This site lists the first line of random books. Attached are links to Amazon.com, in case you want to know what book it is they're quoting.
There are some great first lines there, along with a number of meh ones. It's interesting (and a little disturbing) how many first lines are about murder, though.
An opening sentence of my own creation that I'm quite fond of:
First, all the birds died.
(And, see, I guess I'm guilty of the "death at front" trick as well...)
So, first lines that have stuck with you? Please share.
And, in P@ypical fashion, I have to ask - what about last lines?
2 comments:
"The clock struck thirteen."
This is the only first line I can remember, and it's from a book I haven't even read. Hell, I can't even remember the title. This was read out in class several decades ago as an example of a good first line, and it certainly was, seeing as I've remembered it all these years!
Hey, I did a wd post long ago on first lines. I can't remember if it got archived.
Last lines?
"At night, in the garden, they faced each other in a wild surmise." -Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop
"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." -F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
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