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1001 First Lines
“It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.”- Paul Clifford by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
“Call me Ishmael.” -Moby Dick by Herman Melville
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” -1984 by George Orwell
Have you ever wondered which novels contain the most famous opening lines? Or how the writers of Science Fiction compare to those of Romance? Now you can compare for yourself, with 1001 of the best and worst First Lines from fifteen genres.
1001 First Lines is for the writers and the readers of the world, providing inspiration and instruction, with a checklist of titles to tick off as you go.
“Call me Ishmael.” -Moby Dick by Herman Melville
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” -1984 by George Orwell
Have you ever wondered which novels contain the most famous opening lines? Or how the writers of Science Fiction compare to those of Romance? Now you can compare for yourself, with 1001 of the best and worst First Lines from fifteen genres.
1001 First Lines is for the writers and the readers of the world, providing inspiration and instruction, with a checklist of titles to tick off as you go.
- GenresNonfiction
302 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
5 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 3, 2012
What a great idea! It's fun to flick through and really valuable if you're looking for some ideas. Also, it contains my favourite first line of all time: 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen'from George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four. I still aspire to write a first line as good as that.
June 7, 2012
If you are a book lover, like I am, you are bound to have some favorite first lines from your favorite books. What if you could find a book dedicated to capturing all those old familiar sayings in one book, would you be interested?
Well then look no further, 1001 First Lines, was collected and edited by Scarlett Archer just for you book lovers who sometimes will quote your lines but forget where they came from. These are all archived in a wonderful book categorized by genre type. You will find such classic authors as J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen King, Roald Dahl, Edgar Allen Poe, Arthur Miller, Charles Dickens, J.K. Rowling and many, many others captured inside the covers of this book. Here are just a small sample of what you will find:
"This is my favorite book in all the word, though I have never read it." ~ The Princess Bride by William Goldman
"Where's Papa going with that ax?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast." ~ Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
"If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book." ~ The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." ~ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." ~ A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
"A good first line cracks like a bull whip. A bad first line brings the book to its conclusion long before the last printed page. Sitting around the campfire is where it started, sharing stories with family and friends beneath the stars. In jungles, in deserts, in fields and caverns, in the dark nights and the brightest sun of the dawn. First lines hush a crowd and trigger huddles. They are a striking force that tears through a writer and leaves a wake so wide it sucks them down and won't free them until the last line is written - and even then they only get a single grasp before submerging again." (pg 4).
I received 1001 First Lines by Scarlett Archer, compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours, for my honest review. As a book lover and writer, I LOVE this book. Sometimes you search high and low looking for that great opening line and in this one, you find that sometimes it just something simple that draws the reader into to your book like a worm on a hook! This is the perfect gift for anyone who is a book lover, writer or even a Literature teacher! I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars and keep this one close at hand whenever frustration rises up and I just need a reminder that it doesn't have to be rocket science to be a great first line!
Well then look no further, 1001 First Lines, was collected and edited by Scarlett Archer just for you book lovers who sometimes will quote your lines but forget where they came from. These are all archived in a wonderful book categorized by genre type. You will find such classic authors as J.R.R. Tolkien, Stephen King, Roald Dahl, Edgar Allen Poe, Arthur Miller, Charles Dickens, J.K. Rowling and many, many others captured inside the covers of this book. Here are just a small sample of what you will find:
"This is my favorite book in all the word, though I have never read it." ~ The Princess Bride by William Goldman
"Where's Papa going with that ax?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast." ~ Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
"If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book." ~ The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." ~ Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair." ~ A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
"A good first line cracks like a bull whip. A bad first line brings the book to its conclusion long before the last printed page. Sitting around the campfire is where it started, sharing stories with family and friends beneath the stars. In jungles, in deserts, in fields and caverns, in the dark nights and the brightest sun of the dawn. First lines hush a crowd and trigger huddles. They are a striking force that tears through a writer and leaves a wake so wide it sucks them down and won't free them until the last line is written - and even then they only get a single grasp before submerging again." (pg 4).
I received 1001 First Lines by Scarlett Archer, compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours, for my honest review. As a book lover and writer, I LOVE this book. Sometimes you search high and low looking for that great opening line and in this one, you find that sometimes it just something simple that draws the reader into to your book like a worm on a hook! This is the perfect gift for anyone who is a book lover, writer or even a Literature teacher! I rate this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars and keep this one close at hand whenever frustration rises up and I just need a reminder that it doesn't have to be rocket science to be a great first line!
July 3, 2021
I wanted to study how great writers began their novels, and this fascinating book provided all the information I needed. It's great!
October 8, 2024
It got surprisingly dull so this took me ages to read. Also, Im not so sure i agree with a lot of the categories. I dont think Animal Farm is sci fi, for example.
July 28, 2012
1001 FIRST LINES is definitely not your typical book; fiction or non-fiction. It could be used a great book to find the next great novel based on the first line on the first page, it could be used like a book of quotes, and of course it could be used to just guess what would happen next or cringe from a bad line like a bad pickup line in a bar. If you enjoy looking for a interesting line first or not, you just might enjoy flipping through this book. Thankfully Archer breaks the book up into “chapters” to at least let you know what genre of book that line came from. When I think back on some of the lines that personally caught my attention, I’ve learned (or perhaps just reminded myself) that unless it had to do with murder, sex, or something rather sad, I easily passed over the sentence. Apparently, unless it’s somewhat shocking to my mind, it bores me and I just move on. Something for authors to think about when it comes to writing their first lines? Perhaps…at least I’m hoping I’m not the only one who prefers to be shocked (the story has to be believable of course one way or another).
Here were some first lines that get the thumbs up from me for grabbing my attention…
My name is Gin, and I kill people. – SPIDER’S BITE by Jennifer Estep
How do you ask your best friend to f$*% your wife? – COMING CLEAN by Inez Kelley
In the tunnel where I was raped, a tunnel that was once an underground entry to an amphitheater, a place where actors burst forth from underneath the seats of a crowd, a girl had been murdered and dismembered. – LUCKY by Alice Sebold
It is so appropriate to color hope yellow, like that sun we seldom saw. – FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC by V.C. Andrews
And the ones that made me cringe, confused because I needed more, or it just outright bored me…
North Greenwhich. – BIRDMAN by Mo Hayder
Congratulations. – THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT by James Patterson
Rita Sterling was looking out her bedroom window on this beautiful, bright, sunny Saturday morning. – LOVE OF A LIFETIME by Ida Plassay
Once upon a time… – THE ONION GIRL by Charles de Lint
Here were some first lines that get the thumbs up from me for grabbing my attention…
My name is Gin, and I kill people. – SPIDER’S BITE by Jennifer Estep
How do you ask your best friend to f$*% your wife? – COMING CLEAN by Inez Kelley
In the tunnel where I was raped, a tunnel that was once an underground entry to an amphitheater, a place where actors burst forth from underneath the seats of a crowd, a girl had been murdered and dismembered. – LUCKY by Alice Sebold
It is so appropriate to color hope yellow, like that sun we seldom saw. – FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC by V.C. Andrews
And the ones that made me cringe, confused because I needed more, or it just outright bored me…
North Greenwhich. – BIRDMAN by Mo Hayder
Congratulations. – THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT by James Patterson
Rita Sterling was looking out her bedroom window on this beautiful, bright, sunny Saturday morning. – LOVE OF A LIFETIME by Ida Plassay
Once upon a time… – THE ONION GIRL by Charles de Lint
February 20, 2013
I was honestly expecting most of the first lines to be from classic literature... which would be interesting to readers and helpful to writers. Instead Ms. Archer nabbed first lines from adult and young adult, from paranormal to biographies, fiction and nonfiction. There were several classic novels like "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Grapes of Wrath" in there... right alongside the first line from "Twilight" and Phillip K. Dick novels. Science fiction, paranormal, romance, fantasy, classics, biographies, nonfiction... it's represented. This was fascinating. Whether you're hoping to improve your own first lines or you're just excited to see if your favorite first lines made it in there--this book was a win/win.
May 28, 2013
This book delivers exactly what the title promises and appeals to a very specific type of reader - a writer searching for inspiration, a trivia hound, or someone searching for a new read. The author did a good job of picking a diverse selection of books, and I liked the genre breakdown, but I thought small thematic introductions to the sections would've helped to transition the works into a cohesive whole.
July 16, 2012
An excellent book for trivia, and to remind you of some very cool books.
This book made me go back and re-read some classics I have, and made me hunt down a few more. Also, as a WRITER it made me look at my first line and hope to grab people with it.
If I am lucky, Scarlett just might put my first line into the next edition...
This book made me go back and re-read some classics I have, and made me hunt down a few more. Also, as a WRITER it made me look at my first line and hope to grab people with it.
If I am lucky, Scarlett just might put my first line into the next edition...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews