| User | Blue Monk | | Topic | Best opening lines? | | Message | What do you consider the best opening line or lines to any written works?
Two come to mind for me;
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
a. Because it is divinely inspired, and
b. It told us thousands of years ago what we much later figured probably happened, "In the beginning." whether or not you believe God had a hand in it.
Call me Ishmael. - Herman Melville’s "Moby Dick".
Because it says so much with so little. |
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| User | besodemuerte | 2006-05-22 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | that ’call me ishmael’ line reminds me of the beginning to ’cat’s cradle’
"call me jonah. my parents did, or nearly did. they called me john." |
| User | besodemuerte | 2006-05-22 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | "the man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."
-stephen king ’the darktower-the gunslinger’
"it was a bright, defrosted, pussy-willow day at the onset of spring, and the newlyweds were driving cross-country in a large roast turkey"
-tom robbins ’skinny legs and all’
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| User | taramarie | 2006-05-21 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | "A hand job is a man job. Your job is a blow job."
i thought it was classy. :P just kidding.
i don’t care |
| User | dismentled | 2006-05-20 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | I guess, it was just 2 extremely different writes, and though fiarly "trite" as mentioned it does set the appropriate tone, and draw the reader in. |
| User | Blue Monk | 2006-05-20 | | | Subject | Dismentled - yeah! | | Message | I must admit,“Welcome to my funeral...”, is a really good opening line, exactly for the reasons you mentioned.
However, "Touch me!" seems a little trite in this day and age. You’ve already shown you can do much better. |
| User | supergirl_in_oh | 2006-05-19 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | wow lol again exilerating but i think welcome to my funeral is the best |
| User | dismentled | 2006-05-19 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | “Touch me! Take me! I need your hard throbbing cock inside me.”-Dark Love
“Welcome to my funeral”, he said in a lurid tone “may the procidence begin.” -13 O’clock
Yes, I admit they’re from my own works. But it immediately graps the readers attention and pulls them in needing to know what comes next, and both set ann appropriate tone for the strory. |
| User | idlewriter | 2006-05-18 | | | Subject | untitled | | Message | First off "Call me Ishmael" is one of my ultimate favorite opening lines. You are exactly right and it captures the readers attention in a subtle yet profound way.
Let me think on this one . . .
"HOWARD ROARK laughed." (Ayn Rand’s "The Fountainhead")
I don’t know if you’ve ever read this book, but the first line completely sheds light onto the readers as to who Roark is . . . It is an attention-grabber to say the least. One of my favorite lines indeed.
"DOWN TO THE LAST DAY, even the last hour now. I’m an old man, lonely and unloved, sick and hurting and tired of living. I am ready for the hereafter; it has to be better than this." (John Grisham’s "The Testament")
Another favorite line, another favorite book. I’ve always loved Grisham’s novels, but this is one of his best.
And finally,
"The boy with fair hari lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All round him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat. He was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of red an dyellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry; and this cry was echoed by another." (William Golding "Lord of the Flies")
Though it is a paragraph, this is a wonderful opener. I know many people who have read this never took a liking to the book, but it is one of my favorites. The boys on the island a splitting image our our systemized government as adults. The innocent show our errors. |
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