Famous Opening Lines From Novels

A novel's opening sentence sets the tone of the book, gives the reader insight into the characters or makes a statement about the overall plot of the novel. The best known opening sentences have been quoted numerous times. The novels have been adapted to film, are commonly required reading in secondary schools and are considered important pieces of literature.

"Moby Dick" by Herman Melville

"Call me Ishmael."

Melville first published the struggle of Captain Ahab and the great whale, Moby Dick, in 1851. After losing a leg to the whale, Ahab is intent upon finding Moby Dick and killing the whale. Ishmael is the lone survivor of the final encounter and narrator of the story.

"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" is the story of the Bennett sisters who reside in a village in England at the turn of the 19th century and their mother's quest to find them suitable husbands. The central heroine is Elizabeth Bennett and the plot follows the social, moral and romantic situations of all of the sisters and Elizabeth's relationship with Mr. Darcy.

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."

Charles Dickens' story is set in 1775 prior to the French Revolution. The characters of Lucie Manette, her father, Dr. Alexandre Manette, and Charles Darney experience court trials, the guillotine, and civil uprising in Paris, France, and escape to London, England, through the course of the novel.

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Tolstoy created two plot lines within the novel set in pre-industrial Russia; one regarding Anna Karenina, city socialite and another focused on Levin, the rural landowner. Anna's destructive behavior is contrasted by Levin's honorable character within Tolstoy's narrative and treated as a morality lesson for the reader.