Gelfling Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 What are your favourite first lines from the books you've read? The lines that really send a shiver down your spine before you're sucked into the pages? This is one of my favourites: "In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages." - Perfume The opening line to Rebecca is wonderful too, but I'll leave that for someone else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblomov Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Not exactly a favourite, but the most unusual first two sentences that I have ever read are: She only stopped screaming when she died. Then he started to scream. That's from Jeffrey Archer's bestseller Kane & Abel, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 My favourite ever quote actually comes from a book I thought to be rubbish by an author I can't stand: "What is Normal? Normal is only ordinary, mediocre. Life belongs to the rare,exceptinal individual who dares to be different." - My Sweet Audrina by Virginia Andrews It's a line spoken by Audrina's father when Audrina is upset at being "different" when all she wants is to be "normal". It helped me a lot in my school years when I was most definitely considered different.Nowadays, of course, I revel in being unique, but when you're young, it hurts not to be part of the crowd, so it really struck a chord with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitty_kitty Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Last night i dreamt i went to manderley again. Daphne Du Maurier - Rebecca I remember it as my mum told me it before i read the boook for some bizarre reason. In fact it is one of our fav books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ii Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 From Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne Elliot in Jane Austen's Persuasion: "I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such specious feelings are gone forever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gelfling Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 Last night i dreamt i went to manderley again. Daphne Du Maurier - Rebecca I remember it as my mum told me it before i read the boook for some bizarre reason. In fact it is one of our fav books The same with my mum and grandma. For some reason, everyone remembers the opening line to Rebecca. It is certainly very haunting. I loved the subtle way that Rebecca's true nature was revealed to the reader. Mrs Danvers certainly gets my vote for the evilest woman in literature (though the headmistress from "A Clergyman's Daughter," and Umbridge from Harry Potter are close runners up) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice I also love the first sentence of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, which begins "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" (I won't post the whole quote because it goes on for quite a bit!) And although this is a thread for first lines, I just can't help posting the best ever last line of a book, again from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. I don't think I have ever been so moved by a line in a book. I was bawling "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laramie Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 My favourite ever quote actually comes from a book I thought to be rubbish by an author I can't stand: "What is Normal? Normal is only ordinary, mediocre. Life belongs to the rare,exceptinal individual who dares to be different." - My Sweet Audrina by Virginia Andrews It's a line spoken by Audrina's father when Audrina is upset at being "different" when all she wants is to be "normal". It helped me a lot in my school years when I was most definitely considered different.Nowadays, of course, I revel in being unique, but when you're young, it hurts not to be part of the crowd, so it really struck a chord with me. Actually, I love being a freak. Freaks rock!!! I have 2 favourites I can think of straight off. They are both from The Gift by Alison Croggon (quel surprise, non?) "Freedom was a fantasy she gnawed obsessively in her few moments of leisure, like an old bone with just a trace of meat; and like all illusions, it left her hungrier than before, only more keenly aware of how her soul starved within her, its wings wasting with the dispair of disuse." It's gotta be the longest sentence ever XD I love it, though. The other - slightly less depressing "She had thought hope was dead inside her, but now she realized that it merely slumbered, like ash-grey embers which yet held a glowing heart, which the merest breath might fan into flame." It's little gems like this that make the Pellinor books stop being fantastic and start being unforgettable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nazgul Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 "It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking 13." - George Orwell, 1984 Classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laramie Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 haha good one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Here's one I read somewhere: "He was awake a long time before he remembered that his heart was broken." It's supposed to be from Hemingway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrij99 Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 "It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not." City of Glass by Paul Auster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raskolnikov Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Once upon a time there was a humdrum story... There is a better kind of start for a book. But it's not easy for writters to find the perfect fit for a first catch. What are the best hooking first lines ever written ? Here are my favourite 5 - "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" Tolstoy, Anna Karenina - "Today, mama died. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know". Camus, The stranger - "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanwa Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Austen's Pride and Prejudice has a fantastic first line, and it was that line, with all of its wit which founded and propelled my addiction to Austen: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. I can think of no other books in all my reading that have captured me with the first sentence. P&P is the exception. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueK Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again ........ does it for me everytime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanwa Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 Ooh good one SueK, forgot about that one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 I also love the first sentence of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, which begins "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" (I won't post the whole quote because it goes on for quite a bit!) And although this is a thread for first lines, I just can't help posting the best ever last line of a book, again from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. I don't think I have ever been so moved by a line in a book. I was bawling "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." I know what film you've been watching! I've always thought: "Call me Ishmael." (Moby Dick, by Herman Melville) Was a good first line, but I think my favourite is: "When a day that you happen to know is a Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere" (Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernnutter Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 One of my favouries... "It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him. Yossarian was in the hospital with a pain in his liver that fell just short of being jaundice. Joseph Heller. Catch 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 I know what film you've been watching! It's sad to admit, but I haven't seen the movie yet. I taped it once, but it was very poor quality. I still have it around on VHS somewhere. Maybe it will be repeated on TV soon. I did catch a glimpse of the ending though. <sigh> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Mines Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 The first line of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is, Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 More than just one line, but one of the most beautiful and memorable openers for me is from Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth, Lo. Lee.Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly in school. She was Dolores on the dottedline. But in my arms she was always Lolita. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 It's sad to admit, but I haven't seen the movie yet. I taped it once, but it was very poor quality. I still have it around on VHS somewhere. Maybe it will be repeated on TV soon. I did catch a glimpse of the ending though. <sigh> That wasn't the film I was thinking of. I'm probably being a bit too random (and nerdy!) but both of those lines from A Tale of Two Cities were prominantly quoted in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ned Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 "I can't believe I lost my f**king ear" Mick Foley - Have A Nice Day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raskolnikov Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 "It is true that I have sent six bullets through the head of my best friend, and yet I hope to show by this statement that I am not his murderer". Lovecraft, The thing on the door step Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Book Fiend Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 '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 ****, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.' The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger I love this line! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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