Do you have a favorite first line of a novel? I certainly do. I am afraid it is not terribly original, it has been overly quoted, but it still grabs me whenever I hear it. I can’t even read these words out loud without getting choked up. (Yeah, I’m a nerd).
My favorite first line from a novel, courtesy of Charles Dickens:
“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 directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.”
The folks over at The American Book Review have compiled their picks for the 100 best first lines from novels. The quote above ranked #9. Check out the complete list here.