Best opening line and why

[Jinn_Ku]

I'm sure something like this has been posted before, but I'll ask it anyway. What do you think is the best opening line in any book and why? By best, I mean just about anything that made you want to keep reading. Sometimes you can read an opening line and immediatly get an idea of the type of book, author's style, or any number of things. Others leave you wandering what's going on in a good way, and yet others leave you lost and setting the book on you 'to do' pile. So what do you think, best opening line (or even paragraph, I suppose) and why?

I would have to say the opening line of "The Gunslinger"
"The man in black fled across the desert, and the Gunslinger followed."

You immediatly are left wondering who the man in black is, who the Gunslinger is, why their in a desert, and why the Gunslinger would be so adamant about following someone across a desert.

 

[Received]

Mine goes to Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, undoubtedly:

"All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

My favorite opening sentence would probably have to go to Salinger's Catcher in the Rye:

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of cr*p, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."

I often wonder why people don't take advantage of the opening lines; this is really all that is needed with a good writing style, and a decent plot progression.

 

[oncewaslost]

the gunslinger was a good book. fast read. i still haven't moved onto the other books. i don't really have a favorite opening line. at least, i can't remember any.

 

[Rolf Ernst]

"Across the desert fled a man in black; and behind him, the gunslinger followed."

"Robed in black as dark as the night about him, he fled across the desert; and behind came the gunslinger."

"As darkly robed as the night about him, he fled across the desert; and in the darkness somewhere behind--the gunslinger." This one seems scarier than the first two above.

 

[Uphill Battle]

In the Beginning.

Genesis, authored by God.

C'mon, you KNEW someone would.

 

[Koshada]

First paragraph from 'Ishmael' by Daniel Quinn

"The first time I read the ad, I choked and cursed and spat and threw the paper to the floor. Since even this didn't seem to be quite enough, I snatched it up, marched into the kitchen, and shoved it into the trash. While I was there, I made myself a little breakfast and gave myself some time to cool down. I ate and thought about something else entirely. That's right. Then I dug the paper out of the trash and turned back to the Personals section, just to see if the damn thing was still there and just the way I remembered it. It was."


The reason is self evident. It not only left one with questions but fortified it with emotions to build our interest and is typical of nagging thoughts that we can all relate to.

Koshada

 

[The Ascetic Crusader]

" It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."

A Tale of Two Cities by Chuck Dickens.

I like it because it neatly sums up the human dichotomy.