25 Great Book Opening Lines That Will Hook You from the Start

When it comes to books, the first few lines have the power to make or break a deal with readers. I’ve definitely stopped reading a few books because I didn’t like the first paragraph. Some of these I revisited after some time, regretting that I didn’t push through the first time.

This shows how powerful the opening lines of a book can be. Imagine if I didn’t check those books out again—I would have missed a lot of opportunities to read stories that I came to love.

The Best Book Opening Lines

Ursula Le Guin once called the first sentences of a book the doorways to worlds in her essay, “The Fisherman’s Daughter.” They serve as the introduction to a new experience; the first few whiffs of deliciousness you smell when you’re about to tuck into an inviting meal that you’ve never had before.

Good writers know how to captivate readers from the start. Their first words can cast a spell that immediately conveys the tone and style of their works, compelling people to keep on reading. So here is a list of opening lines that helped immortalize pieces of literature into people’s minds.

Spoiler alert! To better explain how effective these first lines are, I included a few important details about the novels they came from. It may or may not affect your reading experience if you ever read these books.

1. Moby Dick by Herman Melville

“Call me Ishmael.”

There is one thing that makes the opening line for Moby Dick so powerful: curiosity. Imagine this, you open the book and are suddenly confronted by a character calling themselves Ishmael. But who is Ishmael? Is that even his real name?

2. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

“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 is a study of the Victorian era’s social conventions, especially when it comes to education and marrying into well-to-do families—which is evident in its opening lines.

3. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

“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, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

Set before and during the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities’ opening line hints at the radical opposites taking place in the story: of love and hatred, oppression and freedom, and the rich and the poor.

4. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

“All this happened, more or less.”

This line hits differently when you learn that Slaughterhouse-FIve is based on the real firebombing of Dresden during World War II, which the author personally experienced. It’s a proclamation that all the horrific events and atrocities in the story have more or less happened in real life.

5. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

The Anna Karenina principle is simple: all happy families share common elements that lead to happiness, while an imbalance or deficiency of these elements leads to misery.

6. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

“I am an invisible man.”

You’d think you’re getting into a science-fiction or fantasy novel judging by the title and opener. But no, Invisible Man quickly becomes a story about a man completely ignored by society, and the opener perfectly sums his situation up!

7. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

“The story so far: in the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”

Douglas Adams’ second installment to his Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is as humorous and bizarre as his first. This great opening line is proof of that.

8. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

“You better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy.”

Perhaps one of the most sinister openers in literary history, The Color Purple‘s first words is spoken by an abusive father to his daughter. It encompasses the threat and the fear that lingers throughout the book as we read more about the abuse.

9. The Martian by Andy Weir

“I’m pretty much fucked.”

Considering that this is uttered by a guy who is stranded on Mars and has depressingly low chances of living, The Martian‘s opener pretty much encapsulates his situation.

10. 1984 by George Orwell

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”

When it comes to Orwell’s 1984, the government is the one who sets the truth, no matter how untrue it is. So it’s likely that they’ve decided to have the thirteenth hour. It may be unnecessary or idiotic, but it shows how much control they have over the population.

11. Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.”

It speaks to Kafka’s excellence in surrealism when the first sentence in his novel simultaneously confuses and fascinates the readers. It’s that classic case of “I don’t know what I’m getting into but I’m liking it already.“

12. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

“It was a pleasure to burn.”

Fahrenheit 451‘s first line is a crucial insight into the main character’s world, where knowledge is voluntarily, and happily burned—the result of people wanting numb contentment rather than progress.

13. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

“Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

It is true that the Dursleys are perfectly normal (or muggles, if you want to be technical about it), but Mr. and Mrs. Dursley are desperately hiding one single extraordinary fact: Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. They can lock him up, hide his letters, and pretend he’s not magic all they want, but that’s not going to stop him from fulfilling his destiny.

14. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins.”

Lolita‘s opener lets us into the mind of an adult man infatuated with a young woman. It’s not necessarily her body that he’s interested in either, but an idealized version of her that he superimposes onto the real her. It becomes worse as you delve deeper into the story, discovering that the young woman is complicit in the man’s desires.

15. The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde

“The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.”

It seems innocent enough: the author’s describing the pleasant aroma of flowers spreading through the room. But consider how many scents there are; an excessive amount of it that will eventually become unpleasant. This may be foreshadowing for Dorian Grey’s own excessive lifestyle, where too much debauchery ultimately takes a toll on him.

16. Peter Pan by JM Barrie

“All children, except one, grow up.”

At his core, Peter Pan is defined by his eternal childhood, something that the novel’s opener explains perfectly to the reader.

17. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snickett

“If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you would be better off reading some other book.”

Right off the bat, Lemony Snicket warns you that this story isn’t going to be one of those happily ever after ones, setting the tone for the dark and bizarre, yet humorous series.

11. Coraline by Neil Gaiman

“Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house.”

You just know that Coraline‘s going through that door. But what’s behind it? A wall? Another room? Or maybe a different reality?

18. The Princess Bride by William Goldman

“This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.”

You might ask, “How can the author love a book that he’s never read?” And suddenly you’re invested in Wesley and Buttercup’s story.

19. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation.

The Secret History‘s opener is a tension-packed line that immediately catches your attention. Who’s Bunny and why is he dead? And what is their situation?

20. Beloved by Toni Morrison

“124 was spiteful. Full of a baby’s venom. The women in the house knew it and so did the children.”

Beloved‘s first line arouses the reader’s curiosity. What is the 124 and baby’s venom that the narrator is talking about?

21. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”

The Hobbit‘s opening line certainly sets the scene for the beautiful hobbit-hole belonging to the Bagginses and paints a good picture of what a hobbit is all about: coziness and comfort.

22. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

“History has failed us, but no matter.”

Pachinko‘s opening line is a reminder that history can be unkind, especially for ordinary people. But it doesn’t matter, because people persist anyway.

23. Twenty Thousad Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

“The year 1866 was signalized by a remarkable incident, a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon.“

And thus we are introduced to Captain Nemo and his Nautilus, both enigmas roaming the deep solitude of the ocean.

24. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

“Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.“

It’s an innocent line that merely acquaints us with the four characters of Lewis’ saga. But what follows next is a sprawling fantasy that some say rivals Lord of the Rings itself.

25. The Stranger by Albert Camus

“My mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don’t know.“

You certainly become curious while reading The Stranger‘s first line. Is the speaker forgetful or does he simply not care? You’ll need to read on to know more.

Great Opening Lines

Some books take time to grow on you, preferring to tease you with incredible character and plot development. But others get a hold of you the moment you lay eyes on their first few sentences. Suddenly, there’s no more going back.

When it comes to novels, the opening lines offer you a choice: continue reading or stop. They make you laugh or snort, think and reread, and ask questions.

And when a writer successfully evokes these responses from you, you’re probably already hooked, because a great opening line is no longer a choice, but an enchantment that throws you into the depths of a story.

There are a lot more great opening lines than the ones I listed here. While you may not agree with some of them, there’s no denying that all of these are imprinted onto someone else’s mind. And if you’re looking for inspiration for your story’s own opening line, check out these first line generators for ideas.

What’s your favorite opening line from a book? Share it in the comments below!

 

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