Novel Beginnings
Not necessarily "funny," but entertaining to me.
The 100 best first lines from novels.
Hard to argue with Ishmael, but here are my favorites:
10. Along with Absalom, Absalom!, the finest American novel of the last century, to my mind.
14. Though I've never read the book, I own it and intend to. And when I start with this sentence, I'll really know I'm finally reading it.
15. A special brand of pessimism Beckett had.
19. Tristam Shandy (never read this one either): first-person narrative that starts at conception. Hmmm.
22. Almost as famous as Ishmael. Significantly worse.
29. So-so book, but a clever premise and first line.
38. James Frey? Vonnegut speaks truth from the start.
46. Astounding.
49. I'm curious.
59. I felt this way about about Catch-22. Read the whole thing in one long day in 1996.
69. It's O.K. with me too.
70. Flannery O'Connor is so sweet.
75. Nobody makes boring sentences as pitch perfect as Hemingway.
89. I don't always like Saul Bellow, but he starts well.
A few of my favorites that didn't make the list:
From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (which I consider a novel): "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." (Compare to #75 for use of prepositional phrases.)
From Philip Roth's The Great American Novel: "Why the Ruppert Mundys had been chosen to become the homeless team of baseball was explained to the Port Ruppert fans with that inspirational phrase of yesteryear, 'to help save the world for democracy.' " I guess listening to the State of the Union tonight just brought that one to mind. Texas Rangers fans would understand, wouldn't they?
And, saving the best for last (and for H. Pompous), Peter Benchley's finest: "The great fish moved silently through the night water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail." Yes, the first sentence of Jaws.
The 100 best first lines from novels.
Hard to argue with Ishmael, but here are my favorites:
10. Along with Absalom, Absalom!, the finest American novel of the last century, to my mind.
14. Though I've never read the book, I own it and intend to. And when I start with this sentence, I'll really know I'm finally reading it.
15. A special brand of pessimism Beckett had.
19. Tristam Shandy (never read this one either): first-person narrative that starts at conception. Hmmm.
22. Almost as famous as Ishmael. Significantly worse.
29. So-so book, but a clever premise and first line.
38. James Frey? Vonnegut speaks truth from the start.
46. Astounding.
49. I'm curious.
59. I felt this way about about Catch-22. Read the whole thing in one long day in 1996.
69. It's O.K. with me too.
70. Flannery O'Connor is so sweet.
75. Nobody makes boring sentences as pitch perfect as Hemingway.
89. I don't always like Saul Bellow, but he starts well.
A few of my favorites that didn't make the list:
From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (which I consider a novel): "We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." (Compare to #75 for use of prepositional phrases.)
From Philip Roth's The Great American Novel: "Why the Ruppert Mundys had been chosen to become the homeless team of baseball was explained to the Port Ruppert fans with that inspirational phrase of yesteryear, 'to help save the world for democracy.' " I guess listening to the State of the Union tonight just brought that one to mind. Texas Rangers fans would understand, wouldn't they?
And, saving the best for last (and for H. Pompous), Peter Benchley's finest: "The great fish moved silently through the night water, propelled by short sweeps of its crescent tail." Yes, the first sentence of Jaws.
posted by JLD at 19:47
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