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The opening line is an important part of the novel. Though a novel is much more than the opening line – just like a house is much more than the gate – yet it can be a crucial factor in making the reader decide to go ahead and read the book. Stephen King says, “an opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this.“

Here, I have compiled a list of 10 great opening lines from novels, in no particular order, along with my reasons for liking them.

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877)

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

What makes it great

It is the universality of this statement that instantly strikes a chord with the reader and makes him want to read more. The line sets the tone of the novel, and makes the reader want to know the story of the unhappy family in the novel.

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)

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

What makes it great

Once again the line is universal and something that readers of every culture and age can identify with. The opening line is a story by itself, and introduces marriage as the theme of the novel. But that is not the only thing it does. The line tells the reader that the author is going to depend on sarcasm to set the tone of the novel.

Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1850)

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.

What makes it great

This is a matter-of-fact statement. The author is going to tell the story, without bias, and the reader can judge who the hero is based on the text of the novel. This opening line introduces the reader to the main character, and without using too many words, gives an insight into his nature.

Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome (1911)

I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story.

What makes it great

A thing about stories is that every time it is retold, it changes according to who is telling the story. The opening line introduces the narrator who is going to tell a story that he has stitched together after collecting different parts of the story from different sources. The curiosity is aroused, and the reader wants to read more.

Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex (2002)

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.

What makes it great

How is one born twice? How is one born as a teenage boy? The opening line states a fact, and leaves more questions in the mind of the reader than it answers. The reader is hooked and wants to know more.

Charles Dickens, A Tale Of Two Cities (1859)

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, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.

What makes it great

These opening words present the paradox of life. At any given time we are simultaneously living in the the best of times and the worst of times. The opening line tells the reader that the story is going to be about the ongoing struggle between light and darkness, between good and evil, between despair and hope.

Albert Camus, The Stranger (1946)

Mother died today. Or maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure.

What makes it great

The author reveals a lot in the opening line. He tells the reader that the death of the narrator’s mother will be an important part of the story that is going to follow. The careless tone of the narrator reveals that the relation between the mother and the son was not the best, and the reader is curious to know why.

Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967)

Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.

What makes it great

This is a line that takes the reader straight to the heart of the action. Who is this Colonel Aureliano Buendía who is facing the firing squad, and why, of all things, is he reminded of the afternoon when his father took him to discover ice? Will he survive? If yes then how, if not then why is he so important that the novel starts with him? Also, who discovers ice? Hasn’t it always been there? The opening line raises many questions and the reader wants to search for the answers in the text of the novel.

J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

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.

What makes it great

The opening line introduces the narrator whose story is similar to David Copperfield, but he is going to tell it in a way that would be quite unlike David Copperfield. The opening line also tells the reader about the character of the protagonist, and the reader can’t help but want to know more.

Iain M. Banks, The Crow Road (1992)

It was the day my grandmother exploded.

What makes it great

The opening line is so shocking that it instantly grabs the reader’s attention. “Grandmother” and “Exploded” are two words that one seldom hopes to encounter in a sentence that has seven words in all. Yet, there we have them. There is a hint of the novel having elements of dark humour, but the reader has to know more about the exploding grandmother.

What is your favourite opening line?

(Image courtesy: Mattox from sxc.hu)