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Rated: E · Quiz · Community · #1589803

How many of these famous first sentences can you identify?

If I asked what book the line "Call me Ishmael" came from, most people would be able to tell me that the answer is Moby Dick. The first line of that particular book is almost as famous as the book itself, and was recently voted #1 Best First Line of a Novel by editors of American Book Review.

The same holds true for many other books too. How many of the following first lines from popular books (novels) throughout history (some modern, some a little older) can you correctly identify?

Good Luck!
1. Question One:
 "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
       Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov        
       Persuasion, Jane Austen        
       Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen        
       Mansfield Park, Jane Austen        
       Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen        
       War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy        
       Emma, Jane Austen        
2. Question Two:
 "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
       Dracula, Bram Stoker        
       1984, George Orwell        
       The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells        
       Animal Farm, George Orwell        
       Down and Out in Paris and London, George Orwell        
       One Hundred Years of Solitude, Garcia Marquez        
       Mansfield Park, Jane Austen        
3. Question Three:
 "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair."
       A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickins        
       Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison        
       Little Dorrit, Charles Dickins        
       Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickins        
       Murphy, Samuel Beckett        
       Watt, Samuel Beckett        
       Shadow and Act, Ralph Ellison        
4. Question Four:
 "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth."
       The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain        
       War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy        
       Dracula, Bram Stoker        
       The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger        
       To Kill A Mcokingbird, Harper Lee        
       Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger        
       Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain        
5. Question Five:
 "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins."
       Schindler's Ark, Thomas Keneally        
       One Hundred Years of Solitude        
       Finnegan's Wake, James Joyce        
       Eugene Onegin, Vladimir Nabokov        
       War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy        
       Lolita, Vladimir Nabakov        
       Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy        
6. Question Six:
 "This is the saddest story I have ever heard."
       Miss Lonelyhearts, Nathaniel West        
       Parade's End, Ford Madox Ford        
       The Good Soldier, Ford Madox Ford        
       A Spot of Bother, Mark Haddon        
       Boom!, Mark Haddon        
       The Trial, Franz Kafka        
       The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon        
7. Question Seven:
 “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/Sorcerer's Stone, J.K. Rowling        
       Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J.K. Rowling        
       Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J.K. Rowling        
       Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling        
       Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, J.K. Rowling        
       Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling        
       Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, J.K. Rowling        
8. Question Eight:
 “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show”.
       1984, George Orwell        
       David Copperfield, Charles Dickins        
       The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells        
       The Good Soldier, Ford Madox Ford        
       The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger        
       Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain        
       Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte        
9. Question Nine:
 "Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself."
       Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte        
       To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee        
       Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne        
       Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen        
       Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf        
       The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkein        
       Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickins        
10. Question Ten:
 "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."
       Oliver Twist, Charles Dickins        
       I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith        
       The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger        
       The Twits, Roald Dahl        
       101 Dalmatians, Dodie Smith        
       Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl        
       James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl        
How'd you do? Click below for your results: