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Booking Through Thursday: Beginnings

I don't do Booking Through Tursday all that often, but this week, I couldn't resist.

Here’s another idea about memorable first lines from books.

What are your favourite first sentences from books? Is there a book that you liked specially because of its first sentence? Or a book, perhaps that you didn’t like but still remember simply because of the first line?

One of my all-time favorite first lines is from Pride and Prejudice:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."


I also love the opening line from The Go-Between:
"The past is a foreign country: the do things differently there."


From Muriel Spark's The Girls of Slender Means:
"Long ago in 1945 all the nice people in England were poor, allowing for exceptions."


And DeAnna Raybourn takes the cake for eye-grabbing first lines:
"To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband's dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching on the floor."


Who can forget the first line from Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca?
"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

I don't think that there are any books that I liked specifically because of the first sentence, but I can think of plenty of books where the first sentence or paragraph did wonders in sucking me in.

Comments

Literary Feline said…
I have such a poor memory when it comes to remembering quotes or first lines from books. I know that I've come across a few that are rather catchy, but I usually forget all about them pretty quickly.
kristen said…
Ooooh! I love the first line of The Go-Between... Does it fulfill its promise? Might have to check it out... I also chose P&P -- one of the best!
Anonymous said…
Rebecca does have a wonderful, lyrical first line. The name of that house is wonderful. I wish I had thought of that one. Actually, that makes me want to read it again. I read it in college and that, unfortunately, was some time ago now... ;)
I've heard the Daphne Du Maurier line quoted everywhere and I love it! But the depressing thing is that I've never actually read Rebecca :(
Anonymous said…
I don't have a good memory for quotes. Although, The Book of Lost Things has a pretty good opening line.

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