Famous First and Last Lines

"I am an invisible man"

The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952)

Wrote by Ralph Ellison (March 1, 1914-April 16, 1994) his book The Invisible Man won the National Book Award in 1953.

This book takes place in the South and says that black men were reduced to fighting against animals, and are seen as trophies at a Communist rally.

This book seems interesting but the summary that I read did not tell me much of the plot.  This would not be at the top of my to read list but it might make it onto the list.

"The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off."

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

Joseph Heller (March 1, 1923-December 12, 1999) was the son of a poor Jewish family from Russia and grew up loving writing. At the age of 19 he joined the United States Army Air Corps.

This book is about a Colonel who keeps raising the amount of flights the men must complete to end their service.  The main character decides to fly in a dangerous situation and is considered insane.

I have seen this book on many "Classic Books You Must Read" list.  I have considered reading it and the plot sounds interesting.  I might not get to reading this book because there are so many other classic books that have been on my list for awhile now.