12.09.2009

That's all she wrote

The American Book Review put together a PDF of the 100 best last lines in novels. Included are:
"Now everybody—" –Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow (1973)
"P.S.
"Sorry I forgot to give you the mayonnaise."–Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America (1967)
“'And then the storm of shit begins'” –Roberto Bolaño, By Night in Chile (2000; trans. Chris Andrews)
and:
He loved Big Brother. –George Orwell, 1984 (1949)
Just...sweet.
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3 comments:

  1. Lydia SharpDecember 9, 2009 at 3:55 PM

    That is an interesting list. (You think I read it all? Haha. No way. But I'm a good skimmer.)

    The problem is, most of those have no impact whatsoever unless you've read everything that precedes it. Good last lines are good LAST lines because they give both finality to what you spent all that time reading, and a new perspective of yourself/others/the future in one genius sentence.

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  2. Terry StonecropDecember 9, 2009 at 4:05 PM

    "And then the storm of shit begins.” That's got my vote.

    The Orwell one is good in a spooky way that gives me goosebumps.

    It's funny, we think about great first lines and our favorite lines, but not so much about the last lines, except the famous "Gone With The Wind" one.

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  3. Meytal RadzinskiDecember 10, 2009 at 4:48 AM

    I'm not a big fan of the "1984" quote (possibly because I'm not a big fan of "1984"...) but Bolaño's, Pynchon's and "The House at Pooh Corner"'s last lines are great.

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