Great Opening Lines - Lines that make me wonder, ponder, gag, smile and laugh.(part 1)

There are so many great opening lines in literature that it took me several days and many nights to pick 15 of the ones I like best. I could give you a thousand and one of them, but that's quite a lot and deserves to be in a book of its own, not a blog post. So here I'll just list 15 of my absolute favourites that drew me into the books they opened.

15. "In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines."

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
Because it makes me think of Paris and then what are twelve little girls doing in straight lines?  Altogether a wonderful children's classic.

14. "Call me Ishmael."
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Okay I will.

13. "Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much."
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
A very fun opening.


12. "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
One of the truest statements I know.

11. "Master was a little crazy; he had spent too many years reading books overseas, talked to himself in his office, did not always return greetings, and had too much hair."

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Go on...