Blog
Further fantastic first lines
More great first lines, as picked by you.
We love a good first line so, a few months ago, we posted some of our favourite first lines in fiction. Since then, you've been in touch with some of your own favourites and so we're back with another set. This article in no way exists entirely to meet our monthly 'blog posts with alliterative titles' targets (which we have just made up but now, come to think about it, should absolutely be a thing).
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
"It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him."
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."
"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”
“Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday; I can’t be sure.”
"It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York."
“The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we understood the gravity of our situation.”
"We slept in what had once been the gymnasium.”
“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into an enormous insect.”
"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."
“Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this huge apartment building during the previous three months.”
Sign In / Register
Not registered? CREATE AN ACCOUNTCREATE A plus ACCOUNT
Sign In
Download the Waterstones App
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?
Click & Collect
Reserve online, pay on collection
Thank you for your reservation
Your order is now being processed and we have sent a confirmation email to you at
When will my order be ready to collect?
Following the initial email, you will be contacted by the shop to confirm that your item is available for collection.
Call us on or send us an email at
Unfortunately there has been a problem with your order
Please try again or alternatively you can contact your chosen shop on or send us an email at
Comments
Sign In To Respond
There are currently no comments.