Thursday, July 24, 2008

Booking Through Thursday: Beginnings




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?

My favorites are most likely the favorites of everyone else... you know... the "famous" first lines:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...." (A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens)

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife" (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen)

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" (Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier)

And a couple less well-known:

"So, there I was, tied to an altar made from out-dated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil Librarians." (Alcatraz vs. The Evil Librarians, Brandon Sanderson)

"First the colors. Then the humans. That's usually how I see things. Or at least, how I try." (The Book Thief, Markus Zusak.... technically not a sentence, but a paragraph I guess... )

Though I love first sentences and am fascinated by them, they will not make or break a book for me... that's for sure.

Raidergirl listed a bunch of first line quizzes on her post... go check those out for fun when you feel the mood!

9 comments:

  1. I am so bad about remembering things like this. I will have to look through my reading journal tonight and see if any stand out. Like you said, a first sentence will not make a break for me--although they can sometimes catch my attention quicker than others.

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  2. Hey, a fellow Sanderson fan - yeah!

    And I think you listed ALL of my favorite first lines ... are you reading my mind?! ~LOL~

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  3. The first line of Rebecca is what came immediately to my mind too.

    I nominated you for an award on my blog!

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  4. Without a doubt, the first line from P&P is and probably always will be my favorite first line. I still get thrills when I read it.

    Jessica
    http://thebluestockings.com

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  5. The first line from the The Book Thief was amazing, and it just gets better, right to the last line which blew me away!

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  6. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" (Tale of Two Cities)...I remember this line not so much because it is a classic, but because it will forever be associated with my English class in high school that was a horrible time for me...It was the worst of times...

    That whole first paragraph of that novel gives me nightmares..

    Otherwise, I can recite the soliloquy from Hamlet.

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  7. Literary Feline: I don't remember them very well either... I felt like going through all my books at hand and seeing what their first lines were!

    Heather: Yes... a Sanderson fan! Recently, but a fan nontheless! I've got both Elantris and Mistborn 2 dying for me to read them soon.

    Amy: An award? I guess I better go see what that's about! Thanks!

    Bluestocking Society: Just mentioning the first line of P and P makes me want to read the whole thing again!

    Smiling Sal: As I said, only the famous ones really came to mind... I sure I have many other favorites that I couldn't remember!

    Confuzzled and Zombie: Yes, yes, yes on the Book Thief. Would Markus Zusak PLEASE hurry up and write us another book! PLEASE!!!

    Serena: Funny you have nightmares from that book! I read it with my 9th grade English class and I remember thinking "good thing we are reading this here 'cause otherwise I wouldn't understand one thing!" But I still loved it. Perhaps because we watched the movie and I fell in love with the guy playing Sydney Carton. Wish I could find that thing and watch it again.

    THANKS everyone for the fun comments!

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