Back for round three! This week's topic: Top Ten Beginnings and Endings in Books. Wow! How do you limit yourself to just ten?? I went mostly classic on this one, but threw in a few newer ones as well. Let's see how this goes: (probably no particular order)
1. "Dying really isn't so bad after you've done it once." Sea of Tranquility. No. Not about vampires or anything paranormal!
2. "Mr and Mrs Dursely, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Because it starts off an epic journey of epicness.
3. "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Pride and Prejudice. It is just so well known that I just love it to bits!
4. "All this happened, more or less." Slaughterhouse Five. Story of my life.
5 "Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun." The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I feel like this sentence says so much, and yet so little; perfect description of this great novel.
6. "When choosing a therapist, one should consider criteria such as the therapist's reputation, field of expertise, affordability, and location. Since I was broke and my spouse was God, my criteria were "cheap" and "won't call the psych ward". Angry Conversations with God. I read this book at a weird time in my life. When I read this opening line, I knew I was reading the perfect book for me at that time. Full of humor and brutal honesty, read this one if you understand being angry at God!
ENDINGS:
7. "Are there any questions?" A Handmaiden's Tale. Uh...yeah...there are....like a billion.
8. "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well." Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
9. "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." The House at Pooh Corner.
10. The last line of The Sea of Tranquility. I don't want to actually share it in case it ruins anything for anyone. As I was coming to the end of the book I was wondering how Millay would leave us, and she did it perfectly.
5 "Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun." The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I feel like this sentence says so much, and yet so little; perfect description of this great novel.
6. "When choosing a therapist, one should consider criteria such as the therapist's reputation, field of expertise, affordability, and location. Since I was broke and my spouse was God, my criteria were "cheap" and "won't call the psych ward". Angry Conversations with God. I read this book at a weird time in my life. When I read this opening line, I knew I was reading the perfect book for me at that time. Full of humor and brutal honesty, read this one if you understand being angry at God!
ENDINGS:
7. "Are there any questions?" A Handmaiden's Tale. Uh...yeah...there are....like a billion.
8. "The scar had not pained Harry for nineteen years. All was well." Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
9. "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." The House at Pooh Corner.
10. The last line of The Sea of Tranquility. I don't want to actually share it in case it ruins anything for anyone. As I was coming to the end of the book I was wondering how Millay would leave us, and she did it perfectly.
Those are some of my fave endings and beginnings! What are yours??
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Great list! Loved The House at Pooh Corner quote!
ReplyDeleteI love Pooh, so much of it is quotable!
ReplyDelete1, 2, and 3 yes yes yes! I totally wasn't thinking about opening and closing lines, but just the general beginnings and endings! But I might like this take on the topic better! Great choices!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by earlier!
Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know
This was a tough topic for me, I had to look a lot of these up based on books I had rated well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for returning the visit!
I've heard such good things about the Sea of Tranquility. And that beginning line sounds awesome. Have to read it soon.
ReplyDeleteGreat list --and thanks for sharing.
My TTT
I featured Sea of Tranquility too! Though I picked the prologue :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you do! I haven't found a bad review yet. I also love the author's back cinderella story and love supporting her!
ReplyDeleteI know! I saw some people with the prologue, and technically it IS the first line of the book and it IS good, but I liked this one better :) So I cheated :))
ReplyDeleteLove HP & P&P! I want and need to read Hitchhiker! I want to read The Sea of Tranquility soon, too! Great list!
ReplyDeleteHitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was brilliant, the following books...not so much. Sea of Tranquility is probably my favorite read of the year....so far :))
ReplyDeleteSo the only ones of these I've read are the Harry Potter books. Fail! But the Sea of Tranquility definitely intrigues me. I have been hesitant to try any NA books, but that is the one I think I'd try because I've heard many good things about it (it is NA, right?). And I love that you included Winnie the Pooh on here. So cute <3
ReplyDeleteNA still confuses me. I didn't count SoT as NA because the characters are still in high school. But there is mild alcohol and drug use, as well as an intimate scene. Does that classify as NA these days??
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Asti! I love your blog :))