theparisreview:

“Beauty, the world seemed to say. And as if to prove it (scientifically) wherever he looked at the houses, at the railings, at the antelopes stretching over the palings, beauty sprang instantly. To watch a leaf quivering in the rush of air was an exquisite joy. Up in the sky swallows swooping, swerving, flinging themselves in and out, round and round, yet always with perfect control as if elastics held them; and the flies rising and falling; and the sun spotting now this leaf, now that, in mockery, dazzling it with soft gold in pure good temper; and now again some chime (it might be a motor horn) tinkling divinely on the grass stalks—all of this, calm and reasonable as it was, made out of ordinary things as it was, was the truth now; beauty, that was the truth now. Beauty was everywhere.”

―Virginia Woolf, “Mrs. Dalloway,” published on this day in 1925

the-final-sentence:

January 3 - John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Bio: Born on January 3, 1892, J. R. R. Tolkien was an English writer, poet, philologist, and professor. More than almost anyone else, his cycle of works—including The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion—have left an indelible influence on high fantasy to this day. Tolkien fought in WWI, and taught at the University of Leeds and the University of Oxford. In addition to his fantasy work, he translated numerous works of Anglo-Saxon and Middle English. In 1972, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He passed away on 29 November 1971, at the age of 82.

Anecdotes:

• The tombstone of Tolkien and his wife bears the names Beren and Lúthien, two characters from his legendarium.
• Tolkien constructed the grammar and vocabulary of at least fifteen Elvish languages and dialects.
• At times, he began classes by appearing in chain mail, bellowing the opening lines of Beowulf. “According to one of his students, ‘He could turn a lecture room into a mead hall.’”
• Tolkien was also very involved in reconstructing ‘extinct’ languages, such as Medieval Welsh and Lombardic. The poem “BagmÄ“ Blomā” (“Flower of the Trees”) might be the first original work written in the Gothic language in over a millennium.
• He has been published almost as prolifically after his death as he was when he was alive.
• Tolkien began work on The Hobbit early in the 1930s while marking School Certificate papers. He found a blank page and, with sudden inspiration, wrote the words, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

Final Sentences:

The sun went down, and Morwen sighed and clasped his hand and was still; and Húrin knew that she had died.

From The Children of Húrin

[…“You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!”] “Thanks goodness!” said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar.

From The Hobbit

Then shouldering their burdens, they set off, seeking a path that would bring them over the grey hills of the Emyn Muil, and into the Land of Shadow.

From The Fellowship of the Ring

Frodo was alive but taken by the Enemy.

From The Two Towers

“Well, I’m back,” he said.

From The Return of the King

[Here ends the SILMARILLION.] If it has passed from the high and the beautiful to darkness and ruin, that was of old the fate of Arda Marred; and if any change shall come and the Marring be amended, Manwë and Varda may know; but they have not revealed it, and it is not declared in the dooms of Mandos.

From The Silmarillion

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

the-final-sentence:

January 1 - J.D. Salinger

Bio: Born on January 1, 1919, in New York City, J.D. Salinger was a literary giant despite his slim body of work and reclusive lifestyle. His landmark novel, The Catcher in the Rye, set a new course for literature in post-WWII America and vaulted Salinger to the heights of literary fame. In 1953, Salinger moved from NYC and led a secluded life, only publishing one new story before his death.

Anecdotes:

• Salinger’s father wanted him to follow in his footsteps as a meat importer, sending his son to Austria to learn the trade. Salinger left Austria just one month before the country fell to Hitler.
• Salinger has been at various times a Zen Buddhist, a Christian Scientist, and a Scientologist.
• The Catcher in the Rye was one of the most banned books and paradoxically one of the most taught books of the twentieth century.
• In 1953, two years after the publication of Catcher, Salinger pulled up stakes in New York City and retreated to a secluded, 90-acre place in Cornish, New Hampshire. There, Salinger did his best to cut-off contact with the public.
• In contrast with the reclusive lifestyle he chose for his adult years, J.D. Salinger was a bit of a ham as a kid. When he was eleven years old, the boys at Camp Wigwam in Maine voted him “the most popular actor of 1930.”
• He was so incensed by Hollywood’s treatment of his story “Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut” that he has refused to sell the movie rights to any of his stories to Hollywood. It is reported that his last will and testament has a stipulation blocking any Hollywood adaptations of his works after his death.

Final sentences:

For some minutes, before she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, she just lay quiet, smiling at the ceiling.

from Franny and Zooey

[He released the magazine, looked at it, then reinserted it. He cocked the piece.] Then he went over and sat down on the unoccupied twin bed, looked at the girl, aimed the pistol, and fired a bullet through his right temple.

from A Perfect Day for Bananafish

[Don’t ever tell anybody anything.] If you do, you start missing everybody.

from The Catcher in the Rye

[Eloise shook Mary Jane’s arm.] “I was a nice girl,” she pleaded, “wasn’t I?

from Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut

Sources: 1-2-3-4-5