Top 10 Literary Works with the Best Opening Sentence
This list highlights the best opening sentence (singular) in prose fiction. Opening lines (plural) are disallowed. I aimed to include sentences that both intrigue the reader and convey the tone of the work.As with any list of this type, my selections could easily change from day to day. I chose not to include the famous opening lines from Moby-Dick or A Tale of Two Cities - not because they aren't excellent, but simply because I didn't feel like it today.
I've presented each sentence without any editorializing. The sentence speaks for itself. Whichever work you prefer, be sure to give its sentence a thumbs-up so that it remains at the top of the comments section.
The Top Ten
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
"I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice - not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God. I am a Christian because of Owen Meany."
"I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice - not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God. I am a Christian because of Owen Meany."
1984 - George Orwell
"It was a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
"It was a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
The Catcher in the Rye - J.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."
"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."
Peter and Wendy - J.M. Barrie
"All children, except one, grow up."
"All children, except one, grow up."
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - Carson McCullers
"In the town, there were two mutes, and they were always together."
"In the town, there were two mutes, and they were always together."
Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
"It was a pleasure to burn."
"It was a pleasure to burn."
The Violent Bear it Away - Flannery O'Connor
"Francis Marion Tarwater's uncle had been dead for only half a day when the boy got too drunk to finish digging his grave, and a Negro named Buford Munson, who had come to get a jug filled, had to finish it and drag the body from the breakfast table where it was still sitting, and bury it in a decent and Christian way, with the sign of its Savior at the head of the grave and enough dirt on top to keep the dogs from digging it up."
"Francis Marion Tarwater's uncle had been dead for only half a day when the boy got too drunk to finish digging his grave, and a Negro named Buford Munson, who had come to get a jug filled, had to finish it and drag the body from the breakfast table where it was still sitting, and bury it in a decent and Christian way, with the sign of its Savior at the head of the grave and enough dirt on top to keep the dogs from digging it up."
Paradise - Toni Morrison
"They shoot the white girl first."
"They shoot the white girl first."The Contenders
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted."
"Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted."
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
"Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami."
"Mariam was five years old the first time she heard the word harami."BAdd New Item