10 Famous Authors' Last Words

The Guardian:

Terry Breverton selects some of literature's most memorable farewells, from Samuel Johnson to James Joyce

Read the whole story: The Guardian

Comments

[joefoss]

10:25 AM on 08/09/2010

My favorite "literary last words," although they may be apocryphal, were Oscar Wilde's:
="Either that wallpaper goes, or I do."

[Tulka2]

05:43 PM on 08/08/2010

I am always stunned by the likeness between Anne Frank and Franz Kafka. This is the sort of mystery DNA could sort out. What is the degree of relatedness? The psychic relatedness is uncanny too, of course. The dystopia Kafka imagined, Frank experienced.

http://girlmogul.com/2709/girlmogul-of-the-day-anne-frank/

[doublevision14]

03:56 PM on 08/08/2010

James Joyce and Byron tie for most badass.

[Max Hardcore]

03:38 AM on 08/09/2010

Byron hells ya

[winebuyer]

01:07 PM on 08/08/2010

more of these pieces and less on Lohan, please

[DrJackD]

09:24 AM on 08/08/2010

An English aristocrat convicted of treason was told by the hangman to stand upon the gallows' trap door. "Are you sure it's safe?" he asked.

[michelesda]

01:12 AM on 08/08/2010

I have long been fascinated with Emily Dickinson, and her last words seem almost a tiny Dickinson poem in themselves. The illustration is from a painting of her at age 9, which was said to have been a good likeness, at least as to facial expression. Equally fascinating is what are said to have been the last words she wrote, a note to her beloved cousins from her death bed, quoting a favorite book title of theirs: "Dear cousins -- called back." It is believed by some scholars, however, that the real cause of death was not Bright's Disease. The attending physician was a quack, said to have had a peculiar habit of randomly filling in "Bright's Disease" on practically every death certificate he signed. Some experts have felt that the real cause of death was related to an undiagnosed case of high blood pressure.

[KillgoreTrout43]

09:30 PM on 08/07/2010

Groucho Marx, when he was seriously ill, couldn't walk on his own. The announcer from his TV show was with him. A mister Fenniman, I believe. Groucho had asked Fenniman to help him into the next room. As Fenniman held Groucho in his arms, Groucho uttered his last words. "Fenniman, you always were a lousy dancer."

[3fingerbrown]

08:22 AM on 08/08/2010

Isn't that a great curtain line for a great comedian?
George Fenneman was the butt of Groucho's jokes for years on "You Bet Your Life," but Fenneman always had a great affection for his irracible boss. Groucho was not a sentimental man and had difficultly expressing his feelings for those he loved, making that final wisecrack to Fenneman all the more poignant--maybe his way of saying goodbye to his devoted old friend. "There never was a comedian who was any good unless he had a good straight man," Groucho wrote. "And George was straight on all four sides."

To keep this all "on topic," remember that Groucho published several books, including a hilarious and revealing collection of his letters. And unlike most movie-star memoirists, he actually wrote.

[tjbv]

09:26 PM on 08/07/2010

Wilde: "Either this wallpaper goes, or I do."

[Dukedraven]

06:41 PM on 08/07/2010

Most of these "final words" sound scripted or made up. The only one that seems real is by Robert Louis Stevenson who supposedly said, "What’s that? Do I look strange?"

[N8tracks]

06:12 PM on 08/07/2010

The only over-rated writers I know of work for HP.

[triplettam]

07:56 PM on 08/07/2010

Wrong article.

[Weirdwriter]

06:11 PM on 08/07/2010

I want to go out with a good glass of champagne.

[KillgoreTrout43]

09:32 PM on 08/07/2010

I want to go out with a big fattie of primo bud AND a glass of Dom Perrignon

[RodbfromNC]

06:04 PM on 08/07/2010

Not an author, but a nice "End Quote". Civil War General Sedgwick (Union) to his troops..."Don't worry men, they couldn't hit the side of a barn at this dist...."

[KillgoreTrout43]

09:33 PM on 08/07/2010

Kentuckey long rifles.

[michelesda]

01:16 AM on 08/08/2010

Military last words, especially of Civil War figures, often seem specially interesting. Robert E Lee's were "Strike the tent." Stonewall Jackson's were "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees."

[pfc1369]

05:06 PM on 08/07/2010

Henry James:

"Here it is then. The distinguished thing."

[jlab]

10:36 AM on 08/07/2010

Chekhov's dying words are quoted in Tom Wait's beautiful song "TAKE IT WITH ME", which never fails to make me cry.

[MatthewHubbard]

10:40 AM on 08/07/2010

Yeah, I didn't realize where that line came from, though I am going to have to call the apostrophe police on you. It's Waits' song, not Wait's song.

[naschkatze]

12:23 PM on 08/07/2010

Some would argue for Waits's song, but not I.

[jlab]

04:59 PM on 08/07/2010

I know, I know, I almost ran back and fixed that, but I didn't want to go back to apostrophe jail.

[KillgoreTrout43]

09:21 PM on 08/07/2010

Waits is a true artist. There is no one else like him, and probably never will be.

[jlab]

10:03 AM on 08/08/2010

And since I can't fan him here, I'm fanning YOU instead.

[Tom Sutpen]

10:24 AM on 08/07/2010

Has it ever been determined whether or not Oscar Wilde's last words were, in fact, "Either this wallpaper goes or I do?"

[naschkatze]

12:17 PM on 08/07/2010

Ha ha, I wouldn't doubt it.

[Weirdwriter]

05:59 PM on 08/07/2010

Haven't heard anything to disprove it, and I'll wager he gave it some thought in advance because the man did few things without the perfect bon mot.

[rambot02]

07:31 PM on 08/07/2010

I agree, Weirdwriter. Was this wittism planned? Probably. And where is the harm in that? Wilde had too much style (and vanity) to let history record that his last words were "Has anyone seen the bedpan?"

=^..^=