The best starting lines of a book?

Question

Which book would you say has the best starting lines?
For me it has been Charles Dickens' classi Tale of two cities, where he uses : “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . . .”
Awesome start! He has me hooked from the first line.

Your favourites?

Answer 1

1984 by george orwell.
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen"
Hitchiker's guide by Douglas Adams:
"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun."

Answer 2

You picked my personal favorite, as well. What an amazing beginning. And, come to think of it, it's REALLY hard to recall famous first lines which I guess is all the more a testament to the amazing Charles Dickens. While it's not a book, I do recall Lincoln's Gettysburg address "Four score & seven years ago..."

Answer 3

You favourite is also mine.

A close second is not from a novel but a play:

When shall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

When the hurly-burly's won,
when the battle's lost or won.

Where the place?

Upon the heath,
there to meet with

Macbeth

I can hardly think of a better way to introduce a character and the title and a setting and the action--and to quiet down the crowd in the pit. Ta-da!!

Fair if foul, and foul is fair;
hover through the fog and filthy air.

Pa-rum-pum!!

Answer 4

You happen to choose my personal favorite. I remember reading my first Dean Koontz book and by the time I was through with the first chapter, I was breathless. I've read so many; I can't remember the title of it. Anything that grabs you quickly is rare. It usually takes a while to get into a new story line. Oprah's July magazine issue is chock full of "Beginning Lines" that grab you. It's still on the newsstands if you hurry.

Answer 5

Pride and Prejudice "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife."

1984 - "It was a cold day in April and the clocks were striking 13."

Answer 6

While I have many favorites...

Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it...(GWTW)

IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. (Pride & Prejudice)

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. (Anna Karenina)

I like newer "interesting" first sentences as well...such as how Scott Westerfeld starts his book Uglies..

"The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit."

It's such an unusual way to start a book...you have to keep reading..."Of course, Tally though, you'd have to feed your cat only salmon-flavored cat food for a while, to get the pinks right."

Answer 7

the 2d worst poets contained in the universe are the Asgoths of Krea. in the time of his recital to the humanities Nobbling Council of his poem, Oad to a Lump of eco-friendly Putty i got here upon under My Armpit One Midsummer Morning, by technique of their poet draw close Grunthos the Flatulent, many of the audience died from inner hemorrhaging. One member only survived by technique of gnoring off his personal leg. Grunthos became stated to were dissatisfied by technique of the reaction and became about to embark on his twelve e book epic, Zen and the artwork of Going to the lavatory, even as his personal significant gut, in a determined bid to save all existence type, jumped up by potential of his throat and throttled his mind. Douglas Adams. success

Answer 8

Anything original. Of course not once upon a time or those named in the question. Cliches aren't the best way to start a story.

Answer 9

The first line of the last book I read is:

"Oh God. I feel like a refugee from a Douglas Coupland novel,"

From JPod by Douglas Coupland.

Answer 10

Mmm 1984, yummy.

"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, ans 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

"A is the first letter of our alphabet." - World Book "A" Encyclopedia