“The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees” (The Highwayman, Alfred Noyes)
“Do not go gentle into that good night” (Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, Dylan Thomas)
“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)
“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.
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)
“It was a dark and stormy night…” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford)
"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)
“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)
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)
“It was a dark and stormy night…” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford)
"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)
“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)
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)
“It was a dark and stormy night…” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford)
"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)
“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)
“Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged)
“Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, Moby Dick; or, The Whale
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)
“It was a dark and stormy night…” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Paul Clifford)
"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)
“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)
“Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged)
“Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, Moby Dick; or, The Whale
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (George Orwell, 1984)
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.
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)
“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)
"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)
“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)
“Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged)
“Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, Moby Dick; or, The Whale
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (George Orwell, 1984)
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” (Stephen King, The Dark Tower Vol. I: The Gunslinger)
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)
“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)
"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)
“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)
“Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged)
“Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, Moby Dick; or, The Whale
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (George Orwell, 1984)
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” (Stephen King, The Dark Tower Vol. I: The Gunslinger)
“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)
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)
“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)
"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)
“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)
“Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged)
“Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, Moby Dick; or, The Whale
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (George Orwell, 1984)
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” (Stephen King, The Dark Tower Vol. I: The Gunslinger)
“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)
“‘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).
Famous opening lines of novels (plus title and author)
“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)
"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)
“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)
“Who is John Galt?” (Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged)
“Call me Ishmael.” (Herman Melville, Moby Dick; or, The Whale
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (George Orwell, 1984)
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.” (Stephen King, The Dark Tower Vol. I: The Gunslinger)
“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)
“‘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)
“It was a pleasure to burn.” (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451)