Lines you may recognize from your favourite books

If you love reading you probably have your favourites. And if you have read a lot in your life, then chances are you will recognize a good number of these lines, curated by the Genretop review team.

1. It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

— 1984.

2. So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.

–– Perks Of Being A Wallflower.

3. And presently, like a circling typhoon, the sounds of battle began to return.

–– Vile Bodies.

4. But this is how Paris was in the early days when we were very poor and very happy.

–– A Moveable Feast.

5. Mother died today.

— The Stranger.

6. Stay Gold, Ponyboy.

–– The Outsiders.

7. It was the day my grandmother exploded.

— The Crow Road.

8. Vaughan died yesterday in his last car-crash.

— Crash.

9. Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I’ve come to learn, is women.

— Middle Passage.

10. High, high above the North Pole, on the first day of 1969, two professors of English Literature approached each other at a combined velocity of 1200 miles per hour.

— Changing Places.

11. All children, except one, grow up.

–– Peter Pan.

12. The moon lives in the lining of your skin.

— The Essential Neruda.

13. In spite of everything, I still believe people are really good at heart.

— The Diary of Anne Frank.

14. You were at the age where you could fall in love with a girl over an expression, over a gesture.

— This Is How You Lose Her.

15. Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.

— Slaughterhouse-Five.

16. It was strange the way he loved her; a sidelong and almost casual love, as if loving her were simply a matter of course, too natural to mention.

— The Art of Fielding.

17. So it goes.

— Slaughterhouse-Five.

18. I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

— Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven.

19. Her legs swing complete afternoons away.

— From Rockaway.

20. Two people in love, alone, isolated from the world, that's beautiful.

— The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

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Books from classical literature you should read again and again

If you love the classics, then you should read these two books curated by the Genretop review team. They should be on everyone’s to-read list!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

In this novel by Jane Austen, she shows the folly of judging by first impressions plus superbly explains the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class British life.

The story involves Elizabeth Bennet who meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy. At first she thinks he is arrogant and conceited; while he is indifferent to her attractive looks and curious mind.

When she later discovers that he has involved himself in the relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, Elizabeth is determined to dislike him more than ever.

I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith

Cassandra Mortmain lives with her bohemian family in a crumbling castle in the middle of nowhere. Her journal records her life with her beautiful, bored sister, Rose, her not-so-glamorous stepmother, Topaz, her little brother Thomas and her novelist father who suffers from writer's block.

When the American heirs to the castle arrive, their lives are turned upside down and Cassandra finds herself falling in love for the very first time.

For more great classical content, check out Genretop today.

Inspirational quotes about classical music

From scientists and philosophers to poets and playwrights, here are how some of the greatest minds were touched by classical music, curated by the Genretop review team.

Tony Bennett: ‘In the 1920s and ’30s, there was a renaissance in music that was the equivalent of the artistic Renaissance. Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer and others created the best songs ever written. These are classics... This is classical music’

Albert Einstein: "I know that the most joy in my life has come to me from my violin."

St Augustine: "To sing is to pray twice."

Plato: "Rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul."

John Dryden: "What passion cannot music raise and quell!"

John Milton: "Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie."

Maya Angelou: "Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness."

Hans Christian Andersen: "Where words fail, music speaks."

Leo Tolstoy: "Music is the shorthand of emotion."

John Keats: "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter. Therefore, ye soft pipes, play on."

Heinrich Heine: "When words leave off, music begins."

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Great classic films to watch now

Looking to sit down with a good movie to take your mind off things? Then choose one of these great American films, selected by the Genretop review team, and get your popcorn popping!

Ninotchka by Ernst Lubitsch

Greta Garbo is at her loveliest (and funniest) as a humorless, hard-line Soviet emissary who unwillingly succumbs to the capitalist charms of Melvyn Douglas and Paris in the spring. Every frame is a delight.

Duck Soup by Leo McCarey

The Marx Brothers are at their most anarchic in this pointed but hilarious send-up of government, politics and war. How can you not love a picture in which the main character is named Rufus T. Firefly? 

The Maltese Falcon by John Huston

This is probably the ultimate detective movie, the detective movie other detective movies want to be when they grow up. Humphrey Bogart plays Sam Spade, whose dogged pursuit of his partner's murderer leads him to something much bigger.

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Bob Dylan Quotes That Will Speak To Your Mind And Soul

These Bob Dylan quotes curated by the Genretop review team are excellent for anyone who dares to be a true original.

1. “You learn from a conglomeration of the incredible past – whatever experience gotten in any way whatsoever.” – Bob Dylan

2. “Behind every beautiful thing, there’s some kind of pain.”― Bob Dylan

3. “I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.”― Bob Dylan

4. “I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. I take each thing as it is, without prior rules about what it should be.” – Bob Dylan

5. “May your heart always be joyful. May your song always be sung.”― Bob Dylan

6. “A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.” ― Bob Dylan

7. “When you cease to exist, then who will you blame?” ― Bob Dylan

8. “When you feel in your gut what you are and then dynamically pursue it – don’t back down and don’t give up – then you’re going to mystify a lot of folks.”― Bob Dylan

9. “You’re gonna have to serve somebody; well, it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody…”― Bob Dylan

10. “I’m mortified to be on the stage, but then again, it’s the only place where I’m happy.” – Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan quotes that will inspire you to create your own way of thinking

11. “The future for me is already a thing of the past – You were my first love and you will be my last”― Bob Dylan

12. “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” ― Bob Dylan

13. “If you try to be anyone but yourself, you will fail; if you are not true to your own heart, you will fail. Then again, there’s no success like failure”― Bob Dylan

14. “People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.” – Bob Dylan

15. “Even if you don’t have all the things you want, be grateful for the things you don’t have that you don’t want (Bob Dylan’s dad)”― Bob Dylan

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The best classic American films to watch now

Looking for a good classic film to watch tonight? Then why not pick one of these curated by the Genretop review team?

The Sixth Sense. M. Knight Shyamalan, 1999.

It’s not just that this picture sports one of the best plot twists of all time, the rest of the film is top-notch, too. Even with Bruce Willis and Toni Colette, the performance that stands out is that of young Haley Joel Osment.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. George Roy Hill, 1969.

At the time, this was a very modern take on a Western. The heroes are lovable criminals taking on the establishment by robbing banks. With Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Katharine Ross, there is an awful lot of beauty on the screen at one time.

Toy Story. John Lasseter, 1995.

The first computer-animated picture is still the best — it’s a combination of an irresistible story, bold characterizations (even of the smallest characters), wonderful voices and unbeatable animation.

Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock, 1961.

“Mother…isn’t quite herself today.” That line still cracks me up.

Bringing Up Baby. Howard Hawks, 1938.

Dizzy Katharine Hepburn decides she loves paleontologist Cary Grant and goes all out to land him, including using a pet leopard named Baby. And that’s not the only leopard in the film.

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Great lines from literature

You may forget a scene from a novel, or perhaps the name of the leading character, but you certainly won’t forget these great lines from famous literary works, curated by the Genretop review team.

“Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination.”

'Passing' by Nella Larsen

"[S]he hadn't the air of a woman whose life had been touched by uncertainty or suffering. Pain, fear, and grief were things that left their mark on people. Even love, that exquisite torturing emotion, left its subtle traces on the countenance."

'The Left Hand of Darkness' by Ursula K. Le Guin

"It is a terrible thing, this kindness that human beings do not lose. Terrible, because when we are finally naked in the dark and cold, it is all we have. We who are so rich, so full of strength, we end up with that small change. We have nothing else to give."

'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee

“It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.”

'Severance' by Ling Ma

"The past is a black hole, cut into the present day like a wound, and if you come too close, you can get sucked in. You have to keep moving."

'In the Dream House' by Carmen Maria Machado

"I speak into the silence. I toss the stone of my story into a vast crevice; measure the emptiness by its small sound."

'Station Eleven' by Emily St. John Mandel

For the very best in classical literature, head over to Genretop today.