Unlocking Literary Portals: The Mesmerizing Allure of First Lines

Happy families are all alike; unhappy families are all different in their own way Anna Karenina Tolstoy

Not again xata. This must be the fifth or sixth time you have posted exactly the same thing, to the letter - and it doesn't even make sense on this thread where nothing new is actually being published. Your algorhythm is overworked, give it a rest.

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I wonder when in the world you're going to do anything, Rudolf?" said my brother's wife

The Prisoner of Zenda, Anthony Hope.

I love the films!

On the 24th of February 1815, the lookout at Notre-Dame de la Garde signalled the arrival of the three-master Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste and Naples

The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

Not the most engaging first line but this long and complex tale of betrayal, revenge and redemption has always been a bit hit with me.

Oh no! Cross posted I Capture the Castle!

We had a similar thread before, like a sort of quiz - and yes it got messy! So I'm including the source - and a great filler-in between Xmas &New Year.

"I write this sitting in the kitchen sink....."
I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith

"On the night that Ronia was born, a thunderstorm was raging over the mountains..."
Ronia the Robber's Daughter, Astrid Lindgren

"Once there was a soft brown toy called Dogger..."
(and I bet there's a nan or two on here who recite the rest of the book)
Dogger, Shirley Hughes

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‘Lying in bed, I abandoned the facts again and was back in Ambrosia’
Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse. Was introduced to this book in a book club I belonged to just a few years ago, it’s hilarious.

Casdon

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. (I capture the castle)

What a great first line! My Nan used to have that book and I read it when I was about 14 and loved it.Old fashioned and odd but still relatable.

I think it’s a good idea of the OP to mention the book as well as the first line and the author.None of us have read every book ever published.

IIlovecheese I think you mean Manderley, that’s a great book
I used to love all her books especially Rebecca.

Oh Grandma70s- that is such a wonderful book.

grandtanteJE65

"It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

And like Ilovecheese and Siope, I feel that on this literary thread, it is unnecessary to tell you who wrote this memorable lines.

"It is a truth, universally acknowledged"... etc

Ah, you got there before me!

I'm on my third reading of the book.

The Fossil sisters lived in the Cromwell Road.

Ilovecheese

Callistemon21

Ilovecheese

It was a cold bright day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.

Oh, you got there first Ilovecheese 😁

That is not a first line in a book.
But it could be!

By golly you are right Callistemon13!
It just feels like it should have been.

You can write it, but please send me a signed first edition!!

“Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy …”

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. (I capture the castle)

Callistemon21

Ilovecheese

It was a cold bright day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.

Oh, you got there first Ilovecheese 😁

That is not a first line in a book.
But it could be!

By golly you are right Callistemon13!
It just feels like it should have been.

Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres

Ilovecheese

It was a cold bright day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.

Oh, you got there first Ilovecheese 😁

That is not a first line in a book.
But it could be!

Marley was dead . . .

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do:

I don't recognise "Lymond is back"
Where is that from?

It was a cold bright day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.