There should always be something special about the first sentence of a novel. Surely it must be the hardest sentence to watch (or perhaps that would be the last?). It needs to set the tone and style of the narrative. Also, a good first sentence should hit the reader in the face and pull them into the world of the narrative. Today I am going to share with you my top five first sentences that I have come across (Full disclosure: one of them is from a poem and another is a bit of a cheat at two sentences).
Without further ado and in no particular order...
"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." - Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
"When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home." - The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
"In the old days, in the years that have gone before us, the land and sea felt a great emptiness, a yearning." - The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
"The Salinas Valley is in Northern California. It is a long narrow swale between two ranges of mountains, and the Salinas River winds and twists up the center until it falls at last into Monterey Bay" - East of Eden by John Steinbeck (to be honest the whole first chapter of this novel is absolute bliss)
"I celebrate myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to
you." - Song of Myself by Walt Whitman
What are some of your favourite first sentences? Let me know in the comments below!
Cheers,
xo
*this post was not sponsored. No copyright infringement intended.
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