Friday, March 14, 2008

100 best last lines from novels

I've collected best first lines from columns, news stories and novels, but never thought to focus on the final sentiments. This collection – 100 Best Last Lines From Novels – from the American Book Review (thanks, kottke) doesn't seem to explain where or how these choices came about, but it's still a damned interesting read.

There are many here, sad to say, that I haven't encountered.

Final thought: they seem to have neglected my all-time favorite; let me offer these closing lines from Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It, though even the last line by itself would deserve a spot on the list:

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.

I am haunted by waters.


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