An Exercise in Opening Lines

So, here's the thing: I'm reading Bleak House, as I mentioned in the previous post. It's great, but over 800 pages long, so I don't expect to finish particularly soon. However, I want to keep updating this blog, so I've been thinking of what else I could post about (considering I haven't found any good links recently).

I was thinking about Dickens, and how several of his books have memorable opening lines. Then I thought about the importance of opening lines in general, and how the decision to read a novel may hinge on just that handful of words. So, in lieu of providing proper recommendations, I thought I'd share some of the opening lines from books on my shelves. Perhaps something will catch your eye.

"In later years, holding forth to an interviewer or to an audience of aging fans at a comic book convention, Sam Clay liked to declare, apropos of his and Joe Kavalier's greatest creation, that back when he was a boy, sealed and hog-tied inside the airtight vessel known as Brooklyn, New York, he had been haunted by dreams of Harry Houdini." - The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

"'The Signora had no business to do it,' said Miss Bartlett, 'no business at all. She promised us south rooms with a view close together, instead of which here are north rooms, looking into a courtyard, and a long way apart. Oh, Lucy!'" - A Room with a View by E.M. Forster

"It was a nice day. All the days had been nice. There had been rather more than seven of them so far, and rain hadn't been invented yet. But the clouds massing east of Eden suggested that the first thunderstorm was on its way, and it was going to be a big one." - Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

"I was on 'Oprah' a while ago, talking about how I used to love too much. Did you see it? The other guests were men who continue to love too much. Those men were in a place I used to be, and I felt sorry for them. I was the guest who went from loving too much to being loved too much. Everybody loves me. I'm the most important person in the lives of almost everyone I know and a good number of people I've never even met. I don't say this casually; I'm just pointing out my qualification." - "Parade" from Barrel Fever by David Sedaris

That's it for now. Back to Jarndyce v. Jarndyce for me!