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Literary Tattoos

Read 'Em and Weep! 101 Tattoos Inspired by Famous Books

Aug 10 2019

The things we read in the books we love often stay with us for a long time, but for some, they stay forever — literally. Tattoos based on books are a beautiful way of keeping our favourite literary memories, characters, and quotes alive even after we've turned the last page. We've rounded up some artistic interpretations of famous works — from the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series to Pride and Prejudice and The Little Prince. Read 'em and weep!

— Additional reporting by Lauren Harano and Tara Block

1. Harry Potter Book Page Stars

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Tara Block

2. Anaïs Nin Quote

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are."

3. Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Tara Block

4. Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll

"You'd be nowhere. Why, you're only a sort of thing in his dream!"

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5. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath

6. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

7. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther . . . And one fine morning — so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

8. Owl and Books

9. Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

10. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

11. It, Stephen King

12. Work: A Story of Experience, Louisa May Alcott

13. Matilda, Roald Dahl

14. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

15. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

16. Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters & Seymour, J.D. Salinger

17. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

18. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

19. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien

A hobbit hole!

20. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling

"Until the very end."

21. Harry Potter, Divergent, The Hunger Games, and Percy Jackson

"Books are proof humans can do magic."

22. The Hunger Games Mockingjay Pin

23. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

"Are you, are you coming to the tree / wear the necklace of rope / side by side with me."

24. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

25. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them. But they answered: 'Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?' My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant."

26. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

"Not all those who wander are lost."

27. Matilda, Roald Dahl

28. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

29. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

30. Nancy Drew and Hamlet

"This above all: to thine own self be true."

31. The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis

32. Lord of the Rings Trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien

33. The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster

34. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath

"I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart: I am, I am, I am."

35. "Annabel Lee," Edgar Allan Poe

"We loved with a love that was more than love."

36. Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and Anne of Green Gables

"I conscientiously believe so." — Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
"How ardently I admire and love you." — Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think." — Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

37. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess

38. Divergent, Veronica Roth

39. Quotation Marks

40. Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein

41. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway

"Isn't it pretty to think so?"

42. Endymion, John Keats

"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever" (written in Jane Austen's script).

Image Source: POPSUGAR Photography / Hilary White

43. Books Quote

"[Through books] I've lived a thousand lives."

44. J.R.R. Tolkien's Amalion Tree

45. Hocus Pocus, Kurt Vonnegut

"How embarrassing to be human."

46. The Elder Wand, Harry Potter Series

47. Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

48. His Dark Materials: The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman

"Every atom of me and every atom of you."

Image Source: Flickr user Ed Merritt

49. Stack of Books

50. Book

51. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis

52. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood

53. The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

54. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath

55. The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide, Douglas Adams

56. A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket

57. Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut

58. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling

59. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath

60. Hamilton: The Revolution, Jeremy McCarter and Lin-Manuel Miranda

61. Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut

62. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath

63. The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac

64. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

65. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

66. 1984, George Orwell

67. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

68. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

69. Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls

70. The Sign of Four, Arthur Conan Doyle

71. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

72. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

73. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

74. The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson

75. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

76. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky

77. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

78. The Tale of Peter Rabbit, Beatrix Potter

79. Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling

80. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

81. The Martian, Andy Weir and The Dark Series, Christine Feehan

82. Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling

83. On the Road, Jack Kerouac

84. Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur

85. The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis

86. Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

87. A Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J. Maas

88. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson

89. Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne

90. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

91. King of Cats, Paul Galdone

92. The Boxcar Children, Gertrude Chandler Warner

93. The Dark Half, Stephen King

94. Looking For Alaska, John Green

95. Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut

96. Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling

97. A Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J. Maas

98. Of Human Bondage, William Somerset Maugham

99. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

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