Ten opening lines and not a "dark and stormy night" among them? Sheesh, they don't write them like they used to. Thank goodness. The first pages of the books that made up The Christian Science Monitor's 10 Best Fiction Books of 2011 grab readers and propel them forward. They're set in a room, a taxi, a memory; they dip into childhood, nature and death; they are grabbers.
Do you recognize the following opening lines?
In my earliest memory, my grandfather is bald as a stone and he takes me to see the tigers. He puts on his hat, his big-buttoned raincoat, and I wear my lacquered shoes and velvet dress. It is autumn, and I am four years old.
State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett |
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IQ84, by Haruki Murakami |
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The Tiger's Wife, by Téa Obreht |
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Once Upon a River, by Bonnie Jo Campbell |
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