I'm a lover of the classics . . .
"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, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France. In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever."
Charlie Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
@Setanta,
I love Dickens more than any other novelist.
@Setanta,
I do like the beginning of that - I was actually trying to remember it. But all I could come up with was Dr. Seuss - reading too many kids' books.
I was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia. I am not quite sure of the exact place or exact date of my birth, but at any rate I suspect I must have been born somewhere and at some time.
Booker T. Washington Up From Slavery
"The marvellous thing is that it's painless," he said, 'That's how you know when it starts." -- The Snows of Kilimanjaro--Ernest Hemingway
@edgarblythe,
I do as well. That is why I already did the opening line to A Tale of Two Cities.
Marley was dead. To begin with, there is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clerk, the clergyman, the undertaker, the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. Old Marley was dead as a doornail. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
@Letty,
It was a toss-up for me for the best(most succinct start-up phrase in English literature), I chose Moby Deick but the MArley was dead , to begin with.
Another great opener was the first line from the Grapes of Wrath.
"To the red country, and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they didnt even cut the scarred earth>"
@Merry Andrew,
The merryandrew wrote:I was born a slave on a plantation in Franklin County, Virginia. I am not quite sure of the exact place or exact date of my birth, but at any rate I suspect I must have been born somewhere and at some time.
How very Dickensian . . .
"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o’clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously.
Old Charlie,
David Copperfield
@Setanta,
If the latter is Dickensian the first certainly isn't. They are poles apart.
@Setanta,
As Spendius has already commented, the gist of the two passages is similar, but the style is light years apart. No reflection on Charlie Dickens, but he did love to convolute sentences sometimes and overused the humble comma.
@Merry Andrew,
One represents self effacement (your's) and the other represents ego drive.
I can't abide Dickens.
"Dr Strauss says I shoud rite down what I think and remembir and evry thing that happins to me from now on."
--Daniel Keyes, Flowers For Algernon
I don't count this among the best. But, I did enjoy the tale.
Like most people I didn't meet and talk to Rant Casey until after he was dead. Thats how it works for most for most celebrities: After they croak, their circle of close friends just explodes.
Rant by Chuck Palahniuk
Just reread this book and remembered how the first line grabbed my interest.
@sublime1,
"It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him."
-- Catch-22
@edgarblythe,
Good one, edgar!
I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek.
Khaled Hosseini
The Kite Runner
@Merry Andrew,
Quote: . . . the gist of the two passages is similar, but the style is light years apart. No reflection on Charlie Dickens, but he did love to convolute sentences sometimes and overused the humble comma.
I simply found the similarity of the idea expressed to be striking--i was making no comment on style. It is rather anachronistic to belabor ol' Chuck, though, for overuse of commas, 150 years after he wrote. Different times, different usages . . . i suspect he hadn't access to the Chicago Style Manual.
Joyce's Ulysses
STATELY, PLUMP BUCK MULLIGAN CAME FROM THE STAIRHEAD, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed. A yellow dressing gown, ungirdled, was sustained gently-behind him by the mild morning air. He held the bowl aloft and intoned:
-- Introibo ad altare Dei.
Halted, he peered down the dark winding stairs and called up coarsely:
-- Come up, Kinch. Come up, you fearful jesuit.
@Setanta,
Your opinion is always welcome, Set. Good to see you back on this godforsaken site which dares call itself by the monicker of a site we used to know and love.
