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Ask any writer you know, all of them will probably admit their biggest struggle is finding the right first sentences of books. Sometimes it's easier to draft an entire story and actually write a nice ending paragraph before deciding on the good starting sentences of their pieces.

The beginning of a story carries the daunting task of hooking the prospective reader in, and adding your work among best selling books. You get only a few sentences and maybe less than two minutes to write good opening lines which will pass the vibe check between the reader and the book. If you’re an inspiring writer, our list of 83 famous opening lines of books will show you how to write books that grab attention from the beginning.

In a recent survey from Amazon Literary Partnership, British book lovers voted for the timeless French Revolution-era classic novel “A Tale of Two Cities,” published in 1840. Charles Dickens wrote the most iconic novel opening that still wins in polls: 

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”

Scroll through our list with literary masterpieces and the best books of all time if you want to become the next Charles Dickens who writes the best opening sentences. Be sure to let us know which book you didn’t judge by its cover, but by its opening lines. And if you haven’t laid your eyes on any of these books, you will definitely pick your next read here.

#1

'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy' By Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy book cover and an opening line

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Jeremie Guerra
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7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A true must read :) Specially if you want to know the answer to life, universe and everything ^^

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#2

'The Martian' By Andy Weir

The Martian book cover and an opening line

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John L
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7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Great novel! And yes, it was better than the movie, because you are able to get inside Mark Watney's brain.

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#3

'Fahrenheit 451' By Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 book cover and an opening line

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John L
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7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm a huge SciFi reader, but never could get interested in him for some reason. I've always been an H. Beam Piper sort of fellow. ;D

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#4

'1984' By George Orwell

1984 book cover and an opening line

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John L
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7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To this day I'm still trying to decide which is most depressing; this one or "Brave New World".

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#5

'Anna Karenina' By Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina book cover and an opening line

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Nancy E
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7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I loved this book & even though I tend to be an optimist, I've read a lot of dark Russian literature

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#6

'The Great Gatsby' By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby book cover and an opening line

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Wanda Queen
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7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can think of a few people right now who would do well to remember the same.

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#7

'Middlesex' By Jeffrey Eugenides

Middlesex book cover and an opening line

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Master Markus
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember hearing this line, getting interested, and then hearing a summary and being less interested for some reason.

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#8

'The Go-Between' By L.P. Hartley

The Go-Between book cover and an opening line

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#10

'The Crow Road' By Iain Banks

The Crow Road book cover and an opening line

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John L
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7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Let's hope and pray it was meant figuratively and not literally. 😱

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#12

'Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone' By J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone book cover and an opening line

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KK
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That "thank you very much" sells it and hooked me from the frist sentence.

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#13

'A Tale Of Two Cities' By Charles Dickens

'A Tale Of Two Cities book cover and an opening line

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Charm Valenzuela
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7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"looking to the LEFT because you never treated me right... Looking to the RIGHT because you left me...looking DOWN because you messed me up... looking UP because you let me down...

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#14

'Peter Pan' By J.M. Barrie

Peter Pan book cover and an opening line

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#15

'The Metamorphosis' By Franz Kafka

The Metamorphosis book cover and an opening line

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Beth Arriaga
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This book was, like so many on this list, much better the second time I read them, as an adult and not for an assignment in school!

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#16

'Their Eyes Were Watching God' By Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God book cover and an opening line

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#18

'Howl's Moving Castle' By Diana Wynne Jones

Howl's Moving Castle book cover and an opening line

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Raluca Neacsu
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ive read this! I really really enjoyed it. The only similarity to the film is at the beginning, the introduction. The book itself is simply a whole new world. Its hard to explain but the best i can do is say it was simply the best, it made me feel like a child again

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#19

'Slaughterhouse-Five' By Kurt Vonnegut

Slaughterhouse-Five book cover and an opening line

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#20

'The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe' By Douglas Adams

The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe book cover and an opening line

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Lyndsay B
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

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#21

'The Hobbit' By J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit book cover and an opening line

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#22

'The Catcher In The Rye' By J.D. Salinger

The Catcher In The Rye book cover and an opening line

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Master Markus
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This book was one I hated when I was a teenager, but then laughed about when I was an adult.

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#23

'Back When We Were Grownups' By Anne Tyler

Back When We Were Grownups book cover and an opening line

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#25

'Alice's Adventures In Wonderland' By Lewis Carroll

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland book cover and an opening line

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Master Markus
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a big volume of all of the Wonderland stories and poems, they've been some of my favourites since childhood.

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#26

'The Color Purple' By Alice Walker

The Color Purple book cover and an opening line

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#27

'Lolita' By Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita book cover and an opening line

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Adriana E. Henricy
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its so amazing how people believe its about love when its about pedophilia and abuse :/

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#28

'One Hundred Years Of Solitude' By Gabriel García Márquez

One Hundred Years Of Solitude book cover and an opening line

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#29

'Middle Passage' By Charles R. Johnson

Middle Passage book cover and an opening line

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Cleo Pindar
Community Member
6 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

:D "Cherchez la femme," as we say in French: "look for the woman," when there is trouble with a man. (Meaning, look for the woman he is trying to impress.)

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#30

'Scaramouche: A Romance Of The French Revolution' By Rafael Sabatini

Scaramouche: A Romance Of The French Revolution book cover and an opening line

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#31

'Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale' By Herman Melville

Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale book cover and an opening line

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Sick Boy
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7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Should've started with: "Call me crazy, but this book is brimming with descriptions that mask the simplistic storyline."

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#32

'Chromos' By Felipe Alfau

Chromos book cover and an opening line

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#33

'Tracks' By Robyn Davidson

Tracks book cover and an opening line

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#34

'David Copperfield' By Charles Dickens

David Copperfield book cover and an opening line

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Sick Boy
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ladies and gentlemen, Charles "the Destitute Porn" Dickens...

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#35

'Notes From Underground' By Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Notes From Underground book cover and an opening line

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#37

'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea' By Jules Verne

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea book cover and an opening line

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John L
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I read this in grade school, and was mesmerized by it at the time. I'm almost afraid to give it a go once more, because I may be disappointed.

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#38

'The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn' By Mark Twain

The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn book cover and an opening line

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John L
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My teacher read both "Tom Sawyer" and this one to the class, and we all loved it. As I grew older, I read them personally, and still can't make up my mind which of the two I like best. It must be the "Rugged Individualism" in Mr. Clemens that I found so appealing, and is probably why I am such an H.Beam Piper follower.

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#39

'Charlotte's Web' By E.B. White

Charlotte's Web book cover and an opening line

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Nancy E
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One of my all time favorite children's books. I'm not ashamed to say that I boo-hooed through the movie either.

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#40

'Goodbye To Berlin' By Christopher Isherwood

Goodbye To Berlin book cover and an opening line

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#41

'Breakfast Of Champions' By Kurt Vonnegut

Breakfast Of Champions book cover and an opening line

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#42

'The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader' By C. S. Lewis

The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader book cover and an opening line

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#43

'The Trial' By Franz Kafka

The Trial book cover and an opening line

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#44

'Don Quixote' By Miguel De Cervantes

Don Quixote book cover and an opening line

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#45

'Gone With The Wind' By Margaret Mitchell

Gone With The Wind book cover and an opening line

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#46

'Murphy' By Samuel Beckett

Murphy book cover and an opening line

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#47

'The Stranger' By Albert Camus

The Stranger book cover and an opening line

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Pol Macqueron
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wait for the rest of it. "Or maybe yesterday; I can't be sure." Incredible start!

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#48

'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' By Ken Kesey

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest book cover and an opening line

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Master Markus
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is a great book. I really do like the movie, but the book is from the perspective of Chief Bromden, whom I consider much more interesting than McMurphy.

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#49

'Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas' By Hunter S. Thompson

Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas book cover and an opening line

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#50

'Neuromancer' By William Gibson

Neuromancer book cover and an opening line

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Daria B
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

One of my all-time favorites. I remember I loved this book from the very first sentence.

#52

'2001: A Space Odyssey' By Arthur C. Clarke

2001: A Space Odyssey book cover and an opening line

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John L
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Once upon a time, growing up, I read a short story "The Star". It made such an impression on me that I just had to read more Clarke. I couldn't find 2001 at the time, but did locate "The City and the Stars", and "Rendezvous with Rama". By the time I managed to get a copy of 2001, I was already mesmerized by O'Neil Cylinders, and this work was a little bit of a put-down. His dry English prose may have been the reason why.

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#54

'Jane Eyre' By Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre book cover and an opening line

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#55

'The Outsiders' By S.E. Hinton

The Outsiders book cover and an opening line

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#56

'A Clockwork Orange' By Anthony Burgess

A Clockwork Orange book cover and an opening line

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cybersandwitch
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Love this book. Had to read it three times to understand it, but well worth it.

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#57

'The End Of The Affair' By Graham Greene

The End Of The Affair book cover and an opening line

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#58

'City Of Glass' By Douglas Coupland

City Of Glass book cover and an opening line

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Léa Montesse
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is from the Paul Auster book of the same name, not Douglas Copland's!

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#59

'To Kill A Mockingbird' By Harper Lee

To Kill A Mockingbird book cover and an opening line

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Zori the degu
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yup, I was also quite surprised by this first line. I wondered if the book would be interesting to me... Then I read it in a matter of two days.

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#60

'The Hunger Games' By Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games book cover and an opening line

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CelSlade
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7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I read the entire trilogy back to back over two days. I think I only paused for bodily necessities and to close my eyes and mutter 'No no no!' every now and then. I would highly recommend it!

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#61

'And Then There Were None' By Agatha Christie

And Then There Were None book cover and an opening line

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#62

'Life Of Pi' By Yann Martel

Life Of Pi book cover and an opening line

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#63

'High-Rise' By J.G. Ballard

High-Rise book cover and an opening line

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#65

'The Portrait Of A Lady' By Henry James

The Portrait Of A Lady book cover and an opening line

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#66

'I Capture The Castle' By Dodie Smith

I Capture The Castle book cover and an opening line

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Sick Boy
Community Member
7 years ago

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Seems a little desperate for attention... the author, that is.

#67

'The Napoleon Of Notting Hill' By G. K. Chesterton

The Napoleon Of Notting Hill book cover and an opening line

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#68

'Changing Places: A Tale Of Two Campuses' By David Lodge

'Changing Places: A Tale Of Two Campuses book cover and an opening line

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Zori the degu
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok... Probably I should check this one, the first line sounds insane enough for my taste.

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#69

'The Invisible Man' By H.G. Wells

The Invisible Man book cover and an opening line

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#70

'The Brief History Of The Dead' By Kevin Brockmeier

The Brief History Of The Dead book cover and an opening line

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#71

'Oryx And Crake' By Margaret Atwood

Oryx And Crake book cover and an opening line

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#72

'Elmer Gantry' By Sinclair Lewis

Elmer Gantry book cover and an opening line

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Nancy E
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I liked most of Sinclair Lewis's books , even though he was an insecure, &, tortured man. Mark Schorer has the best biography on him.

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#73

'The Old Man And The Sea' By Ernest Hemingway

The Old Man And The Sea book cover and an opening line

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#74

'Catch-22' By Joseph Heller

Catch-22 book cover and an opening line

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John L
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It began so well until the "flying into the mountain" part. It was all downhill after that, and I never finished it.

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#75

'The Pearl' By John Steinbeck

The Pearl book cover and an opening line

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#76

'Cat's Eye' By Margaret Atwood

Cat's Eye book cover and an opening line

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#77

'The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe' By C.S. Lewis

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe book cover and an opening line

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#78

'A Confederacy Of Dunces' By John Kennedy Toole

A Confederacy Of Dunces book cover and an opening line

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#79

'Wide Sargasso Sea' By Jean Rhys

Wide Sargasso Sea book cover and and opening line

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#80

'Middlemarch' By George Eliot

Middlemarch book cover and an opening line

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Juley Goodwin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love the language. Why use one word when you can use five. Magnificent

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#81

'Ethan Frome' By Edith Wharton

Ethan Frome book cover and an opening line

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#82

'Goldfinger' By Ian Fleming

Goldfinger book cover and an opening line

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#83

'Gravity's Rainbow' By Thomas Pynchon

Gravity's Rainbow book cover and an opening line