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Some novels are remembered less for their plots than for a single sentence. A first line can set a tone, plant a question, or simply stick in the mind for decades. Readers who never finished the book can still often recite the opening.
The eleven openings below come from novels that have shaped how people think about beginnings. Each one is paired with the book it opens and a bit of context about why it works.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)
The famous opening claims that a single man with a good fortune must want a wife. It is a statement about social assumptions, delivered with a straight face. Austen’s irony is clear almost at once.
The sentence tells you the novel will be about marriage, money, and the gap between what society says and what people want. Few openings in English are quoted or parodied as often. It remains a model of how a dry tone can carry a lot of meaning.
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851)
Three short words, “Call me Ishmael,” begin the novel. They are casual and direct, almost an invitation. The narrator doesn’t say it is his real name, which adds a faint note of mystery.
Melville published the book in 1851, and it was not a commercial success at the time. Its reputation grew in the twentieth century, and its opening is now among the most recognizable in American writing.
Anna…
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Author : Matthias Binder
Publish date : 2026-10-07 15:24:00
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