Best opening line in a novel

The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.

The Dark Tower Part I - The Gunslinger.

"Her gynecologist recommended him to me." John Irving, "The Water Method Man"

Or this one from comic genius, Christopher Moore: "The city of San Francisco is being stalked by a huge vampyre cat named Chet, and only I, Abby Normal, emergency backup mistress of The Greater Bay Area night, and my manga-haired love monkey, Foo Dog stand between the ravenous monster and a bloody massacre of the general public."

Tell me you don't want to keep reading.

I always liked this one: "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect." Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis.

The first rule in fight club is, don't talk about fight club.

frets wrote:

I always liked this one: "As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect." Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis.

Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheuren Ungeziefer verwandelt.

A screaming comes across the sky.

Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Without that line, no other line means anything.

"I hear the pounding of several foot steps hitting the pavement in a rhythmic movement and it's music to my ears....then I am muffled by my own labored breathing and rapid heart beating..."-MMI

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”

"Veni, vidi, wici."

You are welcome.

A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head.

Saul Goodman wrote:

The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.

The Dark Tower Part I - The Gunslinger.

+1

There are certainly better novels, but that first line grabs you by the balls and drags you into the story

it was a bright cold day in april and the clocks were striking thirteen

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974.

"It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times..."

Wait a minute... You stupid monkey!

I don't know if it's the 'best' but the opening paragraph of Red Wind by Raymond Chandler is one of my favorites:

"There was a desert wind blowing that night. It was one of those hot, dry Santa Anas that come down through the mountain passes and curl your hair and make your nerves jump and your skin itch. On nights like that every booze party ends in a fight. Meek little wives feel the edge of the carving knife and study their husbands' necks. Anything can happen. You can even get a full glass of beer at a cocktail lounge."

Round Table Knight wrote:

For me it's "Who is John Galt?"

For all of you Ayn Rand fans please stop , with the bulls*&%:

This line, and the concept and background for Altas Shrugged was ripped off of a 1922 novel by Garrett Garrett titled "The Driver". It is about railroads, and lazy people and some jerk who saves the world and then still gets treated like an jerk after because he is a jerk, and the worst part is that throughout the whole book he repeats the line "Who is Henry Galt?"......all written and published 30 years before that arrogant Russian aristocrat ever decided to rip it off.......maybe she liked it and thought she could do better.

Here is the link to the pdf of the novel:

I don't think ya'll understand the concept of an opening line, when you are arguing the merits of the novel that follows.

The guy who says P&P is spot on "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

A humorous line, expertly written, that also tells you a great deal about the story to follow. Incredible contextualization, easily the best opening line to any novel out.

I like this one too "The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new."

Not exactly a novel, but how about "Sing Goddess, of the wrath of Peleus' son Achilles . . ."