(You know you came of age in the 90s if you immediately started singing "Closing Time" after reading that.)
We writers spend a lot of time talking and thinking about opening lines. They are prime real estate; they have to hook in your reader; they set the tone for the hundreds of pages to follow. Maybe it's my need to always be contrary, but I am not a huge fan of opening lines (in general). It's not often that an opening line sticks in my head and stays there. Closing lines, on the other hand--I love them.
The Great Gatsby: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." I would sell a kidney to have written that.
The Time-Traveler's Wife: "He is coming, and I am here." Oh, the crying that followed.
For Whom the Bell Tolls: "He could feel his heart beating against the pine needle floor of the forest." There goes my other kidney. (Wait a minute. . . .)
Here's the Best 100 List from Stylist.
Agree/disagree? What are some of your favorite closing lines?
5 comments:
Semisonic! I totally starting singing Closing Time...
Favorite closing line of a book I recently read: "Mia?"
You have to read the book to understand - it's a perfect emotional punch of an ending, from If I Stay by Gayle Foreman.
Yes! That is a perfect closing line. (I loved IF I STAY.) I think I need to browse through my bookshelf and pull some more closing line examples I love, from more recent reads.
Awesome link! The Great Gatsby is definitely memorable and I don't think I'll ever get the end of 1984 out of my head. Or will I ever get Closing Time out of my head now...lol
I am hanging my head in shame because I've yet to read 1984.
Thanks for sharing this! I'm happy to see a few of my favorites on the list: Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Charlotte's Web.
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