Mitchell's famous last lines are at once heartbreaking and hopeful. "From Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. ", 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. "Tomorrow, Ill think of some way to get him back. 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. said, watching her hand. TV, Film & Music. Even today, Chopins final image of sensuous natural beauty is deeply unsettling. It's the next breath we all take. 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. Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by J.K. Rowling "Severus. 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. When a film has the perfect final line, the audience goes home on a high, and these are some of the very best examples of that. "I've shat in better places than this" Saved Blasted Hamlet Reveal 3. Theologically, the story is a gooey mess of New Age mysticism, but its emotionally effective because Sebold got Susies voice just right. Gilead is not only one of the finest novels of the 21st century, its also one of the most theological. Without missing a beat, Osgood retorts, "well, nobody's perfect.". Henry wanted to become a mobster specifically so he wouldn't have to live life as an average Joe. Everything will crumble. Here are 21 of our favorite last lines in literature: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." From The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald "From White Noise by Don DeLillo. The bottom line, though, is that it's about the way that the desire for anything valuable, monetary or otherwise, can lead people down dark roads in their efforts to obtain it. That this time the wind will not hear. ", RELATED: 10 Most Iconic Shots In Goodfellas. ", In the all-time classic Casablanca, American expatriate/nightclub owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is reunited with an old lover, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman). After ratting out Paulie and Jimmy, he enters the Witness Protection Program. 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. "From The Tempest by William Shakespeare. After playing for a few moments, Andy hops in his car and drives away. Best pessimistic diagnosis of a resigned and wistful generation: Yes, I said. Gordon reluctantly agrees. "'Excellently observed,' answered Candide; 'but we must cultivate our garden. 1. We don't think so. "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. '", "Archie, for one, watched the mouse. Advertisement Famous Last Lines in Movies Quiz. Don't judge. 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. That final line, with its simple, imploring repetition, concludes the novel with just the right spirit of affirmation and regret. "What have you. 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. 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. At that moment, McCarthy suddenly breaks away from his characters and describes trout that once swam in mountain streams. ", "But that is the beginning of a new story - the story of the gradual renewal of a man, the story of his gradual regeneration, of his passing from one world into another, of his initiation into a new unknown life. 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. ", A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce, "'God's in his heaven, alls right with the world,' whispered Anne softly. 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. Inglourious Basterds remains one of Quentin Tarantino's most celebrated films, and that is undoubtedly due to its satisfying third act. Please enable JavaScript for the best experience. by Mary Shelley (1818). Famous Last Words in theatrical productions. 'And here is Toto, too. They win, much to the judge's dismay. ", "There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it. Brilliant. Now, they are on the same side of a political cause. The Usual Suspects isn't just a movie; it's a magic trick. While the line can certainly be taken literally, this could also be interpreted as the director inserting a comment about the film. "Everything we need that is not food or love is here in the tabloid racks. Because, whilst the beginning of a book may get all the glory, its the ending that really stays with you. First Line: "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.". ", "It begins like this: Barrabs came to us by sea", "He now has more patients than the devil himself could handle; the authorities treat him with deference and public opinion supports him. I like the way that sounds. 'Everything's ready. "From The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Anyone who has ever seen Se7en cannot forget its harrowing ending. In order to avoid being found, they dress up as women and invent new personas for themselves: Josephine and Daphne. Angsty teens everywhere can relate to Holden's desire to quell his heightened emotions. Isnt it pretty to think so?From The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. 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. Like Fitzgerald's final lines, Cather's provide a poignant thesis statement. 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. O, let me cry. ", "Of course, it's only superstition, just for fun. ", "Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger. The movie used broad humor to touch on these subjects, making for an incredibly daring comedy for the time. The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan, is perhaps the best Batman story ever committed to film. 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. After the gray and blood-soaked pages that came before, its shockingly beautiful and places humanitys horrors against the boundless life of the Earth. Americans have consistently called Mitchells Pulitzer Prize-winning novel one of their very favorites. ", "I ran with the wind blowing in my face, and a smile as wide as the valley of Panjsher on my lips. They show the delusions of Norma Desmond, who remains a legend in her own mind. ", The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939-1945, Wladyslaw Szpilman, "This is not a full circle. It determines if parting is such sweet sorrow or a thudding disappointment. ", Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "Light falls through the window, falls onto me, into me. Moments. It was Beauty killed the Beast.". "Go, my book, and help destroy the world as it is. So it was that Giles Corey's last lines in "The Crucible" endure in popular culture. Others enter into the language, take on a life of their own, and eclipse their source. But over the old man's head they looked at each other and smiled. ", "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. Though were of the opinion that you could take any of Nabokovs sentences at random and put them on any best-of list with no problems, this may be the best ending to an impressionistic memoir about perception, memory and the haziness of reality: There, in front of us, where a broken row of houses stood between us and the harbor, and where the eye encountered all sorts of stratagems, such as pale-blue and pink underwear cakewalking on a clothesline, or a ladys bicycle and a striped cat oddly sharing a rudimentary balcony of cast iron, it was most satisfying to make out among the jumbled angles of roofs and walls, a splendid ships finnel, showing from behind the clothesline as something in a scrambled picture Find What the Sailor Has Hidden that the finder cannot unsee once it has been seen. 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. 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. At every turn, there are bribes, lies, cover-ups, and conspiracies. Chinatown was released in 1974, when Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal were on the US's collective mind. How now, spirit! His response: "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.". Overcome with grief and a thirst for vengeance, Mills shoots him anyway. She knew firsthand the deleterious effects of that lack of demand. 5. Salinger (From Nine Stories ). 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. You can see in this novels last words how successfully Moore switches registers. About confronting the end?! Im a man of my, 6. As you probably guessed, the famous lines above open Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night. Best description weve ever read of rationalizing one decision over and over as you make the other decision with your body: They were frantic, calling out to him, but they were dead, as dead as the ancient dead, and he was alive, he was needed at home, it was a no-brainer, no one could possibly blame him for this one, and making a low sound of despair in his throat he kicked off his loafers and threw his long ugly body out across the water. 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. The tale of Max, the mischievous boy sent to bed without his supper, was Sendaks greatest achievement, the perfect pairing of text and image. Often called England's 'national poet', his work consists of about 38 . From classics such as George Orwells Animal Farm to L. Frank Baums The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Stylistrounds up the most memorable 100 last lines from literature ever written. Then she feels a pressure on her hand and he speaks his first words for a week. ", Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Patrick Sskind, "Old father, old artificer, stand me now and ever in good stead. Speeches (Lines) for Puck in "Midsummer Night's Dream" Total: 33. print/save view. Were you paying attention before the curtain fell? ", "We sat there for a long time, till the crowd around us thinned, till the sun shifted and the light changed. "From The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A book's final sentence is the ribbon on a packaged plot, tied neatly and prettily before an author hands her story over to her readers' imaginations for good. Its possible to measure the weight of a novel by the size of its impact crater. This is the last we hear from the Bard; it's the final line of his final play, a humble request for applause before he leaves the stage. The first line was 'The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it.'. Hazel followed; and together they slipped away, running easily down through the wood, where the first primroses were beginning to bloom. I kissed her a few times on the brow. ", "With the Gardiners, they were always on the most intimate terms. ", "Might I trouble you then to be ready in half an hour, and we can stop at Marcinis for a little dinner on the way? For the Olympic gymnast, success comes down to how well she sticks the landing. ", 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. ", "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. Only months after it was published, Fitzgerald referred to Gatsby as a flop, and copies of the second printing were gathering dust in the publishers warehouse 15 years later when he died. "From My Antonia by Willa Cather. Kong takes one of the planes down, but he ultimately loses his balance after being shot, leading him to fall to his death. He may be sad, but he's got a new direction, plus someone to go down that road with. The opening sentence in a story is often considered the most important because it sets the tone for everything that's still to come. 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. "From The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. It's why Batman, Spider-Man, and so many others wear masks. If you do, you start missing everybody. His eyes, she sees, are open. 11. A Perfect Day for Bananafish, J.D. Her extraordinary novel Their Eyes Were Watching God fell out of print and was essentially forgotten, until Alice Walker rediscovered it in the 1970s. Considering Salingers many decades as the nations most famous recluse, were tempted, of course, to consign that same pain to the author. Most widely debated and surprising-yet-inevitable suicide-based ending ever: Then he went over and sat down on the unoccupied twin bed, looked at the girl, aimed the pistol, and fired a bullet through his right temple. ", "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. . ", "It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan. "Oh, poor,. From old-school classics like Casablanca to modern masterpieces like Inglorious Basterds, these are the most remarkable final movie lines of all time. No way has yet been invented to say goodbye to them. In response to that challenge, 18-year-old Mary Shelley conceived of the worlds most famous monster. 6 on PBSs Great American Reads. But like several of our most popular books Im looking at you, To Kill a Mockingbird its immortality has been buttressed by an exceptionally memorable film adaptation. The quoted lines occur in a voiceover as people enter and exit a hotel's revolving door. The only thought in cutting it was of the essentials of the grave, and there was no other care than to make this stone long enough and narrow enough to cover a man. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (2006). But, for movies, the opposite is often true. The DeLorean then launches into the air and zooms right toward the camera. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, said, watching her hand. 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. This is the very famous last line of "Casablanca" which starred Humphrey Bogart, Paul Henreid and Ingrid Bergman. ", 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.'". Orwells classic dystopian novel about a totalitarian state has never gone out of print, but it got a huge boost two years ago from the election of Donald Trump. Goodfellas ends with him stuck in the kind of lifestyle he always hoped to avoid. The first sentence of a book may be what draws the reader in, but it is the closing sentence that makes many books memorable. Twilight came on. For a time, Hill enjoys the flash, the cash, and the fear-driven respect that comes from being a mobster. This thread got me thinking, what are some famous last lines? Although it inspired considerable condemnation at the time, its now recognized as one of the earliest modernist novels and a foundational feminist text. It's a last chance for a good first impression. Sophocles. I took one more glance over my past life, then turned to the future. Image: Warner Brothers/Getty Images . I am serious, and dont call me Shirley. The story ends with the protagonist, Neo (Keanu Reeves), destroying the evil Agent Smith and learning how to control the Matrix. All kinds of spot-on criticisms have been leveled against the novel (and producer David Selznicks 1939 movie) for its romanticized racism. ", A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal, Asne Seierstad, "It was then that I began to sit on my bed and stare out at the nibbling squirrels, and to make up powems from intense abstraction, hour after unmarked hour, imagination scarcely faltering once, rhythm hardly skipping a beat, while sisters called me, suns rose and fell, and the poems I made, which I never remembered, were the first and last of that time", "And presently, like a circling typhoon, the sounds of battle began to return. (Hamlet) "To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the . '", The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum, "A LAST NOTE FROM YOUR NARRATOR. 1. It's virtually impossible not to tear up in this touching, heartfelt moment. 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. Her simple, final wish looks banal out of context, but after watching her family and her murderer for years, its devastatingly pure. ", "And here she is, herself, Clarissa, not Mrs. Dalloway anymore; there is no one now to call her that. Their land will then be re-watered, leading to growth and prosperity for the new owners. Hemingways vaguely autobiographical story about a group of dissipated friends in Europe after World War I has aged well. His mix of treacly self-pity, witty cynicism and clinical depression speaks for millions of lonely people forced to endure a world of phonies. Helen came and embraced me. They succeed, and, in the end, they're forced to say an emotional goodbye before the little Reese's Pieces-eater hops on his starship. 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. "Up out of the lampshade, startled by the overhead light, flew a large nocturnal butterfly that began circling the room. ", RELATED: 13 Best Shark Movies To Watch This Summer (That Aren't Jaws). 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. Dont ever tell anybody anything. h'd. Now my spirit is going; He watched it leap off the end and disappear through an air vent. ", "It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. II,1,385. These final words suggest that Kong had some kind of primitive feelings for Ann. The butterfly motif brings the concept of "lightness" to life; this final vignette captures the mood of the book perfectly. Not Nolan's tale; it finds Batman absorbing all of Gotham's rage and hostility in order to preserve an important ideal. I smoke a little dope. ", "I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass; and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers, for the sleepers in that quiet earth. It's Chinatown.". 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. Elliott is visibly upset about having to part, so his intergalactic buddy lights up his finger, points it at the boy, and informs him "I'll be right here. The movie lines so famous you forgot where they came from. A character in one of Jess Walters novels says, A book can only end one of two ways: truthfully or artfully. Alas, most dont end truthfully or artfully, but there are rare exceptions: novels that conclude with such gracefully calibrated language that we close the back cover and feel physically imprinted, as though the words were pressed into us by a weight we can hardly fathom. Lapsing into the bland objectivity of academia, the professor warns his fellow scholars to be cautious about passing moral judgment upon the Gileadean. "A sound of clicking heels on the pavement punctured the quiet. The entire Toy Story series deals with the connection between playthings and the children who own them. "He loved Big Brother. But even more arresting is the books moral struggle to understand and forgive his parents failings and his own. I ran. His opponent duly humiliated, Al turns to the throng of spectators and gleefully announces "Hey, everybody! ", "She looked up and across the barn, and her lips came together and smiled mysteriously. ", Create and edit your own book list on Stylist here, "One bird said to Billy Pilgrim, 'Poo-tee-weet? The Extra-Terrestrial tracks the relationship between an adorable alien visitor who has accidentally been stranded on Earth and the young boy he befriends. Having a perfect capper ensures the movie will linger in the viewer's head long after it's over. can use to call home. Gillian Anderson quiz: A Streetcar Named Desire or The X Files? And we never forgot it. But it was another girl, young and new to the city, fiddling with her keys. Tracing the very short career of one of England's greatest poets. He twists his head from one side to the other. What, he asks himself, must he tell his 7-year-old son before hes carried away to imperishability? ", "There was the hum of bees, and the musky odor of pinks filled the air. The above is only a portion (we wouldn't be able to fit all of it in this article), but we couldn't NOT include one of the longest last sentences in literature. Toy Story 3 ends on a note that is both beautiful and sob-inducing. 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. 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. 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. ", 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. 1. It's Life carrying on. We follow them across hundreds of thousands of words, but the final line can make or break a book. And they can kiss my sharries. Beloved.. Mills' partner, Somerset (Morgan Freeman) tries to convince him not to shoot the killer because that would allow Doe to "win." The Concord Public Library in Massachusetts banned it soon after it was published.

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