Lowbrow last lines ...
Oct. 5th, 2005 07:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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dolabellae, I think:
The game is as follows - I give the last sentence or couple of sentences from five of my favourite books. Your task - to identify the books.
Unfortunately, looking at everyone else's choices has made me realise just how lowbrow my fictional tastes tend to be. :( And I don't think the last lines of nonfiction works like The Structure of Scientific Revolutions or Programming Perl or Registered Mail of the British Isles would be very guessable. :) So in, um, celebration of those tastes, here are five last lines or paragraphs from novels I happen to like and have to hand on my bookshelves, probably only some or fewer of which would be described as Literature with a capital L. All 20th century, mostly fairly or very well known.
(ETA: Answers within [] spoiler-type tags after the quotes, highlight to read)
1. In the ceremony of marriage, they made a number of vows, all of which added up to the same thing; they promised to help each other hear horns.
A. [ Stephen Donaldson, A Man Rides Through, second and final part of the wonderfully written fantasy work Mordant's Need ]
2. I rode down to the street floor and went out on the steps of the City Hall. It was a cool day and very clear. You could see a long way -- but not as far as Velma had gone.
A. [ Raymond Chandler, Farewell My Lovely, classic hardboiled private eye stuff but with some terrific writing too ]
3. If anyone could teach a horse to sing hymns, it would be a trained Mediator.
A. [ Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye, famous sci-fi first contact novel, excellent sequel too ]
4. He took off his cap and threw it, sent it skimming across the grass the way his father used to skim flat stones across the sea. The he tugged the gun from his waistband, checked to make sure it was loaded, and moved towards the silent trees.
A. [ Robert Harris, Fatherland, an AU in which Germany won WW2 in Europe and a policeman finds more than he bargained for when he investigates a crime ]
5. He drew a deep breath. 'Well, I'm back,' he said.
A. [ JRR Tolkien, The Return of the King, third and final part of The Lord of the Rings ]
And just for the sake of an attempt at erudition, and to really challenge you, one from a Renaissance book that's nonfiction in the form of fiction. (OK, I confess; I've had this for years, but only ever dipped into it occasionally rather than reading the whole thing.)
6. Meanwhile, according to our custom, let us go and enjoy an hour of refreshment in the gondola that awaits us.
A. [ Galileo Galilei, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, three characters compare and contrast Ptolemaic and Copernican astronomical theories, the book that got Galileo into trouble with the Pope (perhaps putting his words into the mouth of the defender of Ptolemy, who's made out to be a bit of an idiot, wasn't too bright an idea) ]
dolabellae, I think:The game is as follows - I give the last sentence or couple of sentences from five of my favourite books. Your task - to identify the books.
Unfortunately, looking at everyone else's choices has made me realise just how lowbrow my fictional tastes tend to be. :( And I don't think the last lines of nonfiction works like The Structure of Scientific Revolutions or Programming Perl or Registered Mail of the British Isles would be very guessable. :) So in, um, celebration of those tastes, here are five last lines or paragraphs from novels I happen to like and have to hand on my bookshelves, probably only some or fewer of which would be described as Literature with a capital L. All 20th century, mostly fairly or very well known.
(ETA: Answers within [] spoiler-type tags after the quotes, highlight to read)
1. In the ceremony of marriage, they made a number of vows, all of which added up to the same thing; they promised to help each other hear horns.
A. [ Stephen Donaldson, A Man Rides Through, second and final part of the wonderfully written fantasy work Mordant's Need ]
2. I rode down to the street floor and went out on the steps of the City Hall. It was a cool day and very clear. You could see a long way -- but not as far as Velma had gone.
A. [ Raymond Chandler, Farewell My Lovely, classic hardboiled private eye stuff but with some terrific writing too ]
3. If anyone could teach a horse to sing hymns, it would be a trained Mediator.
A. [ Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, The Mote in God's Eye, famous sci-fi first contact novel, excellent sequel too ]
4. He took off his cap and threw it, sent it skimming across the grass the way his father used to skim flat stones across the sea. The he tugged the gun from his waistband, checked to make sure it was loaded, and moved towards the silent trees.
A. [ Robert Harris, Fatherland, an AU in which Germany won WW2 in Europe and a policeman finds more than he bargained for when he investigates a crime ]
5. He drew a deep breath. 'Well, I'm back,' he said.
A. [ JRR Tolkien, The Return of the King, third and final part of The Lord of the Rings ]
And just for the sake of an attempt at erudition, and to really challenge you, one from a Renaissance book that's nonfiction in the form of fiction. (OK, I confess; I've had this for years, but only ever dipped into it occasionally rather than reading the whole thing.)
6. Meanwhile, according to our custom, let us go and enjoy an hour of refreshment in the gondola that awaits us.
A. [ Galileo Galilei, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, three characters compare and contrast Ptolemaic and Copernican astronomical theories, the book that got Galileo into trouble with the Pope (perhaps putting his words into the mouth of the defender of Ptolemy, who's made out to be a bit of an idiot, wasn't too bright an idea) ]
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-05 07:08 pm (UTC)1 and 3 are, I'm certain, P.G. Wodehouse, but I honestly can't recall which.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-05 07:12 pm (UTC)#1 and #3 -- nope, oddly enough no Wodehouse among them.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-05 07:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-05 08:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-06 04:25 pm (UTC)As for the others - I've added the answers to the original post in spoiler-type highlight-to-see text.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-06 08:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-06 04:33 pm (UTC)MN was a book I picked up idly one day and got hooked by. I must have another go at Covenant sometime.