More on greatest excerpts, I was going for like a specific scene where you felt the writing was some of the best and/or conveyed a strong message/emotions, of course kept somewhat nonspoilery within reason. I’d love to hear what you guys think!
Personal top five:
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Final chapter of 1984. Don’t want to give to much away for those that haven’t read, but boy this chapter is brutal. It is a veryyyy unique chapter that I haven’t come across again in literature and it is so well done. Bravo to Orwell.
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!Apache attack!< in Blood Meridian.
!Something about McCarthy’s prose is just insanely vivid and here we get this utterly terrifying depiction of a band of tribesmen stampeding towards our characters. This is probably what I would call the “best written” excerpt.!<
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!Aftermath of the second (first on page) death!< in Lord of the Flies. Golding’s use of imagery here is just so beautiful and I’m a sucker for religious symbolism so this hit hard. It’s so terrifyingly peaceful and fits the character >!better than any other send off I’ve read. The final death is also expertly written.!<
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!Eve reveals that she ate from the tree of knowledge!< in Paradise Lost.
!Milton summarizes humanity’s loss of pure love with the greying of a rose that falls from a wreath Adam is making for his love, Eve. Need I say more?!<
- Bridge to Terabithia… you know the moment. Of course this doesn’t hold up to the writing of the others but I’ve never been gut punched so hard by a book.
Oh, and also! The closing passage of Roadside Picnic always felt so incredibly frantic and emotional. It reads better in Russian to me, but the translation still works. I’m an animal, you can see that I’m an animal… so good.