best opening lines of classic novels

Well, from 'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte, 'There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.' This unassuming opening is actually quite effective. It creates a sense of confinement and the start of a story that will likely involve the main character breaking free from some sort of restriction, whether it be physical or emotional.

One of the most famous opening lines is from 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen: 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.' This line sets the tone for the whole novel which is centered around marriage, social class, and the relationships between men and women in the 19th - century English society. It's a satirical take on the society's obsession with marriage as a means of economic and social stability.

A great opening line is 'All children, except one, grow up.' from J.M. Barrie's 'Peter Pan'. This line is simple yet very effective. It makes the reader wonder about that one special child and why they don't grow up like the others. It also gives a sense of mystery and the promise of an adventure.

One of the best is 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' from George Orwell's '1984'. It immediately sets an off - kilter, dystopian mood.

One more notable opening line could be 'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.' from 'The Great Gatsby'. This line makes the reader curious about what that advice was and why it has been on the narrator's mind for so long. It gives a sense of a story that has been brewing in the narrator's head for a while.

The opening of 'Anna Karenina' by Leo Tolstoy, 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' is very thought - provoking. It makes the reader think about family dynamics and what differentiates happy from unhappy families, which is a central theme in the novel as we follow the story of Anna Karenina and her family.

One of the most famous is 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times' from 'A Tale of Two Cities' by Charles Dickens. This line immediately sets a tone of contrast and mystery, making the reader wonder about the times being described.

One great opening line could be 'In a world where the sun never set, the people had forgotten the beauty of the stars.' It immediately sets an unusual and somewhat mysterious setting that makes the reader wonder why the sun never sets and what that means for the people. It also creates a contrast between the sun and the stars, which can be explored further in the story.

In '1984' by George Orwell, 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' This opening line is really effective. The fact that the clocks are striking thirteen is immediately jarring and out of the ordinary. It signals to the reader that this is a world that is different from our own, perhaps a dystopian one where normal rules don't apply. It makes the reader curious to find out more about this strange world.

Another great one is 'All children, except one, grow up' from 'Peter Pan'. It's so simple yet it draws you in right away, making you wonder about that one child. There are also lines like 'Call me Ishmael' from 'Moby - Dick' which is very iconic and gives a sense of the narrator's identity and sets the tone for the story. These opening lines are great because they either create mystery, set the mood, or introduce a key concept right from the start.