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Originally Posted by Anna Drake
May I suggest, "Call me Ishmael." [...]
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You may, of course, suggest it
. It wasn't what I was looking for, and its associations for me aren't good; I didn't enjoy
Moby Dick at all (well, except to get the context for the well known quotes).
I flicked through a number of books on my shelf today, any excuse is a good one, and came to the conclusion that it is rare to find a first line as poetic as that one from Rebecca.
Inspired by the posts here that gave no attribution - because no attribution was needed, I put together a set of first lines from well known books. (Well, some of these are very well known, others maybe not so much, but none of them are obscure.) I'm putting the source in spoilers, to give you a chance to think about them (if needed) before looking.
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I had this story from one who had no business to tell it to me, or to any other.
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This is my favourite book in all the world, though I have never read it.
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This is the day and this the place where a dream turns a corner and a secret is told.
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It's barely worth using a spoiler with this one.
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Sam Vimes sighed when heard the scream, but he finished shaving before he did anything about it.
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Or this one.
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Marley was dead, to begin with.
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"I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one."
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The drought had lasted now for ten million years, and the reign of the terrible lizards had long since ended.
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Six people were thinking of Rosemary Barton who had died nearly a year ago . . .
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