What are your favourite final sentences from books? Is there a book that you liked specially because of its last sentence? Or a book, perhaps that you didn’t like but still remember simply because of the last line?
I’m not sure I like this question. I hate spoilers. Besides that, I have even more trouble remembering last lines than I have remembering first lines! Well, except for Gone with the Wind. That’s the only line that sticks in my mind (and I went in my book to check it anyway):
“After all, tomorrow is another day.”
I can’t remember any other sentences, and besides that, they might give the book away. Some of my favorite endings in general though:
– The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. The rest of the book was enjoyable, a bit boring for people who aren’t obsessed with Englishness and beautiful prose like I am, and then along came the ending, which he’d been subtly building up all along, and I fell totally in love with the book. Everything came together and the book just blew me out of the water.
– The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. It’s been a while since I read this one, but the ending moved me so much and is a big part of why this is one of my two favorite books. I’ve kept that mental image of Archer sitting on the bench since high school.
– Feather Man by Rhyll McMaster. I read this one recently and it was the ambiguity of the ending that I loved, but also the fact that it was definitely an ending. The cycle came full circle, and while you’re never sure if it happened in a good or bad way, it’s just a brilliant way to end the book.
And for balance, some endings that I didn’t like:
– The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry – I haven’t reviewed this one yet, and I loved it up until the ending, but I’m left trying to reconcile the rest of the book with the “surprise” ending. I don’t think there was enough groundwork laid for it. There was some, but not enough for the reader to say, “OH!” instead of “WTF?”. If that makes sense. Feel free to disagree with me, I’m very interested in discussion on this one.
– So Long at the Fair by Christina Schwarz. This ending just didn’t go anywhere and overall disappointed me, especially the last flashback. I didn’t get the point. Again, if you did, let me know! This was a case of bad ambiguity.
Have you read any of these books? What’s your opinion?
I disagree about the ending of The Lace Reader because Barry establishes Towner as an unreliable narrator from the very first sentence…don’t want to give away anything to those who haven’t read it yet, but I loved that ending. I’ll be looking forward to your review.
There are some authors who write open endings that cause me to think them lazy!
I was disappointed with So Long at the Fair, too.
The flashbacks in general were a little hard to follow, keep up with.
I have read any of those but I am not sure what kind of ending I like. Opening leave to many question and Happy ending can be to predictable.
I loved The Lace Reader, including the ending – but I can see your point about not enough groundwork. It was pretty abrupt. I also agree about So Long at the Fair. Frankly, I didn’t really see the point of the entire book – I think what the author really needed was a good editor who would have made her rewrite it a few times.
‘So long at the fair’ is in my TBR pile but I’m honestly not looking forward to it. I haven’t heard anything good… plus one of my friends picked it up at the beach and gave up only a few pages in lol.
Hello!
Great post!
I think it is so important to keep the history of the suffragettes alive so people will appreciate their opportunity to vote.
If you are interested in all of the twists and turns that played into women winning the vote way back when, you will find “The Privilege of Voting” fascinating.
I am the author of this new and exhaustively researched historical e-mail series that tells the stories of suffragettes.
I know this is a different way to tell a story, but I am trying to make learning women’s history exciting, easy and fun!
This serialized novella goes behind the scenes in the lives of eight well-known women from 1912 to 1920 and reveals the sexy, shocking truth of HOW the suffragettes won the right to vote in England and America.
Presidents Roosevelt, Wilson and Harding are featured, and the women depicted include two presidential mistresses, Edith Wharton, Isadora Duncan, Alice Roosevelt, and two of the most beautiful and outspoken suffragettes, American Alice Paul and Brit Emmeline Pankhurst.
But this is no boring history report. The chronological series is written in a unique, fun short story format called Coffeebreak Readers.
There are weddings and funerals, babies in peril, damsels in distress, war, peace, broken hearts and lots of hot extra-marital affairs! The best part is that it’s ALL true!
Each action-packed episode takes about 10 minutes to read, so they are perfect to enjoy on coffeebreaks, or anytime.
You can subscribe to receive free twice-weekly e-mails at:
http://www.coffeebreakreaders.com/tpovpage.html
Best to you,
Virginia Harris
Series Author
Publisher
http://www.CoffeebreakReaders.com