Okay, here's the deal. As writers, we know how important first lines are in luring the reader into the story. Below are some of the most famous first lines in literary history. Do you recognize the book each one comes from? Try these on your own, but if you need help, the books appear in the next message in random order. Since the A to Z Challengers take Sundays off, I will post the answers on Monday. Don't peek at the list until you've tried to think of the books on your own.
And if you have any other great first lines to post, add them in the comments section. Here we go:
It was a pleasure to burn.
“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents.”
Life changes fast.
Life changes in an instant.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.
It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.
They’re out there.
It was a dark and stormy night.
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it if you want to know the truth.
You don’t know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain’t no matter.
All this happened, more or less.
You better not never tell nobody but God.
And the most famous of all hooks: Call me Ishmael.
