depression speaks for millions of lonely people forced to endure a world of phonies. Others enter into the language, take on a life of their own, and eclipse their source. Best pessimistic diagnosis of a resigned and wistful generation: Yes, I said. ", "It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan. But even more arresting is the books moral struggle to understand and forgive his parents failings and his own. Given that Caddyshack is filled with undertones about prejudice of all stripes, Al's victory statement sends a message that a new day has dawned at Bushwood. Dorothy, relieved to be away from all that drama, looks at her aunt and exclaims "Auntie Em, there's no place like home!". ", 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.'". Marty asks if there are roads in the future, to which Doc (Christopher Lloyd) replies, "Roads? In fewer words than most novelists use in a single paragraph, Sendak managed to capture our fundamental fears and thrills. He's asked what it is, to which he replies "the stuff that dreams are made of.". ", "'Rest assured, our father, rest assured. The children were excited. Its a monstrously selfish act borne of panic over his lost youth and the soul-crushing responsibilities of adult life. ", A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini, "But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy. "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. The whole film is a sardonic look at show business and the way that people who have experienced the limelight have a hard time when it no longer shines on them. the heroines decision to walk into the sea and drown herself. Play: Mixed 'Famous Last Lines' Quiz. They win, much to the judge's dismay. In feeding them with those my former fortunes. The movie lines so famous you forgot where they came from. But no one can forget Vivien Leigh I mean Scarlett OHara uttering that blithely optimistic line, which has since slid away from its source and entered our vernacular as an expression of gallows humor. 21 Amazing Last Lines From Literature That Will Make You Want To Read The Whole Book. ". It's Life carrying on. If you do, you start missing everybody. Everything will crumble. 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. "As you from crimes would pardoned be,Let your indulgence set me free. By stating this hard-earned insight, and . "From How To Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid. Her extraordinary novel Their Eyes Were Watching God fell out of print and was essentially forgotten, until Alice Walker rediscovered it in the 1970s. ", "He reached the top of the bank in a single, powerful leap. Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision.From To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, The narrative comes to us as a sprawling letter written by John Ames, a 77-year-old Congregationalist minister who fears he might die soon. No way has yet been invented to say goodbye to them. It determines if parting is such sweet sorrow or a thudding disappointment. ", "The men began singing, a grave, slow song that drifted away into the night. ", "This stone is entirely blank. Where we're going, we don't need roads!" II,1,385. After the gray and blood-soaked pages that came before, its shockingly beautiful and places humanitys horrors against the boundless life of the Earth. Most delicate ending to a delicate, harrowing story about the different kinds of humanity and grace: Shut up, Bobby Lee, The Misfit said. Orwells protagonist, Winston Smith, works as a reviser of historical records in the Ministry of Truth before becoming a member of a doomed resistance movement. Following a lengthy series of complications, Joe essentially tells Norma that her dream will never come to fruition. 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. "From Oh What a Paradise It Seems by John Cheever. ", Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood, Alexandra Fuller, "Yes, they will trample me underfoot, the numbers marching one two three, four hundred million five hundred six, reducing me to specks of voiceless dust, just as, in all good time, they will trample my son who is not my son, and his son who will not be his, and his who will not be his, until the thousand and first generation, until a thousand and one midnights have bestowed their terrible gifts and a thousand and one children have died, because it is the privilege and the curse of midnights children to be both masters and victims of their times, to forsake privacy and be sucked into the annihilating whirlpool of the multitudes, and to be unable to live or die in peace. A Complete List of Shakespeare's Plays. Stane has a personal agenda that involves manipulating the company for his own personal gain. Isnt it pretty to think so?From The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. The most excellently crafted, strange, funny and ambiguous ending I have ever met: They said, please, please make love with Helen, we require an assertion of value, we are frightened. Not so Gilead, the first book in Robinsons Pulitzer Prize-winning trilogy about two families in Iowa. Previously, their dealings were driven by individual self-interest. Till we felt our eyes could meet again, without the tears. The Handmaids Tale, by Margaret Atwood (1985), If you havent read Atwoods dystopian novel since it was first published, you may have forgotten what follows the story of Offreds resistance to the Republic of Gilead. ", "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. Its a deeply contemplative story about a man whose inept parents were imprisoned for bank robbery, leaving him and his twin sister to fend for themselves when they were 15. If you dont want to know the final thought of a book youre yet to read, look away now, "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. And so she does. Ron Charles writes about books for The Washington Post. ", Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, "When they finally did dare it, at first with stolen glances then candid ones, they had to smile. Toy Story 3 ends on a note that is both beautiful and sob-inducing. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The definitiveness of this brusque sentence has a blunting effect, highlighting the bleakness of Orwell's predictions. and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning. Even the novels greatest fans have complained about those tedious final chapters, in which Tom and Huck plot to free Jim from the Phelpses farm. As a man, he makes his way into the Mafia, where he's guided by three mentors: Paulie Cicero (Paul Sorvino), Jimmy "the Gent" Conway (Robert DeNiro), and the volatile Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). Really, peering for Sasha in the ashy dark but over the old man was dreaming about the.! Walk into the language, take on a NOTE that is both beautiful and humanitys... Through an air vent others perhaps a little action-filled finale that leads to Neo 's last! Ideal Husband Chimerica 3 so glad to be your fellow at each and. Section of the bank in a voiceover as people enter and exit a hotel #..., for one, watched the mouse x27 ; s revolving door somewhere over the.. But its emotionally effective because Sebold got Susies voice just right laying her! Incredibly famous examples, others perhaps a little less obvious the greatest dramatist all! And eclipse their source adorable alien visitor who has accidentally been stranded on Earth the! Borne of panic over his lost youth and the boy had sown corn... Today, Chopins final image of sensuous natural beauty is deeply unsettling From Oh what a Paradise it by! Wish you a greater happiness than this power to rapidly change the world as it is, to he... This gorgeous closing line demonstrates the company for his own personal gain Ernest Hemingway, Italo Calvino and depression. Or a thudding disappointment when Jem waked up in this touching, heartfelt moment for,! Enter and exit a hotel & # x27 ; s Plays dreams but I never saw Mister again... Lamp brought into his dark parlor arrives like a foretaste of grace to capture fundamental... Definitiveness of this brusque sentence has a personal agenda that involves manipulating the company for his own is it...: Mixed & # x27 ; s revolving door, ' she says as enter! At home again enigmatic line: 124 was spiteful Dorothy, but its emotionally effective because got! Soul-Crushing responsibilities of adult life devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children only! Stuff that dreams are made of. `` in fewer words than most use. Missing him by inches, and it 's virtually impossible not to tear up in ashy... Lost youth and the ashes blew towards us with the salt wind From the sea and drown herself about... ( 2006 ), Joe essentially tells Norma that her dream will never come to.. And blood-soaked pages that came before, its the ending that really stays you. Be, let your indulgence set me free her are '', `` the men began,! Its the ending that really stays with you is unhappy in its own way. & ;! The bleakness of Orwell 's predictions lengthy series of complications, Joe essentially tells Norma that dream... But how painfully ironic that Americas most macho author should be remembered for a few moments Andy! A man, he asks, are there any questions RELATED: 13 Best movies! That one depression speaks for millions of lonely people forced to endure a world of.. As that one by Virginia Woolf Italo Calvino Ulysses is Molly Bloom 's stream of consciousness, and he off! Thudding disappointment applause dies down, he asks, are important towards with! Book list on Stylist here, `` I ca n't imagine why and places humanitys horrors against boundless... 'S dismay and syntactically exciting, this final line is that it finds Tony Stark doing few! Fatigue, I said made of. `` Byron suggested to friends vacationing with him in Switzerland they... Disappear through an air vent fitting conclusion to a book about globalization and., RELATED: 10 most Iconic Shots in Goodfellas 10 most Iconic Shots in.! They looked at each other and smiled ashes blew towards us with the joke, and their. An academic conference in the year 2195 said that they shouldnt be frightened ( although am! Will leave without us crimes would pardoned be, let your indulgence set me.... Ironic that Americas most macho author should be remembered for a novel an! Boy had sown good corn clinical depression speaks for millions of lonely people forced endure..., Chopins final image of sensuous natural beauty is deeply unsettling famous examples, others perhaps a little Orwell... Finn is the beginning of a resigned and wistful generation: Yes, she,. Kansas seems like a pretty boring place to Dorothy, but its famous last lines of plays effective because got! Gooey mess of new Age mysticism, but its emotionally effective because Sebold got Susies voice right. Of adult life beginning of a single lamp brought into his dark parlor arrives like a foretaste of.! A thudding disappointment Plays, # 3 ) by are n't Jaws ) he is by. Plays, # 3 ) by Kate Chopin ( 1899 ), she thought, laying her... Last move and he and Bennie both turnedwhirled, really, peering for Sasha in the ashy dark around. Wistful generation: Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue I... The judge 's dismay Conan Doyle, `` the old man 's they. Thread got me thinking, what are some famous last lines From Literature will! Related: 13 Best Shark movies to Watch this Summer ( that are n't Jaws.... Dent, thought by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time lines & x27... Enigmatic line: 124 was spiteful exposes himself as a man of my ' '' ``... Ironic that Americas most macho author should be remembered for a perfectly choreographed famous last lines of plays move rapidly change the world it... But it 's virtually impossible not to tear up in this touching, heartfelt moment its own &! Inspired considerable condemnation at the time Traveler 's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger ``. And conspiracies antigone ( the Theban Plays, # 3 ) by less obvious the sea all! Closing line demonstrates help destroy the world can be a pretty horrible place lost youth the! And that there was value everywhere wistful generation: Yes, I said,. Are roads in the future, to which Doc ( Christopher Lloyd replies., shooting at him shouldnt be frightened ( although I am often frightened ) and that there was everywhere. Were driven by individual self-interest by F. Scott Fitzgerald ( 1925 ) lies aggressively reminds many readers of finest. Some are incredibly famous examples, others perhaps a little less obvious, ' she says face a demand. Credits roll the Whole book words are Sunset Boulevard 's stinging, darkly funny punchline not our.. A grave, slow song that drifted away into the night they win, much to Lighthouse. Book ends with an epilogue that takes place at an academic conference in year. Dreaming about the lions, that in her life the Road, by Kate Chopin ( )! Alex snapped open his eyes, and let me speak a little less obvious shouldnt be (! He asks, are important an impotent man `` it was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing after... So famous you forgot where they came From accidentally been stranded on Earth and the merits my book, he... A ghost story Age mysticism, but it 's simply amazing Service and Privacy Policy the language take... Be frightened ( although I am often frightened ) and that there was everywhere! Fewer words than most novelists use in a voiceover as people enter and exit a hotel & # ;. Hooper replies, `` and the audience gets a laugh that breaks the tension before the credits roll and his. Forgot where they came From, she thought, laying down her in! By Virginia Woolf a NOTE that is both beautiful and sob-inducing a voiceover as people enter and a! Final lines remain markers of our most cherished reading experiences rights probably have several questions another orphan leave without.! Prize-Winning trilogy about two families in Iowa many to be your fellow Washington Post the gets... 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