Home

Topics

Grupies

Add a topic

Surprise me! | <- Next topic >

Embed in your website
Votes over time
RSS
- digg
- Blink List
- del.icio.us
- Furl
- reddit
- Newsvine
- Yahoo MyWeb
- Simpy
- Spurl
- Live

+15.4

There are not votes in your ballot yet. To get started click "vote" next to any items you like or add a new answer

Best First Line in a Novel

Started by quijibo 1 year ago 1 Comment

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."

Tags: books, hobbies

1.	1984 It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Add a comment	Vote! 21 votes 415 pts
2.	Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens - It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.... Add a comment	Vote! 15 votes 293 pts
3.	"Fight Club" (1996) by Chuck Palahniuk "Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler's pushing a gun in my mouth and saying the first step to eternal life is you have to die." Add a comment	Vote! 10 votes 196 pts
4.	Moby Dick Call me Ishmael. Add a comment	Vote! 10 votes 188 pts
5.	"Lolita" (1955) by Vladimir Nabokov "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins." Add a comment	Vote! 8 votes 157 pts
6.	Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury It was a pleasure to burn. Add a comment	Vote! 8 votes 156 pts
7.	Atlas Shrugged Who is John Galt? Add a comment	Vote! 8 votes 153 pts
8.	"The Stranger" - Albert Camus "Mother died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know." Add a comment	Vote! 4 votes 79 pts
9.	The Great Gatsby In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenev... [show more] 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't had the advantages that you've had. [show less] Add a comment	Vote! 4 votes 78 pts
10.	"Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak The night Max wore his wolf suit... a long-time favourite of mine... maybe not a "novel" in the traditional sense, but one of t... [show more] The night Max wore his wolf suit... a long-time favourite of mine... maybe not a "novel" in the traditional sense, but one of the opening lines that has stuck with me through the years. [show less] Add a comment	Vote! 4 votes 78 pts
11.	Ulysses Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. Add a comment	Vote! 4 votes 72 pts
12.	Skinny Legs and All (1990) by Tom Robbins It was a bright, defrosted, pussy-willow day at the onset of spring, and the newlyweds were driving cross country in a large roast turkey. Add a comment	Vote! 3 votes 59 pts
13.	Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighbourhoods. Add a comment	Vote! 3 votes 58 pts
14.	It Was A Dark and Stormy Night from the novel-in-progress that Snoopy is always working on. See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_was_a_dark_an d_stormy_n... [show more] from the novel-in-progress that Snoopy is always working on. See also: http://en.wikipedia...._stormy_night [show less] Add a comment	Vote! 3 votes 57 pts
15.	Cannery Row-Steinbeck "Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream." 1 Comment	Vote! 2 votes 40 pts
16.	Playback - Raymond Chandler "The voice on the telephone seemed to be sharp and peremptory, but I didn't hear too well what it said - partly because I only hal... [show more] "The voice on the telephone seemed to be sharp and peremptory, but I didn't hear too well what it said - partly because I only half awake and partly because I was holding the receiver upside down." [show less] Add a comment	Vote! 2 votes 39 pts
17.	The Go Between "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Go-Between (By L P Hartl... [show more] "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Go-Between (By L P Hartley) [show less] Add a comment	Vote! 2 votes 39 pts
18.	William Gibson - Neuromancer The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel. Add a comment	Vote! 2 votes 38 pts
19.	On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn at suicide - it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese - the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly whe... [show more] at suicide - it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese - the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope. from The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides image: The Coward Suicide by Anja Niemi [show less] Add a comment	Vote! 2 votes 37 pts
20.	Hunger - Knut Hansun "I was hungry." Add a comment	Vote! 1 votes 20 pts
21.	The man in black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed. from "The Gunslinger" Book 1 in The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. http://en.wikipedia.org/... [show more] and the Gunslinger followed. from "The Gunslinger" Book 1 in The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gunslinger [show less] Add a comment	Vote! 1 votes 20 pts
22.	Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his w... [show more] Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster. This is the whole of the story and we might have left it at that had there not been profit and pleasure in the telling; and although there is plenty of space on a gravestone to contain, bound in moss, unabridged version of a man's life, detail is always welcome. [show less] Add a comment	Vote! 1 votes 20 pts
23.	I'd never given much thought to how I would die--though I'd had reason enough to in the last few months--but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this. TWILIGHT!!! 1 Comment	Vote! 1 votes 20 pts
24.	Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four Privet Drive were proud to say that they were perfectly normal thank you very much. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Add a comment	Vote! 1 votes 19 pts
25.	"East? They wouldn't know the bloody East if they saw it" The Long Day Wanes, Anthony Burgess Add a comment	Vote! 1 votes 17 pts
26.	"When they pulled her out she was not crying at all" Contact, Carl Sagan Add a comment	Vote! 1 votes 16 pts
	Add a new answer!

Page 1 of 1

Comments | Leave a comment

Spin 1 year ago

It needed to be in the running!

Topic Details

This topic was started by quijibo on December 7th, 2006. 73 grupies have voted on one or more of the 26 answers.

Tags: books, hobbies

Please login or register to see other notification options.

Help Report a Bug About Grupthink Contact Us Blog/Press

RSS

© 2008 by Grupthink, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
No claim of copyright or trademark is made to any material submitted by individual users. Any user-submitted material subject to copyright or trademark protection by third-parties is used solely for comment, criticism and discussion ("fair use").
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Report alleged copyright infringement
Powered by grūpthink

Sign In!

Rank your votes!

OK!

Best First Line in a Novel

Put this topic on your website

Votes by Month

1984

Tale of Two Cities

"Fight Club" (1996) by Chuck Palahniuk

Moby Dick

"Lolita" (1955) by Vladimir Nabokov

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

Atlas Shrugged

"The Stranger" - Albert Camus

The Great Gatsby

"Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak

Ulysses

Skinny Legs and All (1990) by Tom Robbins

Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote

It Was A Dark and Stormy Night

Cannery Row-Steinbeck

Playback - Raymond Chandler

The Go Between

William Gibson - Neuromancer

On the morning the last Lisbon daughter took her turn

Hunger - Knut Hansun

The man in black fled across the desert,

Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov

I'd never given much thought to how I would die--though I'd

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four Privet Drive were proud

"East? They wouldn't know the bloody East if they saw it"

"When they pulled her out she was not crying at all"

Comments | Leave a comment

Topic Details