The truth is that the real worst book ever written has never been published, unless it has been published by a vanity press. Opening lines of novels, famous first lines of novels, best opening lines. Our highly subjective list includes worst firsts from famous and infamous writers. Another year and more of my favourite opening lines or paragraphs, be they evocative, compelling andor dramatic, from books ive read, or am reading, during the past twelve months not necessarily new ones. The original published version was full of typos and. Here are the 100 best opening lines from your favourite childrens books. Arranged under such timeless themes as dreams, friends, libido and memories, the quotes. It has often been seen that most of the popular classic novels have very famous first lines. The worst movie lines of all time 10 of the most cringeworthy and terrible movie lines of all time. Bill manville i dont know how other men feel about their wives walking out on them, but i helped mine pack.
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. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom. Or how i learned to stop worrying about visible panty lines and conquered the world by. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times is, of course, the famous opening line to charles dickens classic about the french revolution. After a night of drinking my 2 roommates and i went to 711 and bought a 4 litre jug of chocolate milk, chocolate bars, ice cream, chips, toquitos, nachos, and wings.
All the best lines presents 500 memorable movie quotes, embracing both oneliners my name is pussy galore and slices of snappy dialogue from pictures as diverse as when harry met sally and pulp fiction. Theres no point reading a book if the author hasnt got a cracking opening. It should intrigue and establish a general direction. A handful of these made it into my best of bad acting compilation, as they are. Its the authors first invitation into a world of their own creation. After all, the nazis twisted differences in identity into punishable crimes, and number the stars shows us how subjective these prejudices truly are. Now you can compare for yourself, with 1001 of the best and worst first lines from fifteen genres. Well you cant just pick one when there are loads and loads of books in the world with each having its own amazing wonderland they have characters, people like us and they have their world, brimming with life and feelings just like with huma. The first line of a song can be a glorious, lifeaffirming moment. Worst book titles some titles just dont go with the book. Often described as the worst fantasy novella ever written, the eye of argon is difficult to read with a straight face.
These are just some of those i could have listed so, in no particular order, here they are. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Here are some of the opening lines from classic literature, written by the best of the best. Also, arguably thats not the first line of the novel since finnegans wake is a. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was. This weeks top ten tuesday topic is the top ten best opening lines of a novel. Pithy putdowns, hardboiled snarlings, words of love and regret. Weve found 30 humourous, bizarre and mirthfilled opening lines of books.
I was stunned, if not a little depressed, coming across the rhyme above. And who can forget the call me ishmael beginning of herman melvilles maritime classic moby dick. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of. It had been a grueling day, and claude frollo had put in long hours at the palace of justice. Our selection of wise and witty opening words from 30 brilliant classic novels. Annemarie decided to act like kirsti, her younger sister. In honor of what wouldve been gabriel garcia marquezs 89th birthday sunday, see 21 of the most memorable opening lines from books, ahead.
It is the line that we remember the entire novel by the first line. And with so many books to read, the competition between them is wast. Henrik is what we in the dictionaryatourfingertips world like to call sanguine. Dobby relished his goinsaws roar as he withdrew the fleshchoked blade from the astronauts ruined skull. And if you havent laid your eyes on any of these best books to read, you will definitely pick your next read here.
In southwestern germany just east of the luxemburg border and north of france where history pitted various related hapsburg royals against each other and the archbishops of trier, the abbots of st. Opening lines from classical literature that hook your. It was the best of lines, it was the worst of lines. Are you sure this isnt the first line to tracks by louise erdrich. In homage to that fact, we asked former stylist contributors to share the opening lines that mean the. The eye of argon, released by theis when he was 16 years old, has the makings of a young, successful first work by an eager and talented author. The best 100 opening lines from books is one of stylists most popular piece of content ever.
They have to set the scene, perhaps introduce a character, and more than anything, get us to. The american scholar presents a list of the ten worst opening lines in novels. But it is one of the most infamous opening lines in all of literature. Im going to list a series of first lines from bestselling books in the christian market. When the soldier found the packet, he opened it and saw only a. Sure, these girls look different, but in all the ways that count. There are some books that you pick up, turn to the opening page, andnothing. First off, i can imagine therell be a considerable amount of twilightbashing, for example.
And, without any further context, thats already terrifying. Theres a reason that this simple, creepy line is one of the most wellknown openers in all of literature. The opening sentence of a book can determine a lot of things including whether or not you decide to keep going with said book. As always, these choices are listed in no particular order. Immediately following will be three bestselling titles. What are your most favourite opening lines from a novel. That book was made by a mr mark twain, and he told the truth, mainly.
Treats of the place where oliver twist was born, and of the circumstances attending his birth. Out of print literary and bookthemed canvas tote carrying bag for book lovers. One narcissists quest to discover if her life makes her ass look big. And when the story becomes a classic, the first line can sometimes become as famous as the novel itself, as the quotes below demonstrate.
This is a book in which people take pleasure in burning things specifically books, as we soon find out. Opening lines of novels, famous first lines of novels. Opening linesthe first sentence or maybe the first paragraph of a bookhave a lot of work to do. Sunday, see 21 of the most memorable opening lines from books, ahead. Our sidesplitting, outrageously funny book on sale at.
Maximin, various members of the nobility, and mobs of axebearing villagers, there stands a ruin whose building stones mostly were carted off to build other buildings. Sometimes, you can tell whether or not a text is worth your time just by its opening line. Number the stars home rainbow resource center, inc. The american scholartakes a stab at compiling some of the worst opening lines in literary history. Tell us your top 10 favorite literary opening lines. And if you fancy such lists, the atlantic collected some authors favorite first lines books, and sabotage times has a list of 20 best opening lines from books, while the shmoop blog has 25 best opening lines, plus snarky speculations on the thought processes behind those.
Kent somers moves from arizona cardinals beat to sports columnist. A few famous names, including philip roth, graham greene and. Every year, the announcement of bulwerlytton prize is a gift from bad writing heaven. The american scholar recently shared their pick of 10 11 best sentences, plucked from novels. To celebrate the 150th anniversary of a tale of two cities, test your literary knowledge with our opening lines quiz.
A good cover may make us pick the book up and think about buying it. First lines literature coffee mug the greatest opening lines of literature. Your job, should you decide to accept it, is to figure out, without cheating of course, which book those first lines belong to. First thoughts that last in our memory from jane austen, hunter s. Once upon a time, growing up, i read a short story the star.
Stylists pick of the best hundred first lines from books, from classic to modern. He turned to harry,thrusting his bloody,retinacovered pelvis with elfin. The night does actually have degrees of light and dark a clear night where you can see stars and moon will definitely be less dark than one where storm. The best of the worst opening sentences the bulwerlytton award offers a salutary display of how not to start a story alison flood. Teacher models for interviewing and writing an opening of a biography with a rhetorical opening. Among other public buildings in a certain town, which for many reasons it will be prudent to refrain from mentioning, and to which i will assign no fictitious name, there is one anciently common to most towns, great or small. In our village, folks say god crumbles up the old moon into stars. I dont agree with all their choices, but i agree that most are awful enough to make me abandon the book after. But i think the issue the actors had in the prequels was that so much was done cgi or added in later, that theyre reading ridiculous lines on a giant green stage to people with partial costumes like jar jar and then wondering why they cant add any sass to the crappy lines. Here are 10 opening doozies, lines that make it difficult to continue reading. The first lines of novels set the tone for the story to come. Worst book club books ever the worst books you ever read for your book club or the worst books to choose to read for a book club. You dont know about me without you have read a book by the name of the adventures of tom sawyer. Let us know your favourite childrens book first lines from the gallery, or any we missed, in the comments section.
Others argue that to be a great copywriter you need to first be a great writer. When she came to the end of the path she saw nazi soldiers and their dogs. Having that in mind, weve rounded up the first lines of some of the worlds most famous books, and they stand as excellent examples of how a short sentence or two can set the tone for an entire story and define its legacy for decades to come. I suspect this could lead to a lot of wildly different answers, since the answer to such a question all comes down to opinion. The worst lines in the star wars prequels steve hoffman. Some of these lines would be decent lines on paper, but the shoddy acting brings its own uniqueness to the scene. Tell us your top 10 favorite literary opening lines wired. The opening line of any novel is its most significant line. The best of the worst opening sentences books the guardian. Annemarie and her best friend ellen, who is jewish, are stopped by soldiers on their way home from school.
I wish i was a silent movie star ive had gastric coronavirus for weeks. Its certain that fine women eat a crazy salad with their meatfrom a prayer for my daughter, w. Esther lombardi is a veteran journalist who has written about literature, education, and technology. And finally, the first line from a putative novel, a tale of two statisticians. Inspired by novelist and playwright edward george bulwerlyttons famous it was a dark and stormy night opener, the contest asks writers to submit an opening sentence for the worst of all possible novels although fifty shades of grey has already been written. Discover unique things to do, places to eat, and sights to see in the best destinations around the world with bring me. I dont agree with all their choices, but i agree that most are. Number the stars is told from the point of view of tenyearold annemarie johansen. Writing a great opening line isnt just about hooking the reader with exciting sentences. It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the rosenbergs, and i didnt know what i was doing in new york. Number the stars starts by emphasizing the physical differences between our two main charactersand that makes sense, right. Famous first words you cant judge a book by its cover, but librarian nancy pearl thinks the first line can tell you a lot. And while ellen hasnt come home yet by the end of the book, we just have to trustlike henrik doesthat she will. The story is set in the city of copenhagen, denmark in september 1943, the third year of the nazi occupation of denmark.
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