The best opening lines (LINK)
January 1st 2008 06:06
Beginnings matter. The energy of initiation acts as ‘the force that through the green leaf drives the flower,’ to quote the poet Dylan Thomas. How we open a conversation, start a new year, or capture someone’s attention with the first line of a book infuses what next unfolds.
When it comes to books, that old fashioned form of reading, I tend to over-value opening lines. It’s hard to forgive a sloppy start, especially if we’re asking someone to read the 100 000 or so words that follow the handful with which we have chosen to begin.
So with beginnings in mind – resolutions, intentions, and 1st of January’s in the air, I’ve gone and sought my favourite opening lines. Just to make it more fun, I’ve kept the answers separate, so you can see if you recognize any of them and then scroll down for the answers. Some are well-known, others more obscure and reflect my own taste in stories and their tellers.
1. ‘It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.’
2. ‘Gregor Samsa awoke one morning to find he had been transformed into a giant insect.’
3. ‘When they write my obituary. Tomorrow. Or the next day. It will say, LEO GURSKY IS SURVIVED BY AN APARTMENT FULL OF SHIT.’
4. The beet is the most intense of vegetables.’
5. ‘When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily.’
6. ‘Why is the measure of love loss?’
7. ‘They shoot the white girl first.’
8. ‘If this typewriter can’t do it, then fuck it, it can’t be done.’
9. ‘This is the saddest story I have ever heard.’
10. ‘It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him.’ (okay, it’s two lines…)
Answers
1. 1984, George Orwell
2. Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
3. The History of Love, Nicole Krauss
4. Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins
5. The Almost Moon, Alice Sebold
6. Written on the Body,Jeanette Winterson
7. Paradise (1998), Toni Morrison
8. Still Life with Woodpecker, Tom Robbins
9. The Good Soldier, Ford Maddox Ford
10. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Do you have any favourite opening lines?
When it comes to books, that old fashioned form of reading, I tend to over-value opening lines. It’s hard to forgive a sloppy start, especially if we’re asking someone to read the 100 000 or so words that follow the handful with which we have chosen to begin.
So with beginnings in mind – resolutions, intentions, and 1st of January’s in the air, I’ve gone and sought my favourite opening lines. Just to make it more fun, I’ve kept the answers separate, so you can see if you recognize any of them and then scroll down for the answers. Some are well-known, others more obscure and reflect my own taste in stories and their tellers.
1. ‘It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.’
2. ‘Gregor Samsa awoke one morning to find he had been transformed into a giant insect.’
3. ‘When they write my obituary. Tomorrow. Or the next day. It will say, LEO GURSKY IS SURVIVED BY AN APARTMENT FULL OF SHIT.’
4. The beet is the most intense of vegetables.’
5. ‘When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily.’
6. ‘Why is the measure of love loss?’
7. ‘They shoot the white girl first.’
8. ‘If this typewriter can’t do it, then fuck it, it can’t be done.’
9. ‘This is the saddest story I have ever heard.’
10. ‘It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him.’ (okay, it’s two lines…)
Answers
1. 1984, George Orwell
2. Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka
4. Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins
5. The Almost Moon, Alice Sebold
6. Written on the Body,Jeanette Winterson
7. Paradise (1998), Toni Morrison
8. Still Life with Woodpecker, Tom Robbins
9. The Good Soldier, Ford Maddox Ford
10. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
Do you have any favourite opening lines?
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