First Lines

Hello, for my first blog in the series Mind’s Eye, I decided to continue with the theme of sharing and I asked a few family and friends what was their favourite ‘First Line’ from a book, film, screenplay or poem and why?

Remarkably there were two people who quoted the same line:-

‘Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.’

Rebecca. Daphne du Maurier

Emma – 'It is really intriguing. What is Manderley? Why isn’t the person there anymore? What happened? It is the only line of any book that has always stuck with me.'

Julia – 'This is the only one I can remember – I enjoyed the novel when I read it but have read far better novels since.'

GARRY

Couldn’t decide but I managed to get him to narrow it down to his favourite three:-

‘No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world of being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinised and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinise the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water.’

The War of the World. HG Wells

' I first read the book then heard Richard Burton’s unmistakable voice reading this on the Jeff Wayne album. It was mesmerising.'

‘It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.’

1984. George Orwell

'I was immediately intrigued by a clock that strikes 13.'

‘As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.’

The Metamorphosis. Franz Kafka

'It so unexpected and scary and compelled me to read on.'

PIPPA

‘A large isolated derelict chateau emerges from the darkness. We focus on a cobbled square outside the building shrouded in mist, eerie, silent.’

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Screenplay – JK Rowling

'The details used by Rowling in the screenplay creates a cinematic image of gothic connotations which are present from the opening scene of the movie; allowing for a foreboding effect as a result of the suspenseful atmosphere.'

AMY

‘It was the day my Grandmother exploded’

The Crow Road – Iain Banks

'It doesn’t matter how ‘intelligent’ or how complicated the physical language nor even how ‘deep and meaningful’ something is; I think if it resonated with you on the slightest level and sticks with you then it’s a good line; If you still remember it months down the line, or you suddenly think if it out of the blue then it’s brilliant.'

HUS

“Alright everyone. This is a stick up. Don’t anybody move! Now empty the safe.”

Toy Story – John Lasseter

'I like this because this is my favourite film ever. I have watched it so many times I could probably tell you all the lines not just the first!'

LILY

‘I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked.’

Howl – Allen Ginsberg

'A great opening to a great poem about the oxymoronic existence of beat poets, who at the same time loved and lived ferociously and passionately and experienced so much pain that it almost became non-sensical.'

ANDREW

‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’

Daffodils – William Wordsworth

'This resonates with my love of The Lakes and Springtime.'

HOLLY

‘If music be the food of love, play on’

Twelfth Night – William Shakespeare

'It sets off the romantic tone of the play with poetic language. It is a quote that always sticks with you.'

CAROLINE

I chose two for very different reasons (cheating I know but I couldn't decide).

‘12th June 1942

I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.’

The Diary of Anne Frank. Anne Frank

'Anne Frank's words have stayed with me since I first read them 45 years ago.'

‘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. Jane Austen

'I simply loved the humour behind this line and immediately thought I like the way this author thinks, can’t wait to read what happens.'

On the theme of SHARING

For my next blog in Mind's Eye and on the theme of sharing I invite any of you who would like to contribute, to subscribe if you haven't already and email us with your favourite character from a book, poem, film, tv programme, comic or any other media and why you chose them. I will then collate the replies and post them.

That only leaves me to say a big thank you to all of you who replied to my request for your favourite First Line. I hope you enjoy reading all the responses as much as I did. Thank you for sharing.

Until next time - Caroline

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