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First Sentences of Literature

Remember how your favorite novels begin? Here are the first sentences of a number of well-known books. Can you name the books?
Quiz by CBTemple
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Last updated: April 28, 2012
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First submittedApril 28, 2012
Times taken6,130
Average score54.5%
Rating4.71
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1st sentence
Book
Call me Ishmael.
Moby Dick
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....
A Tale of Two Cities
Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversation?'
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
TOM!
Tom Sawyer
Marley was dead, to begin with.
A Christmas Carol
Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.
Animal Farm
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
1984
He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.
The Old Man and the Sea
You better not never tell nobody but God.
The Color Purple
When Mr Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.
Lord of the Rings trilogy
All children, except one, grow up.
Peter Pan
You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter.
Huckleberry Finn
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
In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly-fishing.
A River Runs Through It
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 Sorcerer's Stone
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The Bible
When Mary Lennox was sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her uncle everybody said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen.
The Secret Garden
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.
The Hunger Games
Scarlett O'Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were.
Gone With the Wind
What's it going to be then, eh?
A Clockwork Orange
"Where's Papa going with that ax?" said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.
Charlotte's Web
When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.
To Kill a Mockingbird
MayaB
+1
Level 72
Sep 4, 2012
Great quiz! It would be great, if you do more of these! =)
jdtrue
+1
Level 85
Mar 15, 2013
I don't know if it's just my computer, but I can't see the upper right hand portion of the quiz because the "Similar Quizzes by Tag" and "Take Another Quiz!" blocks are in the way. Moving the page up and down does not help. Changing the size of the page does not help. This is happening on a lot of quizzes.
Gartholomew
+1
Level 46
May 13, 2014
I have the same problem with this quiz.
ander217
+1
Level 75
May 20, 2014
Same here.
Tinu
+1
Level 41
Sep 6, 2014
And here (:
Tinu
+1
Level 41
Sep 6, 2014
Wonderful quiz. However, for some bizarre reason, it did not except "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", although I had repeatedly made sure the spelling was correct.
LunaChang
+1
Level 42
Oct 18, 2017
I suspect you need to have the ' in Alice's, I had the same problem!
stylus
+2
Level 76
Apr 28, 2022
punctuation never matters in jetpunk. alices adventures in wonderland needs to be accepted, as does nineteen eighty-four, both of which are the actual titles of the books
Tinu
+3
Level 41
Sep 6, 2014
Also, would you consider accepting "Genesis" as an alternative correct answer for "The Bible"? (Do "The Old Testament" and "The Torah" work? I didn't check)
Bubblecat
+3
Level 71
May 12, 2015
Damn, could've got another one correct if I'd remembered Americans spell "colour" differently :P
Anzi
+3
Level 69
Jan 15, 2017
Wrote The Colour Purple without thinking that it's set in the USA. So frustrating!! Great quiz
Froststar101
+1
Level 74
Mar 14, 2017
Missed some of the easier ones, but got A River Runs Through it. It's not a great story, in my opinion. A lot of talk about fishing.
Zupity
+1
Level 66
Apr 28, 2022
Of the five I missed, I've read three (Tom Sawyer, Clockwork Orange, Color Purple). All worth revisiting.
ilikegeography18
+1
Level 30
Apr 28, 2022
Great quiz. Sad that it isn't featured, though.
stylus
+1
Level 76
Apr 28, 2022
nice work! i have a very similar one here
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