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Famous First Lines
Featuring classic first lines from works across the literary spectrum, from Moby Dick to Fifty Shades of Grey, Famous First Lines is intended as a resource for those looking for a just little help getting that novel started. As you will see, not all of the suggestions offered below are still available. Feel free to post your own contributions to help our fellow authors.
PAUL CLIFFORD, by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton
First Line: “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 scant flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.” (not available)
Siri translation 1:
I’m sorry. Let’s try that again. (available)
Would you like me to look up…Drain Smell in Florence… on the web? (available)
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 hot, fetid air which swept up from the marbled rotundas (for it is in Washington that our scene lies), rattling along the limousines, and fiercely agitating the K Street denizens that struggled to bag the dark sirocco of money. (available)
It was a fragrant and calm evening; there was no rain, not even occasionally, as the valet—having checked our ticket after a violent film of Tarantino – swept up the street in my Lamborghini (for it is in Hollywood that our scene lies) rattling along the oxygen bars and the vegan delicatessens, and fiercely agitating the scanty skirts of the future starlets, struggling to carry their Lycra bowls of silicone whilst perched upon four inch heels on their way to work at the diner. (available)
It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by the violent trajectories of manuscripts, arching away from the glinting rectangular holes in towering metal canyons (for it is in Manhattan that our scene lies), rattling among the taxis, and fiercely agitating the literary agents that struggled to comprehend why anyone would start a novel with the words, “it was a dark and stormy night.” (available)