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Famous Last Lines Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Famous Last Lines Quizzes, Trivia

Famous Last Lines Trivia

Famous Last Lines Trivia Quizzes

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Some books finish with lines that are simply unforgettable. "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." ('A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens)
9 quizzes and 95 trivia questions.
1.
  The Finish Line   best quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
The first sentence of a book may be what draws the reader in, but it is the closing sentence that makes many books memorable. Here are a few examples.
Easier, 10 Qns, looney_tunes, Jul 29 21
Easier
looney_tunes editor
Jul 29 21
1809 plays
2.
The End is Here
  The End is Here   great trivia quiz  
Photo Quiz
 10 Qns
Just as opening lines are crucial to novels, so are the final lines. Here are ten quotes that have ended novels.
Average, 10 Qns, pennie1478, Jul 03 19
Average
pennie1478 gold member
Jul 03 19
1747 plays
3.
  Literary Dregs   top quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Not dregs meaning the useless bits, as in "the dregs of society", but dregs meaning the last parts of something, as in "the last dregs of daylight". So here are the last dregs of classic Anglo-American novels of the 19th and 20th centuries. Enjoy!
Easier, 10 Qns, gracious1, Jun 10 13
Easier
gracious1 gold member
1564 plays
4.
  10 Questions on Famous Last Words   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Can you guess the name of a literary work from just its last few lines? Don't worry if you don't have a photographic memory, most of the lines have enough clues about the plot and/or characters that you should be able to figure it out.
Easier, 10 Qns, Maiguy, Feb 23 20
Easier
Maiguy
Feb 23 20
1694 plays
5.
  The Last Page   great trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Can you recognize these classic works of literature by their last lines? Against all your reading instincts, let's jump to the last page and see how things end!
Average, 10 Qns, reedy, May 31 12
Average
reedy gold member
871 plays
6.
  All's Well: Endings That (Somehow) Satisfy    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
I like satisfying and positive if not downright happy endings. Here's a quiz on the endings of some literary works that leave me feeling that "all is well".
Tough, 10 Qns, Uglybird, Feb 26 06
Tough
Uglybird
492 plays
7.
  Literature Last Lines    
Multiple Choice
 15 Qns
I will give you the last few lines of well-known novels--you provide the title. These are all books that, in my opinion, everyone should read...so step into these distinctive worlds and have fun!
Tough, 15 Qns, ScarlettMW, Feb 26 06
Tough
ScarlettMW
1380 plays
8.
  Famous Last Words!    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
They always told me that the first sentence and the last sentence of the essay were the most important, and the same applies to great works of literature!
Tough, 10 Qns, ArleneRimmer, May 15 10
Tough
ArleneRimmer
1371 plays
9.
  Last Lines of Famous Novels    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
It was the last thing you read in that classic book. It should be easy to remember, right? See how many last lines you can identify from these famous novels.
Tough, 10 Qns, kmria, Feb 26 06
Tough
kmria
2634 plays

Famous Last Lines Trivia Questions

1. "Tomorrow I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day." What is the name of the character who delivers this determined statement at the end of 'Gone with the Wind' by Margaret Mitchell?

From Quiz
The Finish Line

Answer: Scarlett O'Hara

If you never got around to reading the book, you surely cannot have missed the movie, which was one of the blockbusters of 1939, starring Vivien Leigh (who delivered this line) and Clarke Gable. Actually, by the time she said this, her proper name should have been written as Katie Scarlett (O'Hara) Hamilton Kennedy Butler - the lady had a few husbands, none of them the man with whom she originally fancied herself in love. Her determination to achieve her goals may seem admirable or selfish, depending on your perspective, but it is certainly impressive in its intensity.

2. "Tomorrow, I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day." A southern belle made these closing remarks in what best-selling book of the 1930s?

From Quiz Literary Dregs

Answer: Gone with the Wind

This last line illustrates the sheer doggedness that enabled Scarlett O'Hara to survive during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Margaret Mitchell's only novel published in her lifetime, "Gone with the Wind" (1936) was an enormous best-seller. It spawned a movie (1939) that starred Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara and which earned eight Oscars including Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Cinematography (Color), Best Director, Best Film Editing, and Best Picture. Mitchell also won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for this historical novel. A couple of novellas and another novel were discovered after her death; one, "Lost Laysen" was published in 1996.

3. What book ends with the line, "The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which"?

From Quiz Famous Last Words

Answer: Animal Farm

Eric Blair, writing under the pen name George Orwell, completed 'Animal Farm' in 1945. A self described democratic socialist, Orwell came to despise Communism while serving with the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. He wrote 'Animal Farm' as an allegory of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and used his barnyard fable to expose the brutality and hypocrisy of the Stalinist regime.

4. "This stone is entirely blank. The only thought in cutting it was of the essentials of the grave, and there was no other care than to make this stone long enough and narrow enough to cover a man. No name can be read there."

From Quiz Literature Last Lines

Answer: Les Miserables

This amazing novel by Victor Hugo is the story of Jean Valjean, a man who spends nineteen years in prison for attempting to steal a loaf of bread to feed his sister and her starving children. The book, first published in 1862, deals with his distrust in humanity, search for redemption, and conflicts in trying to avoid being discovered for breaking his parole by a diligent officer, Javert, and raising an adoptive daughter, Cosette. "Les Miserables" has been made into the longest-running current Broadway musical, which is sadly due to close soon.

5. 'It was the devious-cruising Rachel, that in her retracing search after her missing children, only found another orphan.'

From Quiz Last Lines of Famous Novels

Answer: Moby Dick

A novel containing one of the most famous opening lines also has a very satisfying final line. In this case, 'Rachel' refers to a ship.

6. What famous novel ends with the line, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known"?

From Quiz Famous Last Words

Answer: A Tale of Two Cities

These are the last words of the dissolute Sydney Carton as he is about to give his life to save Charles Darnay, the husband of his unrequited love Lucie Manette. It is among the most famous and quoted literary endings in history.

7. "The broken flower drooped over Ben's fist and his eyes were empty and blue and serene again as cornice and facade flowed smoothly once more from left to right, post and tree, window and doorway and signboard each in its ordered place."

From Quiz Literature Last Lines

Answer: The Sound and the Fury

"The Sound and the Fury" is one of the most innovative novels of its time...and also (in my opinion) contains one of the most incredible first chapters in American literature. William Faulkner's 1929 story centers around an established Mississippi family, the Compsons, and is told through several different characters' points of view. Their memories are portrayed through stream of consciousness style, and the reader is not meant to understand what exactly has happened until the end of the novel. I know that many people are tempted to give up after the first thirty or forty pages, but trust me...it is worth it to follow the book through to the end!

8. 'It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known' are the immortal last words from which Dickens novel?

From Quiz Famous Last Words!

Answer: A Tale of Two Cities

This has got to be one of my favourite end quotes - such powerful words from Sydney Carton as he takes the place of his double on the guillotine so the love of his life may live in peace and happiness.

9. 'The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off.'

From Quiz Last Lines of Famous Novels

Answer: Catch-22

The first line reads: 'It was love at first sight.' Obviously, there's plenty in between.

10. "'Excellently observed,' answered Candide; 'but we must cultivate our garden.'" What French author wrote the book which finishes with the title character making this statement?

From Quiz The Finish Line

Answer: Voltaire

'Candide ou l'Optimisme', first published in 1759, was a satire on the prevailing philosophy of the times. Candide is originally told, by his tutor Pangloss, that "all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." He ends up, after a number of unfortunate incidents worthy of Lemony Snicket, with a much more pragmatic approach to life, as epitomized in the final sentence of the novella.

11. "He now has more patients than the devil himself could handle; the authorities treat him with deference and public opinion supports him. He has just been awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honor."

From Quiz Literature Last Lines

Answer: Madame Bovary

Published in 1857, Gustave Flaubert's novel, "Madame Bovary" was instantly acclaimed as a masterpiece. It is the story of Emma Bovary, who feels trapped in an unhappy marriage to a devoted, yet unremarkable doctor. She seeks fulfillment by pursuing her (rapidly changing) ideas of love and desire, but succeeds instead in dragging herself from one affair to another and into her own financial ruin. I have read this book about six times, and Flaubert's flowing prose just gets better with each reading!

12. Which Jane Austen book starts: 'It is a truth universally acknowledged . . .' and ends: '. . . had been the means of uniting them'?

From Quiz Famous Last Words!

Answer: Pride and Prejudice

The timeless tale of Elizabeth and Darcy - it would be hard to beat this one for a classic love story.

13. 'So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.'

From Quiz Last Lines of Famous Novels

Answer: The Great Gatsby

A great book examining the impact of the past on our present lives. Read it.

14. "Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision." Who was the author of 'To the Lighthouse', which concludes in this fashion?

From Quiz The Finish Line

Answer: Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf wrote this novel about the visits made by the Ramsay family to the Isle of Skye over a period of ten years with almost no dialogue. Rather, the story is told using the technique of multiple focalization, in which events are recorded by presenting the thoughts of various characters as they consider what is going on. It places much more emphasis on philosophical contemplation than on action, in a manner typical of the 1920s.

15. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." Nick Carraway spoke this final line after the death of the main character in what work by F. Scott Fitzgerald?

From Quiz Literary Dregs

Answer: The Great Gatsby

Nick Carraway reflects that just as money corrupted Jay Gatsby's dreams of a life with Daisy, so has greed caused the American dream to degenerate from the pursuit of happiness to the mere pursuit of wealth. "The Observer" described this last line like so: "resonant, memorable and profound. It is the magnificent chord, in a minor key, which brings this 20th-century masterpiece to a close." It's a difficult novel to summarize in a sentence or two, but a good one to read.

16. What 20th Century American novel ends with the line, "Tomorrow, I'll think of some way to get him back. After all, tomorrow is another day"?

From Quiz Famous Last Words

Answer: Gone With the Wind

This final line is spoken by Scarlett O'Hara as she determines to win back her estranged third husband Rhett Butler. Prior to submitting the final manuscript for publishing in 1936, author Margaret Mitchell called the primary character of the book Pansy O'Hara. Only shortly before publishing did she change Pansy's name to Scarlett. I think most people would agree that Mitchell made the right choice.

17. "And here she is, herself, Clarissa, not Mrs. Dalloway anymore; there is no one now to call her that. Here she is with another hour before her. 'Come in, Mrs. Brown,' she says. 'Everything's ready.'"

From Quiz Literature Last Lines

Answer: The Hours

This is by far one of the most incredible books I have ever read. Michael Cunningham's 1998 novel weaves three stories together--that of Virginia Woolf writing "Mrs. Dalloway," that of Laura Brown, who is reading "Mrs. Dalloway," and that of Clarissa Vaughan, who is unconsciously mirroring the story of "Mrs. Dalloway." This book was made into a movie of the same name in 2002, and starred Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman, who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf.

18. Which book ends: 'That might be the subject of a new story, but our present story is ended.'

From Quiz Famous Last Words!

Answer: Crime and Punishment

. . . as written by Fyodor Dostoevsky at the close of his sweeping epic of Tzarist Russia. If you have never read this book I would recommend that you take it out of the library.

19. '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.'

From Quiz Last Lines of Famous Novels

Answer: Pride and Prejudice

One for the ladies. Just kidding. This is an excellent book that will be enjoyed by anyone who takes the time to read it.

20. Which initialled author wrote these famous last words? - 'But if the Professor was right it was only the beginning of the adventures in Narnia.'

From Quiz Famous Last Words!

Answer: C. S. Lewis

This was from 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. Although the books about Narnia are classified as 'children's books', they have a quality about them which does not age, and are just as enjoyable as a person gets older.

21. 'He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.'

From Quiz Last Lines of Famous Novels

Answer: To Kill A Mockingbird

Good Ol' Atticus. The only use of 'waked up' I've ever come across in Literature.

22. "He loved Big Brother." George Orwell concluded which of his books in this fashion?

From Quiz The Finish Line

Answer: 1984

The dystopian novel '1984' is the book in which Orwell introduced us to the concept of doublethink, in which one manages to believe two contradictory things at once, as well as the notion of Big Brother, the leader who maintains control over everything, but who may or may not actually exist. Other phrases that have become a part of our language include Room 101 (where people are forced to confront their deepest fears), thought crime (having ideas that do not conform to the rules), and The Thought Police (who capture those who are suspected of being guilty of thought crime). The book is also the reason the term Orwellian is used to describe the manipulation of what is recorded as fact in an authoritarian state.

23. "The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off." With this last line, a man breaks away from a vicious circle that has governed him and the rest of the 256th squadron. In what book do we find such an inescapable dilemma?

From Quiz Literary Dregs

Answer: Catch-22

Joseph Heller began writing the satirical, darkly humorous "Catch-22" in 1953, but it wasn't published until 1961. In this last line, Captain John Yossarian finally breaks from the Catch-22, a rule which may not even exist and which prevents a person from being relieved from duty due to insanity (because only a sane person would seek such relief). The novel takes place in World War II, but the only enemies Yossarian faces are not German officers but his own comrades.

24. "Lying on the floor was a dead man, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart. He was withered, wrinkled, and loathsome of visage. It was not till they had examined the rings that they recognized who it was." Which story ended this gruesomely?

From Quiz The Last Page

Answer: "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde's only novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" was published in 1890, originally in "Lippincott's Monthly Magazine"'s June and July issues. After some revisions and additions, it was republished as a book in 1891. The story is told in the third person, and centers around the young Dorian Gray, who has had a portrait made of him by the artist Basil Hallward. After meeting with Lord Wotton and hearing of his life philosophy (pursuing beauty and fulfillment of the senses), Dorian wishes that he would never age, and that rather, his picture would age in his place. His wish is granted, but it also shows the effects of his every sin on his soul.

25. The loyal Jane of Charolette Bronte's "Jane Eyre" marries the unfortunate Mr. Rochester despite his blindness. Yet, the final words of the novel are a Biblical quotation from the book of Revelation. Who speaks them?

From Quiz All's Well: Endings That (Somehow) Satisfy

Answer: St. John Rivers

Although Jane does not accept St. John's marriage proposal, St. John Rivers' impending death is the last event treated in "Jane Eyre". The book ends with Jane quoting St. John Rivers quoting St. John the Apostle: "My Master," he says, "has forewarned me. Daily he announces more distinctly - 'Surely I come quickly!' and hourly I more eagerly respond - 'Amen; even so come, Lord Jesus!'"

26. "It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody."

From Quiz Literature Last Lines

Answer: The Catcher in the Rye

Published in 1951, this is J. D. Salinger's only full-length novel. It is the story of Holden Caulfield, a precocious, alienated prep-school student who has been expelled for poor grades and decides to go back to New York, but doesn't want to see his family right away. Salinger's use of profanity and open descriptions of sexuality caused the book to be banned in many areas upon its initial release...and unfortunately, there are still some schools and libraries today that refuse to recognize this excellent book.

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