Beautiful opening lines arrest the attention, arouse the curiosity, and set the mood for the narrative. Sometimes they also seem to be one sentence summaries of the story. Here are some of the most beautiful opening lines I have come across in books.
- Mother died today. — Albert Camus, The Stranger
- 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. — Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude
- 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. — Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
- Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. — Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
- It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. — Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
- Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything truly wrong, he was arrested. — Franz Kafka, The Trial
- 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. — J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
- He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. — Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
- I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story. — Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome
- Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. — Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita
Opening lines can be beautiful in themselves, but it’s usually what follows them that gives them power. Do you think “Call me Ishmael,” would have been so powerful if the rest of Moby Dick was lousy? I doubt it.
Which is your favorite opening line?
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“Call me Ishmael” from Moby Dick. It is not his name but what he will be called. I believe Ishmael was Jesus. And the crew of the Pequod sacrificed there lives so he may live.
It is a powerful opening line indeed. As to that part about Jesus, I don’t know…
It is a thought and believe me a big stretch.
That’s so interestig to equate Ishmael with Jesus-I want to reread the book now!
You are a better person than I am Gunga Din. That is one huge book. But the Bible references are in droves in that book. There is one searching for his lost son. The white whale is he pure evil or pure good. Is Ahab obsessed and therefore evil and does he not like the snake in the Adam and Eve Garden not sway his men into the darkness. Maybe i read to much into the book but Melville was a genius.
I’ve read three of these books, out of which only one I truly love – ‘Anna Karenina’. Its opening line finds its place in my little blue notebook too… Indeed a very powerful opening.
In fact, you just made me want to pick up so many of these books!
Read them all girl!
Oh I will, Vincent. Definitely!
These are beautiful! Thank you very much for sharing.
I came across this one just recently. Although not from a classic piece, I found it really powerful:
“Two weeks after my sister died, I took my dog to the doggie dermatologist” – Delia Ephron, “Sister. Mother. Husband. Dog (etc.)”
The effect is intensified by not mentioning the sister for the whole 4 following paragraphs.
Of what did the sister die, Gill?
Cancer.
Alas, such misfortune! I hope the dog survived, didn’t he?
Yes, the dog is fine and cured 🙂
It’s the one thing I look for when picking up a book in a store. I could care less about the blurbs, cover or summary on the back.
Me too!
PS: You’ll love my books where they are out! I have fancy opening lines. (I say it with all modesty.)
Mine starts with action, but it’s a paranormal thriller.What’s yours about?
It’s a fact about Oliver Colors, the moonbeamed painter. (c)
I cannot really write it here because I fear someone will steal it. 😦
I know what you mean and yet you can paint a sunset and it won’t be like any other.
(You *are* modest.)
Good idea! I’m gonna add that one to my book hunting strategies (:
“It was a cold day in April and all the clocks were striking thirteen.” From “Nineteen Eighty Four” is one of my all time favorites.
I know that opening and like it. Ominous.
Nice to see your around Misha. 🙂
“Alexander Democedes Amandinus stood at the door of death, waiting for a chance to learn about life”. From a book titled ‘An echo in the darkness’ by Francine Rivers.
I like that. It’s philosophical.
“An Echo in the Darkness” was a wonderful book.
To those who wonder: it is worth both reading and rereading.
I’m a big fan of EB White’s first line in Charlotte’s Web — “Where’s Papa going with that ax?”
Haha! That’s a killer line.
Beautiful-I’d forgotten that line-thanks for reminding me.
i’m partial, always have been, admittedly, to tolstoy’s opening in anna karenina
2nd close favorite is marquez’s opening in one hundred years
i’m sure i have others that aren’t up there but just cannot remember them atm
Some of these lines really do get me in a certain mood, and want me to know the title. “A tale of two cities” (Dickens. No further questions!), “The Catcher in the Rye”, “Ethan Frome” & “Lolita” (the book I find especially tiring).
I think the first chapter actually defines the book. However the end is also very crucial since it’s what we’ll remember most from the book.
Have a lovely night, dear writer! 🙂
I never forget things, Julie.
Only that circumstances make me postpone some things.
France…
A Tale of Two Cities and Pride & Prejudice – for sure. Awesome post!
The funny thing about 20-something girls is that they can be either 21 or 29, which is quite a difference.
Well I started this blog when I was 25 now I am 26. What is your question? 🙂
The question is what do you do when you see a boy-moth on the wall of your room? Do you crush him? Do you open the window? Or do you pick him up and throw him into your wardrobe?
I love boys!
Reblogged this on SummerSoft Labs.
“Call me Ishmael” is probably my favorite. Another that I’ve always loved is the beginning of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath:
“To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.”
Though all the rest of your book be prose, the opening line should be poetry.
Well said!
I’ll keep that in mind.
I usually attend more to the entire opening paragraph, but I will keep an eye out now on the first sentence. Good post!
One of my favourite opening lines is not listed here, and is only 7 words long… 😉
and now that you have my attention-I’m still waiting to find out the 7 words…..
“It was a dark and stormy night” Perhaps?
First from Edward Bulwer-Lytton and then used by Le’Engle in “A Wrinkle in Time”
So cliche, dear.
Haha, I didn’t realise I’d created a riddle 🙂
‘My suffering left me sad and gloomy’ – Life of Pi, by Yann Martel
Could it really be? Or am I deluding myself? Mysterious aunt!
I’ve read 7 of your list and my favorite first lines correspond to my favorite books: Austen, Marquez, Dickens and Salinger.
Your list is perfection I’ve read all of these books and I’ve remembered the first lines of many of them throughout my life. My two favorites are One Hundred Yeards of Solitude and A tale of Two cities-but they are all brilliant first lines. What a wonderful post-thank you!
There were many more great lines that I had to leave out. 🙂
I love Salinger’s opening lines in “The Catcher in the Rye.” They crack me up every time. But I also love the opening lines from a certain Oliver Color’s biography… I hope you haven’t changed them!
Not changed them, but improved them! *Winks*
Incredible the power that authors can put into a single sentence. Of course, they need to follow that sentence with more words that form a good book. But what skill for the authors to grab you right off with that first sentence.
Wait until you read my opening lines! 😀
Reblogged this on kéfi and commented:
the third one especially and i must get my hands on all these books
I have a habit of reading the first page of the book. The first line will grab me, then I flip right to the end and read the ending. If the ending is just as good, I read the whole book.
My answer is all of the above.
Pride and Prejudice is one I love. I also love the whole beginning paragraph in P.G.Wodehouse’s novel Something New. It immediately sets you in the right mood for the novel. Love it!
Reblogged this on F is for Fluffy and commented:
Wonderful examples of literature(for book-lovers only)
“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”
From I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.
Holy crap! Thanks for that!
How about, “Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.”
Cannery Row is the Bible in disguise.
jb
Beautiful, indeed! I would add, “The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.” (Nabokov’s Speak, Memory)
Sorry it has taken so long to reply…I love all of these lines..and loins (o; but favourites…100 years of solitude because of the contradictory images, Old Man of the Sea because of its simplicity and Catcher In The Rye because of the unapologetic honesty of the character. Thanks for sharing. I enjoy your commitment to writing and educating me..