OT: Favorite opening line from a novel

[connie]

Not terribly interested in forewords, prefaces etc with occasional exceptions. The first chapter starts with the quote.

While I generally may find a forward, preface, etc. of interest, I do agree with you in spirit. The preface to Lolita is quite different from most, however, because it is itself a part of the fiction. That is to say, it is presented by a fictitious editor of "the work" ("John Ray, Jr., PhD") who explains that the work of "the author" (Humbert) was given to the editor by Humbert's lawyer, for posthumous publication. Among the remarkable features of this preface is that it reveals (a mere two paragraphs into the book) not only that the fictional narrator of the work we are about to read is already dead, but also that the subject of the narrator's obsession and the titular character (Lolita) has also died (both, within months of the events that conclude the novel). That Lolita dies after such an ordeal, so young, and in childbirth no less, is just one of the many heartbreaking aspects of the novel. Of course, the reader cannot know that upon first cracking open the book. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the first-time reader to miss this revealing detail regarding Lolita's death, flagged on the very first page.

 

[connie]

but there are so, so many others that it's hard for me to choose! "Call me Ishmael" etc etc.

It occurred to me a long time ago that this opening line from Moby-Dick is humbly mirrored in Marilyn Robinson's jewel Housekeeping: "My name is Ruth." As to the former, I carried it around, read and re-read it obsessively for well over a year in my mid-20s. As for the latter, it arguably belongs in the discussion as among the best first novels written in the English language in the 20th century.

 

[connie]

Finally, when you are making a long awaited movie about a beloved classic it is best not to create material out whole clothe. It will likely alienate fans and break up the narrative.

And that invites an OT discussion for the future: what is the best film to actually improve on a beloved classic? (Are there any?)

 

[f1f1ferrari]

Actually, that is part of the opening line from a novel called "Paul Clifford" by the English novelist Edward
Bulwer-Litton.

The line has become a literary cliche, and inspired the Bulwer-Litton Fiction Contest, an annual contest
sponsored by the San Jose State English Department, in which contestants are invited to compose the
worst opening line that they can think of. The prize for winning is "a pittance". Notable, but not quite
bad enough entries are awarded a Dishonorable Mention.

I know, but the the comic strips with Snoopy writing his book are classic, and I did mean it to be tongue in cheek

 

[connie]

Of course, the reader cannot know that upon first cracking open the book. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the first-time reader to miss this revealing detail regarding Lolita's death, flagged on the very first page.

I admit it is in poor taste to quote one's own post. But this reminded me . . . a somewhat similar effect (not an unusual one) is manifested in the film The Usual Suspects. Remember the opening scene? remember the very first word? "Kayser" . . . spoken by Keaton, looking up at the shadowy figure who urinates on the lit trail of gunpowder. It is only at the very end of the film that we learn exactly who that figure truly is. If the viewer is astute enough to remember the opening scene, then by film's end they would know that the mastermind behind the entire caper could not have been Keaton (which is what Agent Kujan wants Verbal Kint to conclude, and what Verbal feigns believing as a pretext towards engineering his--Kayser's--deft escape).

Oddly, the first time I saw the film, when I heard the shadowy figure respond "Hello, Keaton", I specifically remember recognizing the voice as that of Kevin Spacey. But the recognition did not register as the narrative began to unfold. And by the end, I was as much surprised as anyone.

 

[JordyG]

And that invites an OT discussion for the future: what is the best film to actually improve on a beloved classic? (Are there any?)

Nice idea. Start the thread.

 

[trb123]

While I generally may find a forward, preface, etc. of interest, I do agree with you in spirit. The preface to Lolita is quite different from most, however, because it is itself a part of the fiction. That is to say, it is presented by a fictitious editor of "the work" ("John Ray, Jr., PhD") who explains that the work of "the author" (Humbert) was given to the editor by Humbert's lawyer, for posthumous publication. Among the remarkable features of this preface is that it reveals (a mere two paragraphs into the book) not only that the fictional narrator of the work we are about to read is already dead, but also that the subject of the narrator's obsession and the titular character (Lolita) has also died (both, within months of the events that conclude the novel). That Lolita dies after such an ordeal, so young, and in childbirth no less, is just one of the many heartbreaking aspects of the novel. Of course, the reader cannot know that upon first cracking open the book. Indeed, it is not uncommon for the first-time reader to miss this revealing detail regarding Lolita's death, flagged on the very first page.

Authors use many variations of this technique. In The Master of Ballantrae, the narrator Ephraim Mckellar's 18th century manuscript is discovered almost a hundred years later at the beginning of the novel. Richardson praised himself under a pseudonym in Pamela (could be Clarissa). You can come up with a lot more examples. In general I do not approve of this method.

 

[trb123]

Went to my bookshelf last night. Turns out all my favorite novels have really boring first lines. So, per usual, I have nothing of value to contribute.

Build a new shelf.

 

[Orangutan]

Build a new shelf.

Most of the novels I own are not actually in my possession currently due to space constraints. The ones I had handy were Adam Bede by George Eliot, North and South by Elisabeth Gaskell, On Beauty and White Teeth by Zadie Smith and Brave New World. Great novels all. Very boring first lines.

I didn't look at the first lines of any of the Agatha Christie novels I have. Maybe tonight.

 

[JRRRJ]

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

"I know a place where there is no smog and no parking problem and no population explosion...no Cold War and no H-bombs and no television commercials...no Summit Conferences, no Foreign Aid, no hidden taxes--no income tax." Glory Road, R.A. Heinlein

"It was a pleasure to burn." Farenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

"The man in the bare steel chair was as naked as the room's white walls." The Shockwave Rider, John Brunner

...and many others already cited here or long-forgotten by me. Thx for sending me to the bookshelves.

 

[connie]

Authors use many variations of this technique

Indeed; e.g., Defoe's preface to Robinson Crusoe (the earliest application in English fiction?).

In general I do not approve of this method.

Okay.

 

[connie]

Nice idea. Start the thread

Thanks. Let's give things another day or so; see what other OT topics surface in the meantime.

 

[mhshuskies]

“Camelot-Camelot,” said I to myself. “I don’t seem to remember hearing of it before. Name of the asylum, likely.”

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
Mark Twain

 

[Aluminny69]

“The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years – if it ever did end – began, so far as I know or can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.”

What else would you expect from the beginning of one of Stephen King's most well known novels? This is the book that inspired thousands of children to have a lifelong fear of clowns (and also sewers and possibly balloons).

 

[nwhoopfan]

Just starting to read Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy for the second time. First line (forward, whatever) caught my attention.

"I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war."

 

[Jackcatscal]

An earlier reader quoted the opening line from James Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist." Here are two more Joyce opening lines that definitely deserve discussion.

First, Joyce's Ulysses: "Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.” Sounds a little pedestrian, no? Not so quick. Joyce insisted that the publisher print the opening "S" in VERY VERY LARGE type. In my early edition of the book, the letter "S" takes up an entire page.

Here's a second example, from the most unreadable and possibly funniest English-language novel ever written, Finnegans Wake. "riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs." Again, what's so special? Well, for one thing, the sentence begins with a small letter. And it's not a sentence at all--it's a fragment. So, where's the rest of it? Go to the very last line of the book: "A way a lone a last a loved a long the". And there you go, the beginning of the fragmentary first line of the novel is the fragmentary last line of the novel. One big, nearly happy circle.

(Joyce junkies may recognize a theme from Finnegans Wake in my earlier phrase, "definitely deserve discussion.")

 

[BigBird]

Only the Brits could call that a sentence.

Dickens was paid by the word. This goes a long way in explaining his writing style.

 

[BigBird]

"I'm sleepy."
"Me too"
"Let's go to bed."

From "Sleepy Time," by Gyo Fujikawa

 

[tomcat]

"Do your neighbors burn one another alive?"
Opening line from Anathem, by Neal Stephenson. He is not paid by the word, but still deliberately writes incredibly detailed prose, averaging maybe 1,200 pages per novel.

 

[JordyG]

"Do your neighbors burn one another alive?"
Opening line from Anathem, by Neal Stephenson. He is not paid by the word, but still deliberately writes incredibly detailed prose, averaging maybe 1,200 pages per novel.

One of my very favorite modern novels of speculative fiction. I tried Cryptonomicon but found it so discursive and digressing that I threw up my hands. It all seemed to be some sort of inside joke.

 

[jimazee]

“All this happened, more or less.” Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut