Opening Lines

Hubris Boy · 09-21-2002, 10:31 PM

What's the best opening line of a book you've ever read? You know... the one that just grabbed you by the eyelashes and said "You MUST read this book from cover to cover, and you will not stop until you have finished." Everybody's had at least one:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

or

"Elmer Gantry was drunk."

or

"We were near Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take effect."

What was yours?

Oh... for those of you who believe that Print Is Dead, go here and you can play, too.

Nic Name · 09-21-2002, 10:42 PM

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Undertoad · 09-21-2002, 10:47 PM

This chapter provides an introduction to the MySQL relational database management system (RDBMS), and to the Structured Query Language (SQL) that MySQL understands.

You had me at "relational".

juju · 09-22-2002, 12:18 AM

"<i>The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel</i>." -- Neuromancer

juju · 09-22-2002, 12:29 AM

"<i>Snow, tenderly caught by eddying breezes, swirled and spun in to and out of bright, lustrous shapes that gleamed against the emerald-blazoned black drape of sky and sparkled there for a moment, hanging, before settling gently to the soft, green-tufted plain with all the sickly sweetness of an over-written sentence<i>." -- Steven Brust, To Reign In Hell

Nic Name · 09-22-2002, 12:42 AM

It was a dark and stormy night.

This opening sentence, composed by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton in his 1830 novel, Paul Clifford, has become the default opener for beginning writers trying to create atmosphere.

Now there's a contest in the name of Bulwer-Lytton for the worst opening sentence of a book not yet published ... obviously.

A small assortment of astonishingly loud brass instruments raced each other lustily to the respective ends of their distinct musical choices as the gates flew open to release a torrent of tawny fur comprised of angry yapping bullets that nipped at Desdemona's ankles, causing her to reflect once again (as blood filled her sneakers and she fought her way through the panicking crowd) that the annual Running of the Pomeranians in Liechtenstein was a stupid idea.

was the winner in 2001.

warch · 09-22-2002, 12:56 AM

Its not technically an opening line, its the one that sets the tone on the first page and hooked me into a really good read -Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes

"Above all- we were wet."

Nothing But Net · 09-22-2002, 12:59 AM

I've always liked this one:

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. - Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis

And this one isn't too bad, either:

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. - Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Griff · 09-22-2002, 12:48 PM

He woke and remembered dying. Ken Macleod The Stone Canal Its an ambitious way to start a book but Macleod delivers.

It was a pleasure to burn. Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury Just to throw in a classic hook.

At 5:22 P.M. My eyes feel heavy as sewer grates. I lean against a USA Today paper box on Washington and Clark and think: Who the hell are you to make such a claim? Travis Hugh Culley The Immortal Class

datalas · 09-23-2002, 03:22 AM

"The C Programming Languge - Second Edition"

Got to be a classic, I mean just look at the authors introspective use of the world language, counterpointed so lavishly by the use of the word "second"

Sorry, It's been a loooong weekend, and I've just been reading the "censored posts" thread, that kinda thing can do nasty tricks to a person...

jaguar · 09-23-2002, 03:32 AM

Angelas Ashes? Gah cannot stand that book.

Scriveyn · 08-16-2009, 02:46 AM

I don't know about best ever, and it's more than one line, but I just started on a short story "Pussy Galore" by Liz Evans:

Quote:

'Bad things happen.'
Well, I couldn't argue with that one. Bad things had been ganging up on me for the past twenty minutes. Top of the list was a curry-eating hamster.
It was nestled in the armpit of the bloke strap-hanging in front of me. Each movement brought another blast of vindaloo-scented BO from th hamster-hair.

ZenGum · 08-16-2009, 05:26 AM

Oooh, zombie thread!

Quote:

It was lunchtime, and they were all gathered under the double green fly of the dining tent, trying to pretend that nothing had happened.

The Short Happy Life of Francis McComber, Ernest Hemmingway.

capnhowdy · 08-16-2009, 08:49 AM

"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight, from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home."

Shawnee123 · 08-16-2009, 09:45 AM

http://www.pantagraph.com/news/artic...688ea3b6a.html

I like this book:

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974. - Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex (2002)

09-21-2002, 10:31 PM	#1
Hubris Boy Keymaster of Gozer Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Patapsco Drainage Basin Posts: 471	Opening Lines What's the best opening line of a book you've ever read? You know... the one that just grabbed you by the eyelashes and said "You MUST read this book from cover to cover, and you will not stop until you have finished." Everybody's had at least one: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." or "Elmer Gantry was drunk." or "We were near Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take effect." What was yours? Oh... for those of you who believe that Print Is Dead, go here and you can play, too.

09-22-2002, 12:48 PM	#9
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	He woke and remembered dying. Ken Macleod The Stone Canal Its an ambitious way to start a book but Macleod delivers. It was a pleasure to burn. Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury Just to throw in a classic hook. At 5:22 P.M. My eyes feel heavy as sewer grates. I lean against a USA Today paper box on Washington and Clark and think: Who the hell are you to make such a claim? Travis Hugh Culley The Immortal Class __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

09-23-2002, 03:32 AM	#11
jaguar whig Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 5,075	Angelas Ashes? Gah cannot stand that book. __________________ Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. - Twain

08-16-2009, 08:49 AM	#14
capnhowdy Blatantly Homosapien Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,200	"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight, from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman, and a ride home." __________________ Please type slowly. I can't read very fast............... and no holy water, please.

08-16-2009, 09:45 AM	#15
Shawnee123 Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya? Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 21,206	http://www.pantagraph.com/news/artic...688ea3b6a.html I like this book: I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974. - Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex (2002) __________________ A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice. --Bill Cosby

09-21-2002, 10:42 PM	#2
Nic Name retired Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,930	In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

09-21-2002, 10:47 PM	#3
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	This chapter provides an introduction to the MySQL relational database management system (RDBMS), and to the Structured Query Language (SQL) that MySQL understands. You had me at "relational".

09-22-2002, 12:18 AM	#4
juju no one of consequence Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Arkansas Posts: 2,839	"<i>The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel</i>." -- Neuromancer

09-22-2002, 12:29 AM	#5
juju no one of consequence Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Arkansas Posts: 2,839	"<i>Snow, tenderly caught by eddying breezes, swirled and spun in to and out of bright, lustrous shapes that gleamed against the emerald-blazoned black drape of sky and sparkled there for a moment, hanging, before settling gently to the soft, green-tufted plain with all the sickly sweetness of an over-written sentence<i>." -- Steven Brust, To Reign In Hell

09-22-2002, 12:42 AM	#6
Nic Name retired Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,930	It was a dark and stormy night. This opening sentence, composed by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton in his 1830 novel, Paul Clifford, has become the default opener for beginning writers trying to create atmosphere. Now there's a contest in the name of Bulwer-Lytton for the worst opening sentence of a book not yet published ... obviously. A small assortment of astonishingly loud brass instruments raced each other lustily to the respective ends of their distinct musical choices as the gates flew open to release a torrent of tawny fur comprised of angry yapping bullets that nipped at Desdemona's ankles, causing her to reflect once again (as blood filled her sneakers and she fought her way through the panicking crowd) that the annual Running of the Pomeranians in Liechtenstein was a stupid idea. was the winner in 2001.

09-22-2002, 12:56 AM	#7
warch lurkin old school Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,796	Its not technically an opening line, its the one that sets the tone on the first page and hooked me into a really good read -Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes "Above all- we were wet."

09-22-2002, 12:59 AM	#8
Nothing But Net Professor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Spring, Texas Posts: 1,481	I've always liked this one: As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. - Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis And this one isn't too bad, either: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. - Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

09-23-2002, 03:22 AM	#10
datalas Generic Monkey Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Scotland UK Posts: 49	"The C Programming Languge - Second Edition" Got to be a classic, I mean just look at the authors introspective use of the world language, counterpointed so lavishly by the use of the word "second" Sorry, It's been a loooong weekend, and I've just been reading the "censored posts" thread, that kinda thing can do nasty tricks to a person...

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