Starts and Stops

I know I've said this before, but I like lists. Like Jhumpa Lahiri in The Namesake, right?

This afternoon, as I sipped a mango lassi (blend ice, plain yogurt and mango slices; add sugar to taste) I thought about how much ink has been spilled on the importance of first lines in a novel. There must be a list for that, I thought—and one appeared at a quick click

From the haunting (Rebecca), to the stately (Anna Karenina), to the breezy (Howards End) to the detached (Jane Eyre), first lines "are mo...