Saturday, 22 October 2011

Some classic first lines

Sometimes a book is so well known, even the first line, without any context, is recognised. Can you recognise these?
  1. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.
  2. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a  good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
  3. There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.
  4. Marley was dead, to begin with.
  5. All children, except one, grow up.



How well did you do? Here are the answers:
  1. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
  2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
  3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C. S. Lewis)
  4. A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
  5. Peter Pan (J. M. Barrie)

Image: nuttakit / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

9 comments:

AmieSalmon said...

Number 2 I knew straight away, made me go all giddy.

Anonymous said...

Love love love Jane Eyre and pride and prejudice.
Thank you so much for popping by my blog and for your lovely comments. I am blessed with a great hubby and family. Hope you have a great weekend.
Eve.x

Trisha said...

I've read PETER PAN and JANE EYRE, but the only one I guessed correctly here was the beginning to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

Thanks for stopping by my blog! :)

Christine Rains said...

I got 2, 4 and 5. A classic first line can make the book!

Golden Eagle said...

I adore #3. :)

C D Meetens said...

I love guessing things like this, but I usually mess them up, so really well done to anyone who even got one of them.

Christine: You're so right. Even just adding these to the post, I did a double-take on "Marley was dead to begin with." Despite knowing the story, I wanted to know how someone could be dead "to begin with". That alone would have kept me reading.

Eagle: I've read all the Chronicles, except "The Horse and His Boy", but "Dawn Treader" is one of my favourites. I think it's because Eustace learns so much, and grows so much as a character.

Laura said...

Eek - I only got Pride and Prejudice and Christmas Carroll
Lx

Kristen Pelfrey said...

Hooray for great first lines.
I'm still hopping from the Pay it Forward Hop last week--I go slow, but I'm getting there. You've got some great stuff here!

C D Meetens said...

Laura: Well done for getting those two!

Kristen: Thanks for stopping by :).

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