Can you give some examples of first and last lines of famous novels?
In 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the first line is 'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.' The last line is 'So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.' This last line really encapsulates the sense of futility and the struggle against an unyielding past that runs throughout the novel.
Sure. For example, in 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen, the first line is 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' And the last line is 'Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the persons who, by bringing her into Derbyshire, had been the means of uniting them.'
Can you give me more examples of famous last lines in novels?
Sure. In '1984', the last line is 'He loved Big Brother.' This is a very powerful and disturbing ending, showing how the totalitarian regime has completely broken Winston.
Can you give more examples of famous first lines from novels?
Sure. 'All children, except one, grow up.' is the first line from J.M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan'. It immediately sets a sense of mystery around the one child who doesn't grow up.
Can you give more examples of the best first and last lines in different novels?
Sure. The first line of 'Moby - Dick' by Herman Melville 'Call me Ishmael.' is super simple yet iconic. For the last line, in 'Brave New World' by Aldous Huxley, 'When the light was gone, there was a gentle, quivering darkness, and the night - breathing of the sleeping horses in their stalls.' It creates a rather haunting image.
Can you give some examples of first lines of cyberpunk novels?
Sure. 'The city was alive with a thousand lights, none of them natural, and Johnny Mnemonic walked through it like a ghost.' This line sets a mood of a very artificial and somewhat otherworldly city. It also introduces a character in a rather mysterious way, making the reader want to know more about Johnny Mnemonic.
Can you give examples of the worst first lines in novels?
Sure. 'It was a time.' is a really bad first line. It's so vague that it doesn't give the reader any idea of when this 'time' is, what kind of era, or what might be significant about it. It just leaves the reader feeling lost from the very start.
Can you give more examples of famous beginning lines of novels?
Sure. 'Call me Ishmael.' from Herman Melville's 'Moby - Dick'. This simple yet powerful line invites the reader into the story as if Ishmael is directly addressing them, and it starts the long and epic journey of the whaling adventure.
Can you give more examples of famous starting lines of novels?
The opening line of 'The Great Gatsby' by F. Scott Fitzgerald is 'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.' This line gives an impression of the narrator reflecting on the past and sets the stage for the story that is filled with memories, dreams, and the pursuit of the American Dream.
Can you give more examples of the best first lines in novels?
Sure. In 'Moby - Dick' by Herman Melville, 'Call me Ishmael.' This simple yet powerful line draws the reader into the story, making them curious about who Ishmael is and what his story will be. It's a very direct way to start a novel that goes on to be an epic adventure on the high seas.
Can you give examples of great first lines in classic novels?
A classic example is from 'Anna Karenina' by Leo Tolstoy: 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' This line sets a philosophical tone and makes the reader anticipate stories of different families, both happy and unhappy, which is a central theme in the novel.
Can you give more examples of famous love lines from novels?
Sure. In 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte, Catherine Earnshaw says, 'I am Heathcliff.' This simple yet powerful statement shows the deep connection and love between the two characters, as if they are two parts of one whole.