Booking through Thursday

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Booking through Thursday this week asks us the consider our favourite first lines.
As I just finished 'Rebecca' by Daphne Du Maurier a couple of weeks ago the first line is still vivid,'Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again...'
This line draws me in immediately. Now , I know a lot of people know the storyline, but I'm sure even if I didn't, these words would make me curious. Who dreamt? Where/what is Manderley? Had the narrator been there before?
This is a good line . The reader wants to answer these questions.

A book that I love and am going to reread soon is Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte.
The first line in this is sombre and troubling.
'All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quatity, that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut.'IMHO these words are the author's way of assessing characters and once the reader has finished the book you can agree with this opening line.
These are the words of Agnes Grey and although I haven't memorised them completely, once I read the first few words I'm compelled to read on.

More beginnings here.

Comments

SmilingSally said…
Two examples of great first lines.
24 July 2008 at 21:15
Confuzzled Shannon said…
I like the Bronte one too.
25 July 2008 at 01:51
BooksPlease said…
My first thought on this was the first line from Rebecca and it was years ago that I read it. It has stayed with me ever since.
26 July 2008 at 12:17
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