Favorite firsts

I mentioned recently that the Chronicle had included the first line of Alcestis in their ongoing feature of "grabbers." On Twitter a little while ago, someone (I forget who, argh) linked to this list at Flavorwire of their thirty favorite opening lines in literature. As usual, I liked some of them and boggled at others, and there are few lines I'd add to any list of that sort.

For example…

From Margaret Atwood's Lady Oracle, which I taught for the first time in the fall:

I planned my death...