Happy (and not so happy) Landings

Happy (and not so) Landings

In his how-to book, Making Shapely Fiction, Jerome Stern says that the only thing a writer needs to remember about ending a piece is "to land safely." This week's snooze-cruise asks you to identify the following landings from various literary flights. Not necessarily in order, the answers include the endings from 5 novels, 3 poems, 3 short stories, 3 plays, and 2 movies. Ready? Pull your landing gear down:


1. "My belief is that your boy's born lucky, and in the long run that's better than to be born clever or rich."

2. ". . .in the silence, you don't know, you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on."

3. "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

4. ". . .I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes."

5. "Till then I'll swat and seek about for eases
And at that time bequeath you my diseases."

6."It was Beauty [who] killed the beast."

7. "Now small fowls flew screaming over the yet yawning gulf; a sullen white surf beat against its steep sides; then all collapsed, and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago."

8. "They also serve who only stand and wait."

9. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

10. " 'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her."

11. "Peyton Farquar was dead; his body, with a broken neck, swung gently from side to side beneath the timbers of the[. . .]bridge."

12. "Take up the bodies. Such a site as this
Becomes the field but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot."

13. "I just threw your palm trees overboard. Now what is all this crap about no movie tonight?"

14. "Where the voice is great within us rises up,
As we stand gazing at the rounded moon."

15. "It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. [character's name] was both."

16. "Nobody's perfect."

(Answers follow in the "reply" below.)

1. "The Facts of Life" - W. Somerset Maugham
2. The Unnamable- Samuel Beckett
3. "Ulysses" - Tennyson
4. Ulysses - James Joyce
5. Troilus and Cressida -Shakespeare
6. King Kong - story by Edgar Wallace and Meridan Cooper, screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose (of course, I didn't know this -- who could? It was from 1933. I looked it up from imdb.com)
7. Moby Dick - Herman Melville (This is the closing line from the last chapter, not the book which closes with a short epilogue. The former is the more famous line, though.)
8. "On His Blindness" - John Milton
9. "The Great Gatsby" - F. Scott Fitzgerald
10. "The Lottery" - Shirley Jackson
11. "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" - Ambrose Bierce
12. Hamlet - Shakespeare (I always thought the last line was "Good night, sweet prince. . .etc." I guess it goes to show ya.)
13. Mister Roberts - original Broadway stage version by Thomas Heggens and Joshua Logan
14. "Evening Without Angels" -Wallace Stevens
15. Charlotte's Web - E. B. White
16. Don't remember this classic line in the movie written and directed by Billy Wilder? If not, click this.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZymBti7700

Hey that was fun Aunty. Thanks for sending me the PM. :)

1. "The Facts of Life" - W. Somerset Maugham
I didn't know this one.

2. The Unnamable- Samuel Beckett
I knew this was Beckett, but I thought it was Waiting for Godot.

3. "Ulysses" - Tennyson
I got this one. :)

4. Ulysses - James Joyce
I got this one. :D

5. Troilus and Cressida -Shakespeare
I should have known this one. I remember it now, but for some reason it sounded like an Andrew Marvell poem. :(

6. King Kong - story by Edgar Wallace and Meridan Cooper, screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose (of course, I didn't know this -- who could? It was from 1933. I looked it up from imdb.com)
I had no idea. I thought it was a fary tale. :lol:


7. Moby Dick - Herman Melville (This is the closing line from the last chapter, not the book which closes with a short epilogue. The former is the more famous line, though.)
Why didn't I know this? I did not know this one, but I have read the book. Twice I think.

8. "On His Blindness" - John Milton
I knew this one. :D

9. "The Great Gatsby" - F. Scott Fitzgerald
I knew this one. :D

10. "The Lottery" - Shirley Jackson
It sounded familiar but I didn't get this one. :(

11. "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" - Ambrose Bierce
No idea on this one.

12. Hamlet - Shakespeare (I always thought the last line was "Good night, sweet prince. . .etc." I guess it goes to show ya.)
Darn, I should have known this one. :( Shame on me.

13. Mister Roberts - original Broadway stage version by Thomas Heggens and Joshua Logan
Oh now I remember this. I should have gotten it. :(

14. "Evening Without Angels" -Wallace Stevens
I've never read that poem. And I thought I knew most Stevens poems. :(

15. Charlotte's Web - E. B. White
Never read that one.

16. Don't remember this classic line in the movie written and directed by Billy Wilder? If not, click this.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZymBti7700
I didn't remember that.

So I got four out of 16. That's pretty poor. ;)

I got 6,7, and 11. Wow! Poor showing! :(

Thanks, Auntie, for making up the quizzz.

However, you have to start making them easier - I only got #s 6, 7, 8, 13, and 15. And the only reason I got 15 is that one of my daughters always loved Charlotte's Web.