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Call Me Stately Plump Mrs. Dalloway: 100 Best Opening Lines From Novels Per "American Book Review" - Page 2

Would you have kept reading "Moby Dick" had it begun with "My name is Ishmael," or "Pride and Prejudice" if it kicked off with "Many people think wealthy young men should find a wife?" Probably, since they were assigned to you for a class, but still, a great opening sentence is usually the hallmark of a great novel. For example, Jacqueline Susann's "Valley of the Dolls" begins with "The temperature hit ninety degrees the day she arrived." As opposed to ninety what?
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41
Chromos
Chromos
42
The Debut
The Debut
43
Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)
Pale Fire
Vladimir Nabokov
44
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Zora Neale Hurston
45
Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton)
Ethan Frome
Edith Wharton
46
Alphabetical Africa
Alphabetical Africa
47
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C.S. Lewis)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
C.S. Lewis
48
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
The Old Man and the Sea
Ernest Hemingway
49
The Crow Road
The Crow Road
50
Middlesex (Jeffrey Eugenides)
Middlesex
Jeffrey Eugenides
51
Elmer Gantry
Elmer Gantry
52
Tracks
Tracks
53
Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury
54
The End of the Affair (Graham Greene)
The End of the Affair
Graham Greene
55
At Swim-Two-Birds (Flann O'Brien)
At Swim-Two-Birds
Flann O'Brien
56
Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe)
Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe
57
Wittgenstein's Mistress (David Markson)
Wittgenstein's Mistress
David Markson
58
Middlemarch (George Eliot)
Middlemarch
George Eliot
59
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Catch-22
Joseph Heller
60
Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things
Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things
61
The Razor's Edge
The Razor's Edge
62
Back When We Were Grownups
Back When We Were Grownups
63
The Napoleon of Notting Hill
The Napoleon of Notting Hill
64
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald
65
The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
The Color Purple
Alice Walker
66
The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie)
The Satanic Verses
Salman Rushdie
67
The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath
68
The Broom of the System
The Broom of the System
69
Herzog (Saul Bellow)
Herzog
Saul Bellow
70
The Violent Bear It Away
The Violent Bear It Away
71
The Tin Drum (Günter Grass)
The Tin Drum
Günter Grass
72
The Dick Gibson Show
The Dick Gibson Show
73
The Origin of the Brunists
The Origin of the Brunists
74
The Wings of the Dove (Henry James)
The Wings of the Dove
Henry James
75
A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway)
A Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway
76
The Towers of Trebizond
The Towers of Trebizond
77
Lord Jim (Joseph Conrad)
Lord Jim
Joseph Conrad
78
The Go-Between
The Go-Between
79
Riddley Walker
Riddley Walker
80
A Frolic of His Own
A Frolic of His Own
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