judging books by ONLY their closing line

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 11 окт 2024
  • [ad] head to squarespace.com... to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code JACKINTHEBOOKS !!
    main channel: / thejackexperience
    Instagram: / jackbenedwards

Комментарии • 239

  • @kattnisseverdeen8029
    @kattnisseverdeen8029 Год назад +1115

    I remember when I decided to randomly read the last line first and I picked the WRONG book. It was catching fire and the last line was “Katniss there is no district 12” 😂

    • @alexandraa23
      @alexandraa23 Год назад +35

      when we were like 12, my friend ruined the end of the series for me so I literally just never read mocking jay LOL

    • @runawayfromme77
      @runawayfromme77 Год назад +43

      catching fire was the first thing that came to mind when i saw the title of this video! back in high school i liked to read the last line of the book before i start it, lemme tell you that after catching fire i immediately stopped 😅

    • @Jay_lovescats
      @Jay_lovescats Год назад +14

      I DID THE SAME THING! I was just like “I didn’t see that nope”

    • @sweetviolents29
      @sweetviolents29 Год назад +11

      This is made so much funnier by your username and icon lol

    • @deepamishra9224
      @deepamishra9224 Год назад +10

      This comment should come with a spoiler alert 😢

  • @melissapetito3069
    @melissapetito3069 Год назад +1094

    omg i would love a video re-ranking these books after you read them to see if the final line was represantative of the book as a whole

  • @kyraivens1651
    @kyraivens1651 Год назад +66

    This reminded me of when i read The Fault in Our Stars like 10 years ago so it was before everyone and their mums knew how it ended and I decided to read the closing line which was 'I do, Augustus. I do.' and I thought they were going to get married

  • @kaitlynrae6352
    @kaitlynrae6352 Год назад +123

    I feel like it would be so cool to rank the same set of books separately based on the cover, opening line, and closing line, and then compare each of those rankings with a final review of each book. Curious if the opening line/closing line would be more telling of the overall rating of the book…

    • @anenadecastro
      @anenadecastro Год назад +5

      Boosting this because he NEEDS to do a video about this. Amazing idea!! 😲😲😲

    • @oa5538
      @oa5538 Год назад +1

      Yess

  • @elsitacacahuete427
    @elsitacacahuete427 Год назад +215

    Hundred Years of Solitude’s final line is as brilliant as the first line.

    • @palcicaa
      @palcicaa Год назад +5

      Tbh that ending truly made it one of my favorite books of all time

  • @melissagonzalez2464
    @melissagonzalez2464 Год назад +74

    Maybe the last line of Checkout 19 is also the acknowledgment page lol

  • @ChemicalPenguinn
    @ChemicalPenguinn Год назад +171

    The sass when Jack put the candy house at the bottom 🤣
    I'd do the same, honestly

    • @meikusje
      @meikusje Год назад +2

      I thought that was a great last line tbh! It gives closure, but also presents opportunity.

  • @shohinisen4068
    @shohinisen4068 Год назад +68

    Ok but can we talk about the gorgeous artistic covers ?!

  • @tiakiwi
    @tiakiwi Год назад +90

    Aaaa I’m so happy you did this! Very interested to see if any of the ‘disappointing’ lines hit waayyy different once you know the context…intrigued to see the reviews for all of these!

  • @maggiefelisberto5281
    @maggiefelisberto5281 Год назад +190

    That closing line from Checkout 19 made me so angry; I can't believe you liked it

    • @StarStar-ec1dd
      @StarStar-ec1dd Год назад +8

      IKR

    • @hannahohno
      @hannahohno Год назад +23

      exactly hahaha it would have put me off reading it at all. And to him was the complete opposite.

    • @kathdong9685
      @kathdong9685 Год назад +14

      Totally! I'll just buy a dictionary if I need this...

    • @mwu365
      @mwu365 Год назад

      The only one I really like lol

    • @ralucahuruniuc
      @ralucahuruniuc Год назад +1

      Checkout 19 is my only DNF of this year and after this video I'm pretty happy I didn't push through 😅

  • @Christine-jg2ch
    @Christine-jg2ch Год назад +30

    I’ve just taken Checkout 19 off my want to read list 😂

  • @bestnarryever
    @bestnarryever Год назад +12

    Decided to immediately add “just by looking at him” to my TBR bc of the line and THE SYNOPSIS IS INCREDIBLE?!??? I’m shocked!

  • @literally_elly
    @literally_elly Год назад +58

    I love that Jack had to read a last sentence that was a page and a half long 😂😂

  • @kaitlynnelson2139
    @kaitlynnelson2139 Год назад +17

    I used to do this with every book I read before I read it, to see if I could guess how the story arrives at that place. Until I spoiled a major character death, that is 😅

  • @meikusje
    @meikusje Год назад +25

    Are you reading my mind 😱 I finished Dave Egger's You Shall Know Our Velocity this weekend and thought: I know Jack Edwards has done videos on opening lines, but he should really do a video on closing lines as well.
    FYI: the closing line for YSKOV is "It stopped for a minute I swear, but then the sound and pictures came back on and for two more glorious and interminable months we lived".

  • @MarianaQuesada
    @MarianaQuesada Год назад +12

    "That's my closing line" Listen, I'm so used to the way you end your videos that I always say it along with you, 10 out of 10.

  • @IAMXisasgoodaschocolatespread
    @IAMXisasgoodaschocolatespread Год назад +2

    "I'm really good at forgetting things." Same Jack, same 😂.

  • @cecileglangetas149
    @cecileglangetas149 Год назад +8

    My own selection:
    1st place: Just By Looking at Him by Ryan O'Connell
    2nd place: Real Life by Brandon Taylor
    3rd place: Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
    4th place: Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
    5th place: Nevada by Imogene Binnie
    6th place: Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
    7th place: The Sugar House by Jennifer Egan
    Last place: Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett
    Very curious about all of those books and excited to read them!
    Love your content, keep going ❤

  • @Silviduhh
    @Silviduhh Год назад +16

    Honestly this is my favorite way to pick a new book!! It’s intriguing. I also know right away if I’m curious how the MC got there. If I’m invested to see the build up. This is the superior way of picking books lol

    • @Silviduhh
      @Silviduhh Год назад +4

      Also have a poor memory, I never remember 😂

  • @Roscoethecat
    @Roscoethecat Год назад +3

    "I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope. " Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. Makes me cry every time I read it.

  • @manonvo8615
    @manonvo8615 Год назад +9

    I can never remember all the books for my own ranking, but I would definitely put checkput 19 all the way last😹 it's unique yes... but I uniquely hated it

  • @throneofpages
    @throneofpages Год назад +1

    you are so brave for doing this i would be terrified 🤡🥲

  • @angeldsouza777
    @angeldsouza777 Год назад +8

    This literally gave me anxiety! 😲
    I would be devastated to know the final line before having read the book - how could that not colour the reading experience?! (Like seeing Tom Hanks already rescued in the trailer for Castaway...)

  • @austret4609
    @austret4609 Год назад +14

    i don’t know why but before starting a new book i ALWAYS read the last line and then if i remember it it’s always interesting to see how my perspective and understanding of it changed after i finished the book and just what it really means

    • @unidentifiedartist
      @unidentifiedartist Год назад +2

      I DO THIS TOO!! I thought I was the only one! But I don't always do it lol- sometimes I forget

    • @cfbg
      @cfbg Год назад

      This seems goofy to me.

  • @jenniferbolt4146
    @jenniferbolt4146 Год назад

    Notes on an execution was so good. The context was definitely needed.

  • @F00L_Of_A_Took
    @F00L_Of_A_Took Год назад +3

    i cant believe checkout 19 got the first spot tbh. there were so many inconsequential words in a row i felt like language lost all meaning

  • @AsclepiusPress
    @AsclepiusPress 8 месяцев назад +1

    Final line of my fantasy standalone PHARMAKIDES:
    Mute swans understood the mysteries, and took note of which flowers were in bloom.

  • @chelsealee144
    @chelsealee144 Год назад +21

    I actually have a ritual with every book that after i read the first chapter, i always read the last line of the book. It started when i was younger to curb the impulse of flipping to the end and just finding out the whole ending and then not reading the full book. I guessed it was like if i know the literal last line i wouldn’t have the impulse bc it’s the ultimate ending. Not sure how but it worker psychologically and books just tend not to have spoilers in the last line.

  • @tallactordude
    @tallactordude Год назад +9

    It would be interesting at some point with one of these videos, either the first line or last line ones, to have you go back to those same books after you have read all of them and see how the ranking of the books them selves compares to the ranking of either the first or last lines. And to be honest, the one you picked as first, just having listened to the last lines, I probably would’ve put about seventh on that stack.

  • @Crixtine
    @Crixtine Год назад +3

    love this! i don't know why but i've always had the habit of reading the closing line before starting a book

  • @tyche3729
    @tyche3729 Год назад +1

    omg I worked an event in which rachel yoda and a few other authors and musicians held readings and performances about motherhood and the relationship between a child and a mother! all of them were so well spoken and their delivery was great

  • @maxallaire7113
    @maxallaire7113 Год назад +6

    this series has made me STRESS about the first and last lines of my book 😆

  • @azu_rikka
    @azu_rikka Год назад +6

    Now, getting back to opening lines, please let us know what you think of the opening line of 'one hundred years of solitude', I LOVE that opening line, it gives you a glimpse of the present, past and future of what is/will/was happening in the story, just fantastic!!!

    • @juanaabadiebottcher5508
      @juanaabadiebottcher5508 Год назад

      The last line is amazing too. Damm, the whole last paragraph is electric and you read it each time sort of breathless

    • @juanaabadiebottcher5508
      @juanaabadiebottcher5508 Год назад +2

      I read it for the first time when I was fourteen and it changed me at a molecular level, lol

  • @Marie-oh8es
    @Marie-oh8es Год назад +2

    Great video! I would love it if you did this video with books you have already read, I think it would be so interesting to hear your thoughts on the closing lines in the context of the entire book.

  • @neerajas10N
    @neerajas10N Год назад +7

    Jack, please make the video of all the books you've read in 2022 🙏🙏🙏

  • @amolove24
    @amolove24 Год назад +1

    I used to do reading the closing lines with every book I read in middle school and would spoil myself all the time 😭 but that closing line of just by looking at him was so good

  • @sophiecaroline7222
    @sophiecaroline7222 Год назад

    I just love the last line of Wuthering Hights. Gives me the chills.

  • @aarabhiblackdale7724
    @aarabhiblackdale7724 Год назад +6

    honestly, i would have put Nevada in my top spot solely because "so get the fuck off my back,Roland" made me laugh out so loud.

  • @koalakarakookie
    @koalakarakookie Год назад +1

    I have read Notes On An Execution and I absolutely loved it even though I didn’t know how I would feel about it but the rest of the books sound like I just got more books I need to add to my tbr. I need to this when I finish reading the two books I’m currently reading for my next pick.

  • @Paaseliten
    @Paaseliten Год назад +4

    Ooh! You should have read the closing line of The Great Gatsby. My favorite closing line ever.

    • @Sazbo17
      @Sazbo17 Год назад +3

      What’s the closing line?

    • @nl3064
      @nl3064 Год назад +1

      He's reading the closing lines of books he hasn't read yet. Were you not paying attention at all? It's pretty safe to assume that he's read Gatsby.

    • @Paaseliten
      @Paaseliten Год назад +2

      @@Sazbo17 The closing line of "The Great Gatsby": "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

  • @xCarleex
    @xCarleex Год назад +96

    Song of Achilles has one of the best ending lines of all time. You should add that one to your next video.

    • @MaxximusP
      @MaxximusP Год назад +35

      He has already read Song of Achilles- so it wouldn't fit in this series

    • @joon3638
      @joon3638 Год назад +2

      can you tell what was the last line of SOA?

    • @Abhi-wl5yt
      @Abhi-wl5yt Год назад

      @@joon3638 Lookaway if you don't want spoilers...
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      "Go," she says. "He waits for you."
      "IN THE DARKNESS, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun"

    • @yourLittleSinner
      @yourLittleSinner Год назад +22

      "Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out the sun.:

    • @salvaahamed5640
      @salvaahamed5640 Год назад +5

      Go!, He waits for you is the best line

  • @teneshaanderson4761
    @teneshaanderson4761 Год назад +3

    I like that you actually show the books in the thumbnail

  • @ameliareads223
    @ameliareads223 Год назад +2

    I would have ranked Checkout 19 4th. It was so confusing, but it did have a nice groove in reading it out loud. Maybe it makes more sense in context, but to me it just felt like a bunch of words.

  • @jules48ee
    @jules48ee Год назад +7

    I am so excited for you to read Young Mungo. If we were allowed to rate books 6/5, this would get it. Probably my favorite book of the year. Happy reading!

    • @darbo1701
      @darbo1701 Год назад +4

      Ah yes, I doubt he'll ever get around to it. I mean, when did he first start talking about it? Probably when it released? LOL

    • @jules48ee
      @jules48ee Год назад

      @@darbo1701 We can always hope 😅

    • @kaseytucker9608
      @kaseytucker9608 Год назад +1

      I’ve been waiting for his review for ages! One of my all time favourite reads 😭

    • @jules48ee
      @jules48ee Год назад

      @@kaseytucker9608 it was so good 👌👌👌

  • @klatchabobby
    @klatchabobby Год назад

    Something I've learnt about these is that I like my final lines to be normal length. Anything longer than say thirty words and it just becomes convoluted

  • @emmal7510
    @emmal7510 Год назад +3

    That last sentence in Checkout 19 might be impactful in context, but in the abstract it seemed, to me, like "competing for the longest sentence in English literature."
    4,491 words (Ulysses). Proper sentence is only 1,287 words. (Absalom, Absalom) (According to Google.)

  • @francinecorry633
    @francinecorry633 Год назад +3

    I read Real Life and don't really remember the ending. It wasn't a favorite of mine.
    Just by the ending of Checkout 19, I wouldn't read it.
    I'd love to see you take those same books and rank the first line and then do a final ranking after you read them.

  • @sundanceekid8
    @sundanceekid8 Год назад +2

    jack I loved the video, as I always enjoy these video ideas that are fun and feel very natural in a way! jjdjd but this would be my ranking lmao:
    1. Nevada
    2. Just by looking at him
    3. Checkout 19
    4. Nightbitch
    5. Real life
    6. Notes on execution
    7. Young Mungo
    8. The candy house

  • @AJ-ms2pm
    @AJ-ms2pm Год назад +4

    I think song of achilles has one of the best closing lines(with having read it)

  • @Lulu_Reads_Books
    @Lulu_Reads_Books Год назад +17

    Trust me, that last line of "Just By Looking At Him" is nothing compared to the opening line. IYKYK! 😂

  • @RunReadMeep
    @RunReadMeep Год назад +3

    Do this with books you have read and see if your rankings match the before and after 🙌🏽

  • @Sirapa7
    @Sirapa7 Год назад +1

    Out of context, I love everything Jack wears. 😍

  • @karakask5488
    @karakask5488 Год назад +1

    I'm so curious about the books that are turned around on the shelves behind you. I hate when I can't see the titles of books!!!

  • @Larissa_KD
    @Larissa_KD Год назад +2

    My list would be exactly the same, but with Checkout 19 at the bottom hahahah

  • @PokhrajRoy.
    @PokhrajRoy. Год назад +1

    On an unrelated note, I really love the Shirt featured in this video.

  • @shraddhakharole3631
    @shraddhakharole3631 Год назад

    You can also make a video on comparing the opening/ closing line video an rating the actual book as a whole. Means the books that u rated highest as the best opening line did u like them as much as you did after reading it!!!

  • @kaylieswartz2431
    @kaylieswartz2431 Год назад +1

    You should read The God Child by Nana Oforiatta Ayim (if you haven’t already). It’s a poetic novel that tells the story of a Ghanaian emigrant and her journey in search for a sense of home.

  • @fatimazafar6787
    @fatimazafar6787 Год назад +1

    checkout 19 was last for me and I was shocked when he put that on top.

  • @izzydavie5505
    @izzydavie5505 Год назад

    I always read both the opening and the closing line when I start a book!

  • @hanjnk
    @hanjnk Год назад +1

    When you said ‘omg it’s so long’ I thought that was the last line 😂

  • @MediocreAtBesd
    @MediocreAtBesd Год назад

    not me adding books to my tbr solely cause of their final sentence so to get tl the part I love I gotta get through the whole thing

  • @halimamuslimah
    @halimamuslimah Год назад +1

    Checkout 19 would've bee toward the end for me. I did like this video & look forward to you doing more like it. It was fun.

  • @kulittt957
    @kulittt957 Год назад

    I'd tell you to read Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint but I haven't even finished Volume 1 and I'm at 900 pages already. The last line needs context but once you understand it all you'll feel is pain or maybe something bittersweet.

  • @aarabhiblackdale7724
    @aarabhiblackdale7724 Год назад

    pls ur silence was so loud when u placed candy house, istg i was in hysterics

  • @ember.readss
    @ember.readss Год назад +3

    YOU INSPIRE ME TO READ MORE

  • @qcldenloux5543
    @qcldenloux5543 Год назад +2

    ever thought about becoming a rapper? the ending of checkout 19 was so funny to listen to

  • @victoriac7215
    @victoriac7215 Год назад +2

    Keep waiting anxiously for your review of Young Mungo. Interested to see what you think of it. I’ve just finished it.

  • @samanwitapanda7521
    @samanwitapanda7521 Год назад +1

    Whenever I buy a book, the first thing I do is read the opening line of it and then the last line. I'm always scared to do that but it's fun. 😂

  • @gracelola8897
    @gracelola8897 Год назад

    the line you read from checkout 19 is actually from an interview with her at the end, not from the actual body of the book!! still absolutely gorgeous though… classic CLB

  • @gidabartfai4095
    @gidabartfai4095 Год назад +11

    Day 1 of asking Jack to read Hungarian fiction

  • @Adeodatus100
    @Adeodatus100 Год назад

    "The cannons of his adversary were thundering in the tattered morning when the Majesty of England drew himself up to meet the future with a peaceful heart."
    (Almost) the last line of the original version of T.H.White's "The Once And Future King". Gets me every time, especially after the preceding pages where the King muses that only Culture can save humankind, along with the abolition of the imaginary lines we call borders.

  • @rosesisler9275
    @rosesisler9275 Год назад

    I can't wait for your review of Candy House!! I read it and I have feels about it. Haha, this is a fun idea. Mad love, Jack-Jack!

  • @liliszekely4361
    @liliszekely4361 Год назад

    Oh trust me once you read Young Mungo that line will be a boat on the horizon after spending 4 days out in the ocean in a life jacket

  • @stkcrvn
    @stkcrvn Год назад +3

    i agreed with u on the entire list except for checkout 19, that one made me so angry

  • @jessicabutler572
    @jessicabutler572 Год назад

    WHERE did you get that edition of Just by looking at him!!!!! it’s so beautiful!!! i much prefer it to the yellow and pink one!

  • @aulbayne8600
    @aulbayne8600 Год назад +5

    We’re reading The Death of Ivan Ilyich if you guys want to join :) (details in replies!)

  • @mae__
    @mae__ Год назад

    The stark difference from checkout 19 to the Candy House💀😂😂😂😂

  • @Lillyjoy
    @Lillyjoy Год назад

    Wow some of those had such cool last lines!

  • @TheNauglafel
    @TheNauglafel Год назад

    I think I'd put Notes on an Execution at the top because it feels more impactful than others somehow, I can imagine myself reading the book and being moved by that ending.. Checkout 19 is also a really good one, it doesn't give any clues about the story by itself which is really cool.. I've found the other ones generic or cheesy..

  • @cora2560
    @cora2560 Год назад

    Cant wait for part 2 of this video!!

  • @Kenough_in_Wonderland
    @Kenough_in_Wonderland Год назад +2

    The endless of Checkout 19 made me never ever want to read that book 😂

  • @brizhammer
    @brizhammer Год назад +2

    Bring back the kitchen roll.

  • @maryseptihet
    @maryseptihet Год назад

    I think you should do books and just go to a random page and rank sentences in the middle of the books - as that would be very chaotic - and suit yours and this channels energy

  • @AlexKillzMC
    @AlexKillzMC Год назад

    Omg this shirt looks so good on Jack!

  • @lendrestapas2505
    @lendrestapas2505 Год назад +1

    Wittgenstein wins: "Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."

  • @annabanana8013
    @annabanana8013 Год назад

    Just because I absolutely loved Real Life I would pick that. I loved the finale sentence of the story. It’s very fitting.

  • @kaseytucker9608
    @kaseytucker9608 Год назад

    i WISH if we were villains was in the lineup for this. that is a closing line to end all closing lines

  • @nishigandhasarma7644
    @nishigandhasarma7644 Год назад +1

    One hundred years of solitude, opening line, "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."
    Closing line, " Before reaching the final line, however, he had already understood that he would never leave that room, for it was foreseen that the city of mirrors (or mirages) would be wiped out by the wind and exiled from the memory of men at the precise moment when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments, and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forever more, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth."
    And all the unhingery of Marquez's penmanship throughout.
    Just read it! Or I will start a bullying campaign

  • @sydnie6205
    @sydnie6205 Год назад

    you should do a video of reading books aloud - it changes reading and I think it’d be fun and interesting.

  • @MelSaydam
    @MelSaydam Год назад

    OMG! This video... I hate checking the end of the book or any spoilers but it was tempting! really tempting...Then I looked at the books and they were not on TBR but NOW after your video they are :D

  • @kelseytaylor6314
    @kelseytaylor6314 Год назад +1

    I was in foyles today and I heard 2 girls talking about you! You're so popular in London! Xx

  • @wobbling-around
    @wobbling-around Год назад

    Lots of things to say:
    1. Thanks for listening to us because the was such a good idea and I just found a new book to add to my list because of the gorgeous final line.
    2. When your book comes out, I'm expecting a live reading in London 🙃
    3. My order wouls be:
    1Just By Looking at Him
    2 Nevada
    3 Real life
    4 Night bitch
    5 Checkout 99
    6 Yung Mungo
    7 Notes on execution
    8 The candy house

  • @margerykemp2767
    @margerykemp2767 Год назад +3

    how about you rank books on the basis of lines from the middle of the book?

  • @mckinleyforth5157
    @mckinleyforth5157 Год назад +1

    Is it just me that reads the ending lines of most books while I read them. I thought that was a common thing.

  • @manouschkagroenewoud5319
    @manouschkagroenewoud5319 Год назад

    LOVE!!!! YOUR SHIRT!

  • @mimicry.
    @mimicry. Год назад +2

    That shirt is amazing

  • @MyHumbleNest
    @MyHumbleNest Год назад +2

    Checkout 19 - WAY TO MUCH!!!!

  • @saanvimax
    @saanvimax Год назад

    1) Just By Looking At Him
    2) Nightbitch
    3) Real Life
    4) Checkout 19
    5) Young Mungo
    6) Nevada
    7) Notes on Execution
    8) Candy House

  • @Riri-dw6ez
    @Riri-dw6ez Год назад

    I laughed so bad at checkout 😂😂

  • @user-iz1bz4pz9j
    @user-iz1bz4pz9j Год назад +1

    Isn't it pretty to think so?
    -Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises