Steinbeck apparently considered this 1952 novel to be his magnum opus, the one which all other novels before it had merely been practice for. The title is suitably grand. Taken from Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, it refers to line 4:16, after Cain has slain his brother Abel. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
#5. THE SUN ALSO RISES BY ERNEST HEMINGWAY
More Ecclesiastes! This particular quotation is from 1:5, which states that The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. Hemingway's modernist novel came out in 1926.
#6. VILE BODIES BY EVELYN WAUGH
Waugh took the title for his 1930 novel from Philippians, full name Epistle to the Philippians, which is part of the New Testament and generally attributed to Paul the Apostle. Most scholars consider it to be a collection of letter fragments sent from Paul to the church of Philippi, a city on the Greek island of Thasos. The line in question is 3:21 and refers to Jesus Christ, [w]ho shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
#7. A SCANNER DARKLY BY PHILIP K. DICK
One of Dick's most famous novels (published in 1977), its title is taken from the First Epistle to the Corinthians. Like above, it's written by Paul the Apostle, this time to the church in Corinth. The line, 13:12, goes For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. It's a particularly well-known one, and its opening words have often been used as famous book titles to other works, such as Sheridan Le Fanu's 1872 short story collection In a Glass Darkly and Karleen Koen's 1986 historical fiction novel Through a Glass Darkly (its sequel continues the quotation, being called Now Face to Face).
#8. MOAB IS MY WASHPOT BY STEPHEN FRY
Undoubtedly an odd quotation; it comes from line 60:8 of the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament, which reads in full Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me. The context is that people would often use washpots to clean their feet of sand after roaming the desert, and Moab, a kingdom of Jordan which was often warring against the Israelites, needed to be overcome. The Israelites therefore likened these containers to the kingdom. Fry chose this as the title for his 1997 autobiography as he considered the book to be 'scrubbing at the grime of years'.
#9. NUMBER THE STARS BY LOIS LOWRY
Although she's most famous for her dystopian novel The Giver, Lowry's 1989 novel Number the Stars focuses on the life of a Jewish family living in Copenhagen during World War II. In line 147:4, the Psalms declares that He [God] telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. The quotation is also used for its connotations of the Star of David associated with Judaism.
#10. NOLI ME TANGERE BY JOSÉ RIZAL
Rizal, one of the national heroes of the Philippines, wrote this book in 1887 while the nation was under Spanish control in order to draw attention to the social ills which beset the country at the time. It's now required reading in every secondary school in the Philippines and is considered the country's national epic.
The title quotation is extraordinarily famous: it comes from 20:17 of the Gospel of John, part of the New Testament, and is Jesus's response to Mary Magdalene when she encounters him outside his tomb after his resurrection. The translation from the Latin is Touch me not. It can also be found in Sir Thomas Wyatt's famed Tudor-era poem Whoso list to hunt (a close copy of Petrarch), as well as a painting by Titian. The phrase was used to refer to cancer of the eyelids, and Rizal – a medical student – chose it because it symbolised the people's blindness to the misdeeds of the ruling Spanish government.
FAMOUS BOOK TITLES TAKEN FROM WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
#11. BRAVE NEW WORLD BY ALDOUS HUXLEY
This is possibly the most famous book to take its title from a Shakespeare play – in this case, The Tempest. In Act V Scene I, Miranda declares:
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world
That has such people in 't!
She says this when encountering new arrivals to her island for the first time in her life, and the 'savage' John repeats it when gazing at the corrupt, hedonistic society portrayed in Huxley's 1932 novel. Huxley was a big fan of Shakespeare and quoted him in two more famous book titles, namely Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1956) and Mortal Coils (1921), from Macbeth and Hamlet respectively. Both are part of famous soliloquies; Hamlet's in particular is the 'to be or not to be' speech.
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. —Macbeth, Act V Scene V
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. —Hamlet, Act III Scene I
#12. ROSEMARY AND RUE (OCTOBER DAYE #1) BY SEANAN MCGUIRE
The first installment of McGuire's bestselling fantasy October Daye series, this title is taken from The Winter's Tale. Rosemary signifies remembrance (very key to Toby's character) whilst rue is for repentance. The lines are spoken in Act IV Scene IV by Perdita as she gives the flowers in question to Camillo and Polixenes.
Reverend sirs,
For you there's rosemary and rue; these keep
Seeming and savour all the winter long:
Grace and remembrance be to you both…