8. Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison (1952)
"I am an invisible man." Many of the opening lines that made their way onto this list are remarkably simple, perhaps none more so than the declarative statement at the front of Ralph Ellison's 1952 book Invisible Man. As the author's first novel, it addressed numerous issues facing African-American society in the first half of the 20th Century and was lauded for doing so. It also heralded the arrival of a great writer - Ellison's first sentence is straightforward as they come, but his exploration of what the "invisible man" really is makes for one of the finest books by an American author.
7. The Catcher In The Rye, J.D. Salinger (1951)
"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." Like Twain nearly a century prior, J.D. Salinger found success in narrating from the first person perspective, here in the form of the young Holden Caulfield. His success, we all know, translated into a fame that he was more than uncomfortable with, but it was indeed rightly deserved. Holden spoke for a young generation that was rarely spoken for, one that found phoniness in everything and one that was fed up with the shadow of the postwar United States. Holden mentions David Copperfield, hero of a book that begins with the young boy wondering if he will be the hero of his own life. Maybe Holden wonders this, too, in his own way.
6. Pride And Prejudice, Jane Austen (1813)
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Pride and Prejudice tells of young Elizabeth Bennet as she navigates her family's estate and her love for the prideful Mr. Darcy. Most of the novel is narrated from her perspective, a point of view which we come to learn is slightly prejudicial. She makes hard judgements on first impressions and refuses to see traits which she does not want to see, but, as expected, these obstacles are mostly overcome by the end of the novel. But her initial perspective lends much to the tone and ultimate statements behind the opening sentence, and the opening line ultimately says much about love and Austen's message in the novel.