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The Best Opening Lines in Literature - Page 4

Collected by Buzzfeed (and supplemented by additional online lists), these are books with some of the greatest, most enticing, surprising, poetic, starkly insidious, darkly comic, or deliciously clever opening lines of all time.
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Orlando (Virginia Woolf)
Orlando
121
Virginia Woolf
The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
The Outsiders
122
S.E. Hinton
Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)
Pale Fire
123
Vladimir Nabokov
Paradise (Toni Morrison)
Paradise
124
Toni Morrison
Paul Clifford
Paul Clifford
125
The Pearl (John Steinbeck)
The Pearl
126
John Steinbeck
Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie
Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie
127
The Plague (Albert Camus)
The Plague
128
Albert Camus
Play It as It Lays (Joan Didion)
Play It as It Lays
129
Joan Didion
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (James Joyce)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
130
James Joyce
The Portrait of a Lady (Henry James)
The Portrait of a Lady
131
Henry James
Praisesong for the Widow (Paule Marshall)
Praisesong for the Widow
132
Paule Marshall
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Pride and Prejudice
133
Jane Austen
The Princess Bride (William Goldman)
The Princess Bride
134
William Goldman
The Razor's Edge (W. Somerset Maugham)
The Razor's Edge
135
W. Somerset Maugham
Rebecca (Daphne Du Maurier)
Rebecca
136
Daphne Du Maurier
The Red Badge of Courage (Stephen Crane)
The Red Badge of Courage
137
Stephen Crane
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Douglas Adams)
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
138
Douglas Adams
Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates)
Revolutionary Road
139
Richard Yates
Riddley Walker
Riddley Walker
140
Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe)
Robinson Crusoe
141
Daniel Defoe
The Satanic Verses (Salman Rushdie)
The Satanic Verses
142
Salman Rushdie
Scaramouche
Scaramouche
143
Second Skin
Second Skin
144
The Secret History (Donna Tartt)
The Secret History
145
Donna Tartt
Sellevision (Augusten Burroughs)
Sellevision
146
Augusten Burroughs
Slaughterhouse-Five (Kurt Vonnegut)
Slaughterhouse-Five
147
Kurt Vonnegut
Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury)
Something Wicked This Way Comes
148
Ray Bradbury
The Sot-Weed Factor (John Barth)
The Sot-Weed Factor
149
John Barth
The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
The Sound and the Fury
150
William Faulkner
The Stranger (Albert Camus)
The Stranger
151
Albert Camus
The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway)
The Sun Also Rises
152
Ernest Hemingway
Swann's Way (Marcel Proust)
Swann's Way
153
Marcel Proust
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
A Tale of Two Cities
154
Charles Dickens
The Tell-Tale Heart (Edgar Allan Poe)
The Tell-Tale Heart
155
Edgar Allan Poe
Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston)
Their Eyes Were Watching God
156
Zora Neale Hurston
The Tiger's Wife (Tea Obreht)
The Tiger's Wife
157
Tea Obreht
The Time Machine (H.G. Wells)
The Time Machine
158
H.G. Wells
The Tin Drum (Günter Grass)
The Tin Drum
159
Günter Grass
The Towers of Trebizond
The Towers of Trebizond
160
Page 4 of 5
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