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Limal's avatar
Limal

The opening line of George Orwell's "1984":

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

Normal + Weird. Clocks strike 12, not 13! A typo? Or there is something wrong woth thhis world?

I do not want to spoil and explain why that opening is great, but those who seen this book will understand why I selected this sentence.

Shovel's avatar
Shovel

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

no guesses as to where this quote is from, but to those who don’t know, this is the opening line for the first book of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the philosopher stone by JK Rowling.

The opening line itself is iconic as you assume the narrator might be related to or are the Dursleys themselves. It opens a conversation as to who is saying this line to begin with.

But if we’re looking at this Line with the context of knowing all the rest of the books, it might seem random to start the series talking about the durselys when the series is all about the wizarding world but that’s why I think it’s soo brilliant. The sentance already sets a tone about the dursleys characters and starting from that foundation, it helps the reader understand Harry’s life and how different he Truly is.

AirGaram's avatar
AirGaram

It had started with a hole. A hole that, for no logical reason, opened right in front of her.

After Appearing out of nowhere, it quite resembled a nonreflective, full-length mirror.

There had been nobody else around. No other humans could've taken her place.

Whenever she thought back on it, she found herself helpless to do anything but scratch her head in confusion

Why in the world had that wormhole linking two worlds chosen her of all people?

Babel, Vol. 1: A Girl Embarks on a Journey of Words

I think that, these specific lines, would later show just how absurd the situation for the girl is

Sturmer's avatar
Sturmer

"Hari Seldon... born in the 11,988th year of the Galactic Era; died 12069."

Isaac Asimov, novel "Foundation"

These 13 words were enough to teleport me to a fantasy world. They sparked so many questions: Who is Hari Seldon? Why is he important? What significance do these dates hold? What era is this, and were there others before it? How far is this future from today?

At the same time, they provided answers: this story is set so far in the future that Hari has already died, and I know that right from the start.

Gaypengwing 🔜 Ren Faire Uk's avatar
Gaypengwing 🔜 Ren Faire Uk

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” - J R R Tolkien in ‘The Hobbit’

This line will always be so nostalgic for me to read, it’s so simple and yet it starts one of the most magical books I have read in my life and one I will never be sick of

M
Marcus

“Aru Shah had a gigantic lightning bolt, and she really wanted to use it”

This opening line has been used not once, but twice from the Pandava Quintet (by Roshani Chokshi). Specifically books 2 and 3 in the series, Aru Shah and the Song of Death, and Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes.

This one line gives us enough insight as to who Aru is, by the time these books take place. She’s eager, combat-ready, and confident in her abilities. Twice she was ready to through her lightning bolt to end a problem, but fortunately, there was always something or someone to reign her in or stop her.

R
Remi

 “It was a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Ultimately setting the tone and theme of the book.

I’m a helpless romantic. For what more could we seek in life than to be able to experience the hardships of a family, of love, of marriage. In a time when things of today had no existence.

Where back in those times, carrying on your family name, finding true love, and settling down where what things were back in those times.

Makster's avatar
Makster

Bakemonogatari is a light novel originally written in Japanese. A light novel is a novel with a few illustrations dotted around to help tell the story. In the case of Bakemongatari, the above image accompanies:

Hitagi Senjogahara occupies the position of "the girl who's always ill" in our class. She's not expected to participate in P.E., of course, and is even allowed to suffer morning and school-wide assemblies in the shade, along, as a precaution against anemia or something. Though we've been in the same class my first, my second, and this, my third and final year of high school, I've never once seen her engaged in any sort of vigorous activity. She's a regular at the nurse's room, and arrives late, leaves early, or simply doesn't show up to school because she has to visit her primary care hospital, time and again. To the point where it's rumoured in jest that she lives there.

I love this opening as it paints the story perfectly in how mundane the mystery of Senjogahara is which sets you up for when the magical and mystical stuff starts happening. The mostly grounded reality is shattered and it really emphasises the fantasy elements later in the book

T
Toyah

Call me Ishmael.”

MOBY DICK BY HERMAN MELVILLE .

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