Best opening lines - Amazon UK vote results
Posted: September 27th, 2023, 7:05 am
Amazon recently carried out a UK-wide vote, asking readers for their favourite opening lines of a book.
Here's the top 25 results -
1. 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.' A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - 29%
2. 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' 1984 by George Orwell - 24%
3. 'All children, except one, grow up.' Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - 22%
4. 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.' The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien - 22%
5. 'Mr and Mrs Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling - 22%
6. 'It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.' Matilda by Roald Dahl - 21%
7. 'Thursday January 1st BANK HOLIDAY IN ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES These are my New Year's resolutions:
I will help the blind across the road
I will hang my trousers up
I will put the sleeves back on my records
I will not start smoking
I will stop squeezing my spots
I will be kind to the dog
I will help the poor and ignorant
After hearing the disgusting noises from downstairs last night, I have also vowed never to drink alcohol.' Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend - 17%
8. 'I'm pretty much f**ked.' The Martian by Andy Weir - 16%
9. 'Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy…' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - 16%
10. 'James Bond, with two double bourbons inside him, sat in the final departure lounge of Miami airport and thought about death.' Goldfinger by Ian Fleming - 16%
11. 'My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.' The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - 15%
12. 'When I think of my wife, I always think of the back of her head. I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brain, trying to get answers.' Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - 15%
13. '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 - 15%
14. 'If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.' Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger - 13%
15. 'Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small, unregarded yellow sun.' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - 12%
16. 'January: An Exceptionally Bad Start. Sunday 1 January. 129 lbs (but post-Christmas), alcohol units 14 (but effectively covers 2 days as 4 hours of party was on New Year), cigarettes 22, calories 5424.' Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding - 12%
17. 'As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can't help but think about suicide.' It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover - 12%
18. 'Call me Ishmael.' Moby-Dick by Herman Melville - 11%
19. 'I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighborhoods.' Breakfast at Tiffanys by Truman Capote - 11%
20. 'When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.' The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins - 11%
21. 'If you want to find Cherry-Tree Lane all you have to do is ask the Policeman at the cross-roads.' Mary Poppins by PL Travers - 11%
22. 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - 11%
23. 'You better not never tell nobody but God.' The Color Purple by Alice Walker - 10%
24. 'If you're going to read this, don't bother.' Choke by Chuck Palahniuk - 10%
25. 'I am an invisible man.' Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison - 9%
More on this story here -
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12563537/Charles-Dickens-Tale-Two-Cities-Britains-favourite-start-novel.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/26/jk-rowling-harry-potter-opening-line-voted-greatest-ever/
One of my favourite lines from a book doesn't come from the opening page -
“But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way only to find that what I really sought was something I had left behind.”
― Thomas F. Hornbein, Everest: The West Ridge
It's surprising how often that line pops into my head as I get older...
Cheers,
Itsallaguess
Amazon recently carried out a UK-wide vote, asking readers for their favourite opening lines of a book.
Here's the top 25 results -
1. 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.' A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - 29%
2. 'It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.' 1984 by George Orwell - 24%
3. 'All children, except one, grow up.' Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - 22%
4. 'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.' The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien - 22%
5. 'Mr and Mrs Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K Rowling - 22%
6. 'It's a funny thing about mothers and fathers. Even when their own child is the most disgusting little blister you could ever imagine, they still think that he or she is wonderful.' Matilda by Roald Dahl - 21%
7. 'Thursday January 1st BANK HOLIDAY IN ENGLAND, IRELAND, SCOTLAND AND WALES These are my New Year's resolutions:
I will help the blind across the road
I will hang my trousers up
I will put the sleeves back on my records
I will not start smoking
I will stop squeezing my spots
I will be kind to the dog
I will help the poor and ignorant
After hearing the disgusting noises from downstairs last night, I have also vowed never to drink alcohol.' Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend - 17%
8. 'I'm pretty much f**ked.' The Martian by Andy Weir - 16%
9. 'Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy…' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis - 16%
10. 'James Bond, with two double bourbons inside him, sat in the final departure lounge of Miami airport and thought about death.' Goldfinger by Ian Fleming - 16%
11. 'My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.' The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - 15%
12. 'When I think of my wife, I always think of the back of her head. I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brain, trying to get answers.' Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - 15%
13. '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 - 15%
14. 'If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.' Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger - 13%
15. 'Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy lies a small, unregarded yellow sun.' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - 12%
16. 'January: An Exceptionally Bad Start. Sunday 1 January. 129 lbs (but post-Christmas), alcohol units 14 (but effectively covers 2 days as 4 hours of party was on New Year), cigarettes 22, calories 5424.' Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding - 12%
17. 'As I sit here with one foot on either side of the ledge, looking down from twelve stories above the streets of Boston, I can't help but think about suicide.' It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover - 12%
18. 'Call me Ishmael.' Moby-Dick by Herman Melville - 11%
19. 'I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighborhoods.' Breakfast at Tiffanys by Truman Capote - 11%
20. 'When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.' The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins - 11%
21. 'If you want to find Cherry-Tree Lane all you have to do is ask the Policeman at the cross-roads.' Mary Poppins by PL Travers - 11%
22. 'All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - 11%
23. 'You better not never tell nobody but God.' The Color Purple by Alice Walker - 10%
24. 'If you're going to read this, don't bother.' Choke by Chuck Palahniuk - 10%
25. 'I am an invisible man.' Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison - 9%
More on this story here -
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12563537/Charles-Dickens-Tale-Two-Cities-Britains-favourite-start-novel.html
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/26/jk-rowling-harry-potter-opening-line-voted-greatest-ever/
One of my favourite lines from a book doesn't come from the opening page -
“But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way only to find that what I really sought was something I had left behind.”
― Thomas F. Hornbein, Everest: The West Ridge
It's surprising how often that line pops into my head as I get older...
Cheers,
Itsallaguess