Book Haven discussion

Sometimes, the 'first line' in a book can be intriguing enough to entice us to read the entire story...!

Anyway, I thought that it might be fun to share some of our favourite 'first lines' in the books that we have read so far.

One 'first line' that immediately captured my attention:

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)

Another 'first line' that immediately captured my attention:

I'm not absolutely certain of my facts, but I rather fancy it's Shakespeare --or, if not, it's some equally brainy bird --who says that it's always just when a fellow is feeling particularly braced with things in general that Fate sneaks up behind him with the bit of lead piping.

("Jeeves And The Unbidden Guest", a short story in, "Carry On, Jeeves", P.G. Wodehouse)

Another 'first line' that immediately captured my attention:

The thing about lying to your parents is, you have to do it to protect them.

("Twenties  Girl", Sophie Kinsella)

Another 'first line' that immediately captured my attention:

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 Philosopher's Stone", J.K. Rowling)

My dads name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip.

Great Expectations

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.

A Tale of Two Cities

Another 'first line' that immediately captured my attention:

Dear Sophie, 
My fiancé's former girlfriend showed up at our engagement party uninvited and released four dozen white mice.

("The Diva Takes The Cake", Krista Davis)

Another 'first line' that immediately captured my attention:

The typist nodded. It was finished, as neat a design for murder as could be envisioned.

("Design For Murder", Carolyn G. Hart) 

Oh wait its first lines of books. That is really hard because the classic lines come from here and there in a book. Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu: " I am now going to tell you something so strange that it will require all your faith in my veracity to believe my story."

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.*

*The Gunslinger. The first line in the first book of the seven-book The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Published in 1989 by Penguin Books, LTD, New York.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit....

"One cannot raise walls against what has been forgotten."
~ The Darkness That Comes Before, R. Scott Bakker

The only opening line I can think of from a favorite book is "Call me Ishmael."

Am I shitting? It feels like I'm shitting. Saga graphic novel.

"In the twilight of our glory, the sad longings of dreams gone by wither on the vines of our heritage."

-Take the Pilgrim Road

"It was my father who called the city the Mansion on the River."
Pat Conroy "South of Broad."

“There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.”

Jane Eyre.

They do more than frighten birds. Much more.*

*Scarecrows by Christine Hayton.

The worst thing about knowing that Gary Fairchild had been dead for a month was seeing him every day at work.

The Silicon Mage by Barbara Hambly