# Bakers Dozen **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [August 4, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173 "2010-08-04T17:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1166
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23304 "2014-03-04T00:48:54Z")
Famous poetic first words (plus title and author) 1. “Once upon a midnight dreary” (The Raven, Poe) 2. “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees” (The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes) 3. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas) 4. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix” (Howl, Allen Ginsberg) 5. “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (The Ballad of East and West, Kipling) Apropos of nothing, I memorized that poem in high school. The whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23305 "2014-03-04T00:49:40Z")
Famous poetic first words (plus title and author) 1. “Once upon a midnight dreary” (The Raven, Poe) 2. “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees” (The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes) 3. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas) 4. “April is the cruellest month, breeding” (The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot) 5. “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (The Ballad of East and West, Kipling) 6. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked” (Howl, Allen Ginsberg) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23306 "2014-03-04T01:49:25Z")
Famous poetic first words (plus title and author) 1. “Once upon a midnight dreary” (The Raven, Poe) 2. “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees” (The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes) 3. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas) 4. “April is the cruellest month, breeding” (The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot) 5. “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (The Ballad of East and West, Kipling) 6. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked” (Howl, Allen Ginsberg) 7. “Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote” (The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer) ---
**Author:** ![WheatCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@WheatCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WheatCat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23307 "2014-03-04T01:52:39Z")
Famous poetic first words (plus title and author) 1. “Once upon a midnight dreary” (The Raven, Poe) 2. “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees” (The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes) 3. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas) 4. “April is the cruellest month, breeding” (The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot) 5. “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (The Ballad of East and West, Kipling) 6. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked” (Howl, Allen Ginsberg) 7. “Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote” (The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer) 8. “Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove” (The Passionate Shepherd to his Love, Marlowe) ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23308 "2014-03-04T01:55:34Z")
Famous poetic first words (plus title and author) 1. “Once upon a midnight dreary” (The Raven, Poe) 2. “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees” (The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes) 3. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas) 4. “April is the cruellest month, breeding” (The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot) 5. “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (The Ballad of East and West, Kipling) 6. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked” (Howl, Allen Ginsberg) 7. “Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote” (The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer) 8. “Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove” (The Passionate Shepherd to his Love, Marlowe) 9. “And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England’s mountains green?” (Jerusalem, William Blake) ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23309 "2014-03-04T01:59:03Z")
Famous poetic first words (plus title and author) 1. “Once upon a midnight dreary” (The Raven, Poe) 2. “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees” (The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes) 3. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas) 4. “April is the cruellest month, breeding” (The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot) 5. “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (The Ballad of East and West, Kipling) 6. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked” (Howl, Allen Ginsberg) 7. “Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote” (The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer) 8. “Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove” (The Passionate Shepherd to his Love, Marlowe) 9. “And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England’s mountains green?” (Jerusalem, William Blake) 10. “O pointy birds, o pointy pointy,” (Pointy Birds, John Lillison) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23310 "2014-03-04T02:22:43Z")
[I loved _L.A. Story_) Famous poetic first words (plus title and author) 1. “Once upon a midnight dreary” (The Raven, Poe) 2. “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees” (The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes) 3. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas) 4. “April is the cruellest month, breeding” (The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot) 5. “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (The Ballad of East and West, Kipling) 6. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked” (Howl, Allen Ginsberg) 7. “Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote” (The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer) 8. “Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove” (The Passionate Shepherd to his Love, Marlowe) 9. “And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England’s mountains green?” (Jerusalem, William Blake) 10. “O pointy birds, o pointy pointy,” (Pointy Birds, John Lillison) 11. “It is an Ancient Mariner, he stoppeth one of three,” (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23311 "2014-03-04T02:25:34Z")
Famous poetic first words (plus title and author) 1. “Once upon a midnight dreary” (The Raven, Poe) 2. “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees” (The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes) 3. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas) 4. “April is the cruellest month, breeding” (The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot) 5. “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (The Ballad of East and West, Kipling) 6. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked” (Howl, Allen Ginsberg) 7. “Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote” (The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer) 8. “Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove” (The Passionate Shepherd to his Love, Marlowe) 9. “And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England’s mountains green?” (Jerusalem, William Blake) 10. “O pointy birds, o pointy pointy,” (Pointy Birds, John Lillison) 11. “It is an Ancient Mariner, he stoppeth one of three,” (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge) 12. “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree…” (Coleridge, Kubla Khan) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23312 "2014-03-04T02:51:15Z")
Famous poetic first words (plus title and author) 1. “Once upon a midnight dreary” (The Raven, Poe) 2. “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees” (The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes) 3. “Do not go gentle into that good night” (Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas) 4. “April is the cruellest month, breeding” (The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot) 5. “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” (The Ballad of East and West, Kipling) 6. “I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked” (Howl, Allen Ginsberg) 7. “Come live with me and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove” (The Passionate Shepherd to his Love, Marlowe) 8. “And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England’s mountains green?” (Jerusalem, William Blake) 9. “O pointy birds, o pointy pointy,” (Pointy Birds, John Lillison) 10. “It is an Ancient Mariner, he stoppeth one of three,” (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge) 11. “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree…” (Coleridge, Kubla Khan) 12. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” (Sonnet 43, Elizabeth Barrett Browning) I’ll pass. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23313 "2014-03-04T02:56:06Z")
How about: Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author) 1. “It was a dark and stormy night…” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, _Paul Clifford_) ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23314 "2014-03-04T03:01:50Z")
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author) 1. “It was a dark and stormy night…” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, _Paul Clifford_) 2. "A few years ago, on the east side of Manhattan, not far from Bloomingdale’s … " (Gail Parent, _Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York_) ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23315 "2014-03-04T03:15:28Z")
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author) 1. “It was a dark and stormy night…” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford) 2. "A few years ago, on the east side of Manhattan, not far from Bloomingdale’s … " (Gail Parent, Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York) 3. “I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly consider’d how much depended upon what they were then doing;–that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;–and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost;–Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,–I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that in which the reader is likely to see me.” (Laurence Stern, _Tristram Shandy_) ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23316 "2014-03-04T03:25:45Z")
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author) 1. “It was a dark and stormy night…” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford) 2. "A few years ago, on the east side of Manhattan, not far from Bloomingdale’s … " (Gail Parent, Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York) 3. “I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly consider’d how much depended upon what they were then doing;–that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;–and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost;–Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,–I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that in which the reader is likely to see me.” (Laurence Stern, _Tristram Shandy_) 4. “Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, _Atlas Shrugged_) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23317 "2014-03-04T04:21:12Z")
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author) 1. “It was a dark and stormy night…” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford) 2. "A few years ago, on the east side of Manhattan, not far from Bloomingdale’s … " (Gail Parent, Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York) 3. “I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly consider’d how much depended upon what they were then doing;–that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;–and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost;–Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,–I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that in which the reader is likely to see me.” (Laurence Stern, _Tristram Shandy_) 4. “Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, _Atlas Shrugged_) 5. “Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, _Moby Dick; or, The Whale_ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23318 "2014-03-04T04:34:09Z")
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author) 1. “It was a dark and stormy night…” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, _Paul Clifford_) 2. "A few years ago, on the east side of Manhattan, not far from Bloomingdale’s … " (Gail Parent, _Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York_) 3. “I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly consider’d how much depended upon what they were then doing;–that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;–and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost;–Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,–I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that in which the reader is likely to see me.” (Laurence Stern, _Tristram Shandy_) 4. “Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, _Atlas Shrugged_) 5. “Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, _Moby Dick; or, The Whale_ 6. “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (George Orwell, _1984_) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23319 "2014-03-04T04:37:53Z")
For the record, _“It was a dark and stormy night…”_ is not the complete opening line of _Paul Clifford_. Many people mistakenly believe it is and wonder why it has such a bad reputation - it’s not that bad an opening line. But the full line is _“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”_ - and that’s a poorly written run-on sentence. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23320 "2014-03-04T05:18:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > For the record, _“It was a dark and stormy night…”_ is not the complete opening line of _Paul Clifford_. Many people mistakenly believe it is and wonder why it has such a bad reputation - it’s not that bad an opening line. Ok, fixed. **Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)** 1. “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, _Paul Clifford_) 2. "A few years ago, on the east side of Manhattan, not far from Bloomingdale’s … " (Gail Parent, _Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York_) 3. “I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly consider’d how much depended upon what they were then doing;–that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;–and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost;–Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,–I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that in which the reader is likely to see me.” (Laurence Stern, _Tristram Shandy_) 4. “Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, _Atlas Shrugged_) 5. “Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, _Moby Dick; or, The Whale_ 6. “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (George Orwell, _1984_) 7. “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” (Stephen King, _The Dark Tower Vol. I: The Gunslinger_) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23321 "2014-03-04T05:22:39Z")
**Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)** 1. “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, _Paul Clifford_) 2. "A few years ago, on the east side of Manhattan, not far from Bloomingdale’s … " (Gail Parent, _Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York_) 3. “I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly consider’d how much depended upon what they were then doing;–that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;–and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost;–Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,–I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that in which the reader is likely to see me.” (Laurence Stern, _Tristram Shandy_) 4. “Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, _Atlas Shrugged_) 5. “Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, _Moby Dick; or, The Whale_ 6. “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (George Orwell, _1984_) 7. “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” (Stephen King, _The Dark Tower Vol. I: The Gunslinger_) 8. “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…” (Charles Dickens, _A Tale of Two Cities_) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23322 "2014-03-04T05:38:03Z")
**Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)** 1. “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, _Paul Clifford_) 2. "A few years ago, on the east side of Manhattan, not far from Bloomingdale’s … " (Gail Parent, _Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York_) 3. “I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly consider’d how much depended upon what they were then doing;–that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;–and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost;–Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,–I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that in which the reader is likely to see me.” (Laurence Stern, _Tristram Shandy_) 4. “Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, _Atlas Shrugged_) 5. “Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, _Moby Dick; or, The Whale_ 6. “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (George Orwell, _1984_) 7. “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” (Stephen King, _The Dark Tower Vol. I: The Gunslinger_) 8. “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…” (Charles Dickens, _A Tale of Two Cities_) 9. “‘We are on our way to the hospital,’ Ryan’s father says. ‘Listen to me, son: you are not going to bleed to death.’” (Dan Chaon, _Await Your Reply_). Fantastic book. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/23323 "2014-03-04T06:32:30Z")
**Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)** 1. “It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents - except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, _Paul Clifford_) 2. "A few years ago, on the east side of Manhattan, not far from Bloomingdale’s … " (Gail Parent, _Sheila Levine is Dead and Living in New York_) 3. “I wish either my father or my mother, or indeed both of them, as they were in duty both equally bound to it, had minded what they were about when they begot me; had they duly consider’d how much depended upon what they were then doing;–that not only the production of a rational Being was concerned in it, but that possibly the happy formation and temperature of his body, perhaps his genius and the very cast of his mind;–and, for aught they knew to the contrary, even the fortunes of his whole house might take their turn from the humours and dispositions which were then uppermost;–Had they duly weighed and considered all this, and proceeded accordingly,–I am verily persuaded I should have made a quite different figure in the world, from that in which the reader is likely to see me.” (Laurence Stern, _Tristram Shandy_) 4. “Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, _Atlas Shrugged_) 5. “Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, _Moby Dick; or, The Whale_ 6. “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (George Orwell, _1984_) 7. “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” (Stephen King, _The Dark Tower Vol. I: The Gunslinger_) 8. “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…” (Charles Dickens, _A Tale of Two Cities_) 9. “‘We are on our way to the hospital,’ Ryan’s father says. ‘Listen to me, son: you are not going to bleed to death.’” (Dan Chaon, _Await Your Reply_) 10. “It was a pleasure to burn.” (Ray Bradbury, _Fahrenheit 451_) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=1165) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173.md?page=1167)