List Rules Novels that have often quoted first lines or opening sentences that are otherwise in the cultural zeitgeist. Vote up the most memorable.
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The opening lines of a novel can prove crucial, and many authors spend an inordinate amount of time considering how their books will begin. From Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities to Melville's Moby Dick, often the opening sentence or two of a book will become the most frequently quoted and iconic passage from the entire novel. This list has the best novels with great first lines, bound to make the best impression on readers.
These books of fiction are well known for their opening lines. The authors know that books don't just need a great story, there also needs to be something that draws in the reader. The opening line is that hook and the books on this list all have intriguing, interesting, and unique opening sentences.
This is a list of the greatest novels with the best introductory text, including world literature (with an emphasis on English literature), from throughout history, with the most memorable and significant beginnings. Vote up the most memorable first lines from fiction below.
Source: American Book Review
list ordered by
1
630 115
A Tale of Two CitiesCharles Dickens 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.
2
498 139
Nineteen Eighty-FourGeorge Orwell It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were very normal, thank you very much.
11
272 105
The Great GatsbyF. Scott Fitzgerald In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
12
221 80
David CopperfieldCharles Dickens Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.
14
274 119
The Catcher in the RyeJ. D. Salinger 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.
15
200 80
One Hundred Years of SolitudeGabriel GarcÃa Márquez Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano BuendÃa was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.
16
170 65
The Bell JarSylvia Plath It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.
17
155 57
The Go-BetweenL. P. Hartley The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.
18
198 84
Don QuixoteMiguel de Cervantes Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember, a gentleman lived not long ago, one of those who has a lance and ancient shield on a shelf and keeps a skinny nag and a greyhound for racing.
19
217 97
Adventures of Huckleberry FinnMark Twain You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter.
20
172 69
Middle PassageCharles R. Johnson Of all the things that drive men to sea, the most common disaster, I've come to learn, is women.
21
150 57
The Color PurpleAlice Walker You better not never tell nobody but God.
22
159 64
DeannaChurch added To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.
23
133 49
DeannaChurch added Gone with the WindMargaret MitchellScarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.
24
185 83
The Crow RoadIain Banks It was the day my grandmother exploded.
25
131 53
ParadiseToni Morrison They shoot the white girl first.