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Does anyone know of a book wherein the last line is the same as the first? In the sense of making the book self-referencing? Something along the lines of, “An

Does anyone know of a book wherein the last line is the same as the first? In the sense of making the book self-referencing? Something along the lines of, “And so it is with you.”

shagie 5y ago
IT WAS NIGHT AGAIN. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts. The most obvious part was a hollow, echoing quiet, made by things that were lacking. If there had been a wind it would have sighed through the trees, set the inn’s sign creaking on its hooks, and brushed the silence down the road like trailing autumn leaves. If there had been a crowd, even a handful of men inside the inn, they would have filled the silence with conversation and laughter, the clatter and clamor one expects from a drinking house during the dark hours of night. If there had been music . . . but no, of course there was no music. In fact there were none of these things, and so the silence remained. ... (93 chapters later) IT WAS NIGHT AGAIN. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts. ... --- --- That isn't a "first and last line are the same" but rather "the prologue and the epilogue are the same". For my favorite self reference, however, is part of the Jhereg / Taltos series by Burst. He does it a couple times, though the one that sticks in my mind the most is a prologue that is a cleaning / clothing repair list. "Tear on left sleeve" type thing. Then each chapter, that issue happens to the clothes.
tunesmith 5y ago
I like those kind of echoes. Edvard Grieg has two piano pieces, one from the very beginning of his publication history, one from near the end, and both have the same musical theme. The first piece is a simple one-pager, and the third is a waltz that modulates through several keys, almost as if traveling through memories.
bllguo 5y ago
The Dark Tower series, though it isn't a single book I want to say Ulysses but I don't remember exactly if it does
- biorach 5y ago
  you're thinking of Finnegan's Wake. And it doesn't.. but
  - cafard 5y ago
    Well, it wraps around. As does (in imitation) Derrida's Glas.
tehnub 5y ago
The first words of Finnegans Wake by Joyce are actually the middle of a sentence that begins at the end of the book.
- pfarrell 5y ago
  Pink Floyd’s album, “The Wall” does it too. “- we came in?” “Isn’t this where -“

Does anyone know of a book wherein the last line is the same as the first? In the sense of making the book self-referencing? Something along the lines of, “And so it is with you.”

shagie 5y ago

IT WAS NIGHT AGAIN. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts. The most obvious part was a hollow, echoing quiet, made by things that were lacking. If there had been a wind it would have sighed through the trees, set the inn’s sign creaking on its hooks, and brushed the silence down the road like trailing autumn leaves. If there had been a crowd, even a handful of men inside the inn, they would have filled the silence with conversation and laughter, the clatter and clamor one expects from a drinking house during the dark hours of night. If there had been music . . . but no, of course there was no music. In fact there were none of these things, and so the silence remained. ... (93 chapters later) IT WAS NIGHT AGAIN. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts. ... --- --- That isn't a "first and last line are the same" but rather "the prologue and the epilogue are the same". For my favorite self reference, however, is part of the Jhereg / Taltos series by Burst. He does it a couple times, though the one that sticks in my mind the most is a prologue that is a cleaning / clothing repair list. "Tear on left sleeve" type thing. Then each chapter, that issue happens to the clothes.

tunesmith 5y ago

I like those kind of echoes. Edvard Grieg has two piano pieces, one from the very beginning of his publication history, one from near the end, and both have the same musical theme. The first piece is a simple one-pager, and the third is a waltz that modulates through several keys, almost as if traveling through memories.

bllguo 5y ago

The Dark Tower series, though it isn't a single book I want to say Ulysses but I don't remember exactly if it does

biorach 5y ago
you're thinking of Finnegan's Wake. And it doesn't.. but
- cafard 5y ago
  Well, it wraps around. As does (in imitation) Derrida's Glas.

tehnub 5y ago

The first words of Finnegans Wake by Joyce are actually the middle of a sentence that begins at the end of the book.

pfarrell 5y ago
Pink Floyd’s album, “The Wall” does it too. “- we came in?” “Isn’t this where -“