Anthony~ First lines in Literature

‘It is the little ring of the bell above the door that lets you know that you’ve entered a place that makes you feel.’

That, my dear reader, was my attempt at what the first line of a novel about Books on The Hill would be like. As we press on ahead into the New Year, I thought it would be interesting to have a look at the first lines of novels – both classics and new. In my humble opinion, the first line is probably the most important line in the book. It must grab the reader’s attention. The opening should be one of three things: a question, a statement, or both. I don’t mean an actual question, more that it’s a sentence that should make the reader have more questions so they are compelled to read on and find out the answers in the rest of the novel.

What inspired me to write this was the first line in a new novel by JJ Bola called ‘The Selfless Act of Breathing’:

‘I quit my job, I am taking my life savings -$9.021 – and when it runs out, I am going to kill myself.’

It’s not the content of the lines that caught my attention, it’s the way that each part of the sentence brings to me when I read it. Why is he quitting his job? Why is he going to kill himself? And as it is in the present tense, it brings up the question of is he going to kill himself. It makes me want to know what’s going to happen.

George Orwell’s classic -Nineteen Eighty-Four:

‘It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.’

This opening is just brilliant in giving you a visual with the first part, an atmosphere with the clocks, and the question with the striking of thirteen. It gives a really uncomfortable and suspicious sense. I found it set up the tone of the whole novel in twelve words. The more I think about it the better it gets.

A new novel, Devotion by Hannah Kent (out 3rd February) has a very apt and themed first line that speaks volumes of the title and I hope for the rest of the book.

‘Thea, there is no line in your palm I have not traced, no knuckle cracked unheard, and the blue of your eyes is the coffin-lining of the world.’

This line brings motive, intensity and character. Again, you want to know who this Thea is? Why does the narrator have these views of them? The end description gives a conflicting sense of intimacy and morbidity. It’s powerful, rich, and enticing prose.

Here are other classic first lines for you enjoy.

‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.’

Rebecca by Daphine du Maurier

'I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.'

I capture the castle by Dodie Smith.

‘In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.’

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitsgerald.

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

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