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Post by (_+*Lou*+_) on Nov 7, 2007 17:30:20 GMT -5
I tend to love opening lines that aren't what you expect.
For example, I first picked up Watership Down because I was completely desperate. I am fond of things with titles such as "Fueldalism in Mideval England" yet for some odd reason I thought that this classic would be boring. And then it began with "The primroses were over." Simple. Concise. For the two and a half hours that I needed to read it cover to cover, I did not put that rabbity tome down.
I'm also big on "She scowled into her glass of orange juice" starting a sword-and-sorcery type novel (The Blue Sword). Another one that I originally only read because I was desperate. Sometimes I wonder if all my favorite novels were first read becuase there was nothing else to read.
Wow. I can name a bunch now that I've considered that.
Maybe desperation is a good sign.
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Rebekah
Frequent Visitor
Beware the ducks, for they will devour your soul.
Posts: 115
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Post by Rebekah on Nov 8, 2007 19:22:48 GMT -5
"My father had a face that could stop a clock. It didn't mean he was ugly or anything: it was a phrase the ChronoGuard used to describe someone who had the power to reduce time to an ultraslow trickle." The Eyre Affair (one of the strangest and cooliest mix of genres ever to become a book.)
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Post by Bacon on Nov 8, 2007 21:34:59 GMT -5
"My father had a face that could stop a clock. It didn't mean he was ugly or anything: it was a phrase the ChronoGuard used to describe someone who had the power to reduce time to an ultraslow trickle." The Eyre Affair (one of the strangest and cooliest mix of genres ever to become a book.) Wow, that is intriguing. Personally, I can't remember any, at least, not that haven't already been posted, although, from lessons I learned by reading these posts, I attempted my own captivating introduction for a story I'm writing: "I died that day. At least, that’s what I tell myself, for I was never the same. When somebody so close is lost, one loses one’s self. That’s what happened to me. That’s how I got into the monster slaying business, out of rage, out of sorrow. And now, even her bright sapphire eyes are fading from my memory"
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Post by Nasuella on Nov 8, 2007 23:46:45 GMT -5
"Dear Spring: What the heck is wrong with you? You're supposed to be the time when snow melts!"
Possible (slightly censored for language) opening lines from a story I'm planning and pre-plotting. I like this because it shows part of the main character's personality - and it's kinda funny.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2007 19:21:03 GMT -5
When books or chapters start with someone talking I normally enjoy them, because it normally says something about the character. First person stories are fun to read too because it gives you insight into exactly what they are thinking.
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Post by Fraze on Nov 12, 2007 21:22:44 GMT -5
"In 1988, a French artist named Alain Georgeot prepared an exhibition of 88 elephants."
Believe it or not, the opening line of the book Origami Design Secrets. A book about--bet you didn't see this one coming--the secrets of designing origami models.
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Post by Kengplant on Nov 14, 2007 20:47:22 GMT -5
Stephen King, I haven't read the books, and I may have already posted this, but incase I didn't (I can't be bothered to check very rigorously) But Stephen King's the Dark Tower. First book. "The man in black ran across the desert and the Gunslinger followed." You want to know what the end line is? Well, go read the books (warning though, this IS Stephen King we're talking about, it's not all roses and ruby slippers... though there are roses in it, and ruby slippers, but the roses will kill you if you get so much as a scratch from their thorns, dunno about the slippers. Like I said, I have not read the books, but, well, my friends have Oh and not a book but... "A long time ago in a Galax-" well, you can fill in the rest
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Post by Fraze on Nov 14, 2007 22:50:58 GMT -5
Stephen King, I haven't read the books, and I may have already posted this, but incase I didn't (I can't be bothered to check very rigorously) But Stephen King's the Dark Tower. First book. "The man in black ran across the desert and the Gunslinger followed." You want to know what the end line is? Well, go read the books (warning though, this IS Stephen King we're talking about, it's not all roses and ruby slippers... though there are roses in it, and ruby slippers, but the roses will kill you if you get so much as a scratch from their thorns, dunno about the slippers. Like I said, I have not read the books, but, well, my friends have Oh and not a book but... "A long time ago in a Galax-" well, you can fill in the rest All I had to do was read the last part of what you wrote, and the soundtrack started up for me.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2007 23:57:28 GMT -5
Breaking a rule. Best opening paragraph:
"It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, Man had always assumed that he was the most intelligent species occupying the planet, instead of the *third* most intelligent. The second most intelligent were of course dolphins who had long known of the impending destruction of earth. They had on many occasions tried to alert mankind but their warnings were mistakenly interpreted as amusing attempts to punch footballs or whistle for titbits. The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a suprisingly sophisticated attempt at doing a double backflip through a hoop while whistling the star-spangled banner but in fact the message was this: So long and thanks for all the fish. "
-Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2007 11:53:52 GMT -5
There is a book called Gentlemen & Players, the opening lines from it are flawless. Well I think they are flawless.
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Post by Salah~ on Dec 17, 2007 18:58:41 GMT -5
"Kidnapping children is not a good idea. All the same, sometimes it has to be done." --Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2007 0:47:09 GMT -5
"I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice - not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany."
--A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
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Post by insanepurpleone on Dec 24, 2007 0:56:36 GMT -5
Ah, yes. Any opening lines from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as so many people have posted. I also like the opening line from Adams' other book, The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul:
"It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression 'As pretty as an airport.'"
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Post by Psycho on Jan 8, 2008 0:39:11 GMT -5
"Once upon a time there was a Martian named Valentine Michael Smith." - Stranger in a Strange Land, by Heinlein
Aside from being prompted to read this "really good" book by some of my friends, I was drawn to the fact that this is a sci-fi story starting like a simple, good, heartwarming fairy tale. No commas to slow the pace, the opening line is frank and to the point. Furthermore, a martian with the name Valentine Michael Smith? I immediately want to know how that came to be.
The best openers I have come across pose such situations that are strange but not completely impossible at first thought, leaving room for possibilities and further interest to pursue the topic.
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Post by lemmykoopa300 on Jan 15, 2008 19:43:12 GMT -5
The opening monologue of Romeo And Juliet, which I have sadly not memorized, but is classic and beautiful. I also like from The Chocolate War, "They killed him." Dramatic. And from Uglies, "The sky was the color of cat vomit.", which may not be the exact line, but is a pretty good way to start a book. XD "The early summer sky was the color of cat vomit. Of course, Tally thought, you'd have to feed your cat only salmon-flavored cat food for a while, to get the pinks right. The scudding clouds did look a bit fishy, rippled into scales by a high-altitude wind. As the light faded, deep blue gaps of night peered through like an upside-down ocean, bottomless and cold." - Uglies by Scott Westerfeld ...Thanks. I read yours after I posted. Breaking a rule. Best opening paragraph: "It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, Man had always assumed that he was the most intelligent species occupying the planet, instead of the *third* most intelligent. The second most intelligent were of course dolphins who had long known of the impending destruction of earth. They had on many occasions tried to alert mankind but their warnings were mistakenly interpreted as amusing attempts to punch footballs or whistle for titbits. The last ever dolphin message was misinterpreted as a suprisingly sophisticated attempt at doing a double backflip through a hoop while whistling the star-spangled banner but in fact the message was this: So long and thanks for all the fish. " -Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy I need to reread that book again. It's amazing.
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