What's your favorite first line of a book? Last line?

[Joseph]

I came across this question in an interview of authors (found at http://www.chicagotribune.com/feature... ) and thought it'd be fun to ask here.

My favorite first line: "Call me Ishmael" Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
My favorite last line: "It is not often someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both." Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

[Thom]

I would have to say that in my opinion Charles Dickens is the best with opening lines. (” It was the best of times; it was the worst of times”) from The Tale of Two Cities or “Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail”; take your pick…. Both inspire the reader to read on.

[Alondra]

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

Stephen King, The Gunslinger

[CD]

There are several great opening sentences in books. Dickens had several including the two mentioned from Tale of Two Cities and from A Christmas Carol.

"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, theses pages must show". David Copperfield by Charles Dickens is pretty good too.

While I am a fan of the short and sweet opener ala Melville or Dickens, there are great ones that are just bit longer:

"If the earth were flat, New Zealand would have fallen off it a long time ago, it's that far from Ireland."
Redemption by Leon Uris.

A recent chestnut that hooked me in to the book immediately:

"Though I often looked for one, I finally had to admit that there could be no cure for Paris."
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.

One more that is a must include:

"In darkness there is death."
The Ninja by Eric Van Lustbader.

All real punch ups to get the book party started.

For me there is one true standout of a last line:

"But that will be a long time from now, and soon now we shall go out of the house and go into the convulsion of the world, out of history into history and the awful responsibility of Time."
All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren

[Jana]

For me it is the last couple of lines in The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox. I leave some space here for those that choose not to read them in case they do not want to be spoiled.









"You fainted and I caught you. It was the first time I'd supported a human. You had such heavy bones. I put myself between you and gravity.
Impossible."

[Annie]

—“but each night when I drive toward my southern home and my southern life, I whisper those words: “Lowenstein, Lowenstein.”

Prince of Tides. Pat Conroy. I just loved that books so much, the last lines have always stayed with me!