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20 Favorite First Lines from Books
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single book in possession of a fantastic plot, must be in want of a good first sentence. Otherwise, who would want to keep reading?
Last week we asked on Facebook and on Twitter: What's your favorite first line from a book? Today we've got your top answers. Did yours make the list?
Don't see your favorite first line? Then share it with us in the comments! And discover more unforgettable lines with this book list: 100 Novels with the Best First Lines.
Last week we asked on Facebook and on Twitter: What's your favorite first line from a book? Today we've got your top answers. Did yours make the list?
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."
The Gunslinger
by Stephen King
by Stephen King
"Sometime during your life—in fact, very soon—you may find yourself reading a book, and you may notice that a book's first sentence can often tell you what sort of story your book contains."
The Miserable Mill
by Lemony Snicket
by Lemony Snicket
"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow."
To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
by Harper Lee
"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."
The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
by J.D. Salinger
"Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
by J.K. Rowling
by J.K. Rowling
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
by Jane Austen
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
by Charles Dickens
"I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster."
The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls
by Jeannette Walls
"Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were."
Gone with the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell
by Margaret Mitchell
"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun."
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams
by Douglas Adams
"It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York."
The Bell Jar
by Sylvia Plath
by Sylvia Plath
"'Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents,' grumbled Jo lying on the rug."
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott
by Louisa May Alcott
"There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
by C.S. Lewis
by C.S. Lewis
Don't see your favorite first line? Then share it with us in the comments! And discover more unforgettable lines with this book list: 100 Novels with the Best First Lines.
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Daniel wrote: "They're all good. Recently I was particularly struck by Patrick Ness's opening to The Knife of Never Letting Go: "The first thing you find out when yer dog learns to talk is that dogs don't got n..."
Yes!! Had forgotten how great this is, and the whole series - thanks for reminding me!!
It was morning, and the new sun sparkled gold across the riples of a gentle sea. Richard Bach- Jonathan Livingston Seagul.
Phillip wrote: "Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts: "IT TOOK ME a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, wh..."Yes! One of my favorites as well. A terrific beginning to a marvelous book.
"Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, overly educated and excessively rational, knowing right from wrong and fancy from fact, woke in a nest of marten and fox pelts to the sight of an eagle circling overhead, and saw at once it could not be far to Paradise." - "Into the Wilderness" by Sara Donati.
Mrs.Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself...
"Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood."Percy got me there.
I'm so glad this is still up tonight. I just got
by Linwood Barclay (Penguin Group, New World Library/NAL) and this is what I opened up to in chapter one. Please note it is an ARC so it's subject to change, but I hope not because I love it and I loved this authors book
last year....Anyway, chapter......
ONE
"I hate this town"
LOL! That's it....I'm pulled in.
I want to share more, but I can't.....yet.....soon because I'm adding this next. Loved the last book from him and this seems it'll be just as awesome. But, there's a first, last and only "sentence" to kick start a book. LOVE it :)
"The magician's underwear has just been found in a cardboard suitcase floating in a stagnant pond on the outskirts of Miami." — Tom Robbins, Another Roadside Attraction
"Man," said Terl, "is an endangered species." Battlefield Earth A saga of the year 3000. L. Ron Hubbard
"The world is full of happiness, and plenty to go round, if you are only willing to take the kind that comes your way." Daddy-Long-Legs
Contusions wrote: ""Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.""The best of all:)
"I am a sick man . . . I am a spiteful man". —Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground
Tytti wrote: "Jennifer wrote: ""It was a dark and stormy night." A Wrinkle in Time"That one is actually from Paul Clifford (1830) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton. There's even..."
I thought it was SNOOPY!! :-)))
What a great choice! Dickens and Harper Lee are both amazing when it comes to the art of writing first sentences. I have two more contributions to make:
"There was no possibilty of taking a walk that day." - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
and (possibly my all-time favourite): "Richard did not become frightened until darkness began to settle over the woods." - The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman.
Contusions wrote: ""Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.""Yes! This lines should be in the list
On the day they were going to kill him, Santiago Nasar got up at five-thirty in the morning to wait for the boat the bishop was coming on.Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
"It was my sixteenth birthday and I was arguing with a bus. How pathetic is that." -Heir ApparentMy friends and I used to just quote this one at each other, so it's always stuck with me. Also, it's a hilarious way to start a book.
Kate wrote: ""The world is full of happiness, and plenty to go round, if you are only willing to take the kind that comes your way." Daddy-Long-Legs"Didn't know this one. Optimistic, and quite beautifully said
People disappear all the time. Ask any policeman. Better yet, ask a journalist. Disappearances are bread-and-butter to journalists.Outlander Diana Gabaldon
Janet wrote: ""Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, overly educated and excessively rational, knowing right from wrong and fancy from fact, woke in a nest of marten and fox pelts to the sigh..."Oh my gosh! You've reminded me of this one: “The education bestowed on Flora Poste by her parents had been expensive, athletic, and prolonged; and when they died within a few weeks of one another during the annual epidemic of the influenza or Spanish Plague which occurred in her twentieth year, she was discovered to possess every art and grace save that of earning her own living.” - Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
And for non-fiction. . ."The American Dream died young and was laid to rest on a splendid afternoon in May 1862, when blooming apple trees heralded the beginning of spring." - Born Losers: A History of Failure in America by Scott A. Sandage
So many favorites above, that bring emotions bubbling to the surface, viscerally. And then, so many great ones following in the comments. It will take me some time to work through them all (I really want to read them all!) and see if there is one that may be missing...But I kinda doubt it!
Jessica wrote: ""All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy"
Yes, This one's my favorite too. :)
Nina wrote: "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. —Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested. —Fran..."
Oh, How could they forget this one to post??
Susan wrote: "where is the first line of "the great gatsby"?it is wonderful!“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
"Whenever yo..."
This should have definitely made the list. It's one of my favorite books and what a way to introduce such a great novel. One could feel by 'that' very sentence that what a great read it can be.
Great list! Just thought you ought to know, "The Bell Jar" links to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" for some reason.
Going through this list, and these lines are giving me the shivers.
"How much of this blood is his?"Chainfire - Terry Goodkind
Shakespear had many great opening lines. This is but on