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Famous Novels With the Catchiest First Lines

"The opening lines of a novel can prove crucial, and many authors spend an inordinate amount of time considering how their books will begin. From Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities to Melville's Moby Dick, often the opening sentence or two of a book will become the most frequently quoted and iconic passage from the entire novel. This list has the best novels with great first lines, bound to make the best impression on readers."
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1
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
2
1984 (George Orwell)
1984 (George Orwell)
3
Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
4
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
5
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
6
The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
7
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
8
Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
9
The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)
The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka)
10
David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)
David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)
11
The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
12
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C. S. Lewis)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C. S. Lewis)
13
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
14
The Go-Between (L.P. Hartley)
The Go-Between (L.P. Hartley)
15
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
16
The Crow Road (Iain Banks)
The Crow Road (Iain Banks)
17
The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
18
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
19
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
20
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
21
The Trial (Franz Kafka)
The Trial (Franz Kafka)
22
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
23
Don Quixote (Miguel De Cervantes)
Don Quixote (Miguel De Cervantes)
24
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
25
Scaramouche (Rafael Sabatini)
Scaramouche (Rafael Sabatini)
26
The Stranger (Albert Camus)
The Stranger (Albert Camus)
27
Neuromancer (William Gibson)
Neuromancer (William Gibson)
28
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
29
Notes From Underground (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
Notes From Underground (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
30
Middle Passage (Charles Johnson)
Middle Passage (Charles Johnson)
31
Paradise (Toni Morrison)
Paradise (Toni Morrison)
32
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
33
A Frolic of His Own (William Gaddis)
A Frolic of His Own (William Gaddis)
34
Middlesex (Jeffrey Eugenides)
Middlesex (Jeffrey Eugenides)
35
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
36
Chromos (Felipe Alfau)
Chromos (Felipe Alfau)
37
A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
38
Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton)
Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton)
39
The End of the Affair (Graham Greene)
The End of the Affair (Graham Greene)
40
Back When We Were Grownups (Anne Tyler)
Back When We Were Grownups (Anne Tyler)
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