Openings: first lines from books, articles, poems, songs, movies
January 9, 2014 8:47 AM   Subscribe

Openings: first lines from books, articles, poems, songs, movies
A collection of great first lines. Just launched this week. If you want to recommend a first line, please comment! Excited to share my first project with you, I've been an AskMeFi lurker for years.
Role: designer
posted by c95008 (11 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite

Really nice design work there.
posted by gwint at 3:20 PM on January 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


Cool. Bookmarked so I can check back when you've got a good selection of the classic "must-have" first lines from novels that always crop up (The Trial, The Stranger, Pride & Prejudice, 1984, Earthly Powers, etc) alongside people's obscure favourites.
posted by comealongpole at 4:03 PM on January 9, 2014


Thanks gwint, I appreciate it.

comealongpole: Yeah, some of the classics will be added. Obviously, I want to share first lines because they're good on their own, rather than because they're from a well-known source. But classics are classics for a reason :)

That said, I hope people discover something new through the site. I already have, thanks to recommendations from people who are smarter than me.
posted by c95008 at 4:57 PM on January 9, 2014


This is one of those great ideas that make me go "Man, why didn't I think of that?" Nicely done, and I submitted an opening to a short story. Now it's got me mentally going through my library...
posted by avoision at 12:36 PM on January 10, 2014


1984: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." Best opening line in history, in my opinion. And of course, the last line: He loved Big Brother, just solidifies it.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 2:41 PM on January 10, 2014


Now it's got me mentally going through my library...
avoision: Going back through old favorites is always fun. A nice byproduct of starting this project is that I'm more mindful of first lines when reading or listening to something now.
And of course, the last line ...
still_wears_a_hat: Those lines can pack a punch :) A few people have sent last line recommendations. I wish there was good way to share those without alienating or spoiling things for people who aren't familiar with the source.
posted by c95008 at 11:52 PM on January 10, 2014


Great site, and it somehow made me realize that the films 'Fallen' and 'Frailty' aren't the same even though I'm not exactly sure on why. Looks like I have some movie watching to do.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:51 AM on February 1, 2014


What!? No Still Life with Woodpecker?

... Nice work, and some of those are great hooks.
posted by johnofjack at 7:52 AM on February 10, 2014


This is cool! I'm kinda doing something similar for my library where we twitter the first line from a book in our collection with a link to the online-catalouge. It made me realise that some great books have really crappy first lines and some not so great books have great first lines!
posted by Tawny Owl at 7:19 AM on February 28, 2014


It made me realise that some great books have really crappy first lines and some not so great books have great first lines!
Totally agree! Sometimes I go to recommend something, only to find that the first lines fall flat.

Smart idea using Twitter to promote the library catalog :)
posted by c95008 at 1:54 AM on March 3, 2014


johnofjack:
What!? No Still Life with Woodpecker?
:) Thanks for the suggestion.
posted by c95008 at 3:53 AM on April 8, 2014


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