Best Selling Books And The Best First Lines!

The best first lines and the best selling books!

Staying relevant and not losing the objective, as well as subjective course of the storyline that you are trying to get in front of your readers. Is an essential ingredient of any best selling book. For a reader interacting with the literary piece of a writer, is almost like seeing someone for the first time and falling in love at the very first sight. 

Ever wondered why it is so! Well, we all have personalised preferences when it comes to falling in love at first sight. The human brain instantly develops a memory patch dedicated to every feeling one experiences during these amorous visual interactions. And then, via this endearing memory patch, the mind subconsciously sinks into an imaginative world where the #love interest is the epicentre of every imagination and every desire.  

It is the same with readers, when they visually interact with written content, they tend to read a few lines, and then based on the impact it has on their mind, they decide whether to engage further with the content or look for something more appealing and interesting. Even if as a writer one manages to impress the reader via an extensively compelling first page, the reader expects it to get better with every following page. And only few writers are able to maintain this tempo in their writings.

This is why it becomes necessary to write opening lines that leave the reader spell bound, by imprisoning his/her interest within the plausible possibilities stirred by the hint of enigma that the opening lines stir in the literary corner of the reader’s mind. Let us examine few of the most appealing opening lines ever written:

• It was a wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not.” – Paul Auster, City of Glass

• Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita. – Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita

• I am an invisible man. – Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

• Mother died today. – Albert Camus, The Stranger 

• 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. – Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea

Here is the trickiest part. It is possible to conceive an opening line where you successfully mange to target certain type of readers. But writing an opening line that appeals to everybody is where the actual mastery lies. 

City of glass: Anyone who reads the opening lines, would have a sleepless night if he/she is not able to read further. Because the curiosity to know more about the caller’s identity is very strong. And I know, it applies to all serious and genuine readers, not the callous readers, who just read and never absorb what they have read. Now imagine this thought about the unknown caller occupying the entire landscape of your mind. That too, when a title like “City of Glass” is flashing before your inward eye. Oh my God! It would turn anybody restless and inject an overdose of anxiety within him/her. If he/she is not able to turn few pages until he/she is able to construct a vague identity about this caller, calling in the dead of the night. 

However, in 2023 this comes with a caution, it may not hold so relevant today when smartphones are so common and late night calls are a new norm. If Paul Auster were to think of an alternate opening line for the novel titled, “City of Glass” she would have to consider the facts like smartphone, internet etc. and then work on an opening line that compliments the demands of the present times. Because readers’ tastes evolve as societies evolve, and human social behaviour is directly influenced by everything and anything that they interact with. And in 2023, humans are mostly interacting with technology.

Lolita: The beauty and pure brilliance of the opening lines from this novel lies in their simplicity to strike a note of familiarity with every reader. The young relate with it, as do the old, because the old are instantly reminded of their youth and its vitalities. The author uses contradicting comparisons in the very beginning. Thus heightening the interest of the reader to know why the author is saying so. And very aptly so, because if Lolita is the light of his life, fire of his lions, his soul, how can she be his sin? And then Vladimir Nabokov, furthers the reader’s excitement by pronouncing Lolita’s name in remarkably fascinating ways. 

He refers to her as Lo-lee-ta, as Lola, as Dolly, Dolores, and inspite of all these loving syllables that he assigns to her name, he eventually calls her Lolita. This is who she actually is- The little, innocent girl with whom he is obsessed. 

Humbert’s intensity of passion is evident in the opening lines, and it persuades the reader to confess that we all are lovers, passionately in #love with someone. Little do they know about the corrupt intentions of Humbert, who is actually trying to seek some solace by trying to falsely convince himself that his actions were justified. He is trying not to let his guilt of raping a very young and innocent girl consume him. Both, mentally and physically. 

The bold, sympathy seeking and crafty confession made by Humbert as Lolita’s passionate lover, instantly resonates with every reader via these opening lines of the novel. And then as the reader turns to next page, he/she is possessed by the erotic charm of Lolita; and the perfectly placed words appear as passionate feelings and desires spread all over the page, and that too on every page. 

No wonder, Lolita is so widely read and for many valid reasons it broke many taboos in the literary world, and led to a mini renaissance in the world of literature. It was erotic, and at times it dared to tread on the highway of intellectual debauchery, but the author’s command over the plot never allows the reader to misunderstand the actual narrative of the story which attempts to highlight the vulnerability of young girls in our societies and their mistreatment. From a superficial perspective, the content of the novel appears to be erotic, but then, we all know it is the reality we all are a part of in the real world. And Vladimir Nabokov, dares to tell the story of a passionate and one sided love affair between Humbert and a very young girl named Lolita. 

And the use of present tense followed by past tense deepens the suspense in the opening lines of this wonderfully written novel. When the writer says “She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.” The reader now sympathises with the passionate lover and wonders what became of Lolita. The moment a reader realises this fact, he/she embarks on the quest to discover more about Lolita. Until the reader comes across the concluding line; and I am sure he/she fills a deep sigh, looks upward, rubs his/her eyes, and says a silently murmured prayer for the murdered and mercilessly marauded youth of Lolita, and only hopes that the grief stricken, delusional lover, who actually is guilty of being a paedophile, caught in the guilt of being immoral, finds some moral sanity. 

Concluding line “I am thinking of aurochs and angels, the secret of durable pigments, prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art. And this is the only immortality you and I may share, my Lolita.” 

As Trevor McNeely rightly explains in his paper ‘Lo’ and Behold: Solving the Lolita Riddle, the two aspects of Humbert’s personality live in cohesion; “The pervert and the poet are forever one in Humbert.”  Nevertheless, for infinite reasons, Lolita is one of the best best-selling novels of all time. 

Invisible man: Now, who would not like the idea of becoming invisible or discovering a way to vanish right before someones eyes, and feel like a confident master of his/her own destiny. The very thought is fascinating and the very short, but wisely thought opening line, “I am an invisible man” makes the reader a voluntary slave of this fascinating possibility, and the climax keeps building as the succeeding pages build up the curiosity with a compounding effect on the reader’s mind. Leaving the reader with just one choice, to continue reading and know more about this invisible man. 

First it forcers the reader to understand HOW it is possible, and then the interplay between the ceaseless WHYs and HOWs keeps the reader shackled within the fascinating plot of the story, until the reader has not interacted with the last page. Only to realise that the narrator of Invisible Man is an anonymous young, black man who moves in a 20th-century United States where reality is vague and who can survive only through faking his innermost desires. Because the people he encounters, tend to see themselves, or bits and pieces of their own imagination. So he is right in believing that he is invisible. It definitely makes for the best opening line.

And for the serious reader it is a very satiating realisation, that the Identity in Invisible Man is a conflict between self-perception and the projection of others, as seen through one man's story: the nameless narrator. His true identity, he realises, is in fact invisible to those around him. 

The claim that he is invisible, keeps the reader transfixed in the opening lines and as the reader advances into the deeper realm of this masterpiece of a novel, the reader finally comprehends that his invisibility is not a physical condition. In presence of daylight he becomes invisible not by means of some magic or some scientific marvel perfected by him. But purely due to the blatant refusal of others to see him. 

It is very rare that a story with such powerful social message is written, widely read, and then celebrated globally. Only to stir humanity into action and ponder on the issues that haunt our society and degrade its fundamental pillars that it rests on. Invisible man by Ralph Ellison, for many reasons reminds the reader of another masterpiece titled “To Kill a Mockingbird” written by the American author Harper Lee. Both novels strive to explore the moral nature of human beings—that is, whether people are essentially good or essentially evil. 

As passionate readers, I shall let you decide that. But just to keep you motivated let me quote Martin Luther King Jr. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” And it is only through reading that we can better understand our own selves!

The stranger: “Mother died today!” Now here is an opening line that deserves to be placed in the elite club of “best opening lines of all time!” It, with perfect ease captivates the reader’s imagination and offers him/her no opportunity to think of anything else, but about the death of the mother. 

Albert Camus is a rebellious writer who does not believe in mixing words, because he seems to be scared of nothing, only because he is truthful and honest in maintaining the originality of his thoughts. And it is this characteristic that translates into the inescapable literary charm that his characters cast on the reader. Because, however hard we may try not to accept the fact. Actually we all do want to be honest and truthful, but due to our excessive indulgence in fulfilling the materialistic vanities, we are led to compromise a lot and sacrifice the sentient side of our existence, only to prove that in order to get the job of a lifetime, sometimes you have to sell your soul. And how often do we do that? 

I guess quite often. Although the appeal of the opening line is intense and it captures the interest of anybody and everybody reading it, but as the reader reads further, many readers abandon it. Do you know why? Because Albert Camus has a gift of passively and progressively dragging you into the confession box where you are compelled to confess your own guilt in the presence of your very aware self. And when a reader is caught in this self-arbitration process, most of the readers quit, because they find themselves unprepared to face the truth about their own selves. Nevertheless, as far as the opening line is concerned, it serves the purpose with perfection that is unique to Albert Camus.

The old man and the sea: Ernest Hemingway knew art of writing so well that only he could have thought of an impressive opening line as good as this one, “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.” 

Old and then being unable to catch any fish for eighty-four days is an irresistible emotional crescendo that inundates a person’s mind and heart with feelings of ceaseless empathy and an unbearable urge to know what becomes of the old man at the sea. And let us not forget the unpredictable events that the old man would be dependent on at the vast, deep, sometimes calm and often rough sea. 

All these scenes unfold before the reader the moment he/she reads these opening lines, and is therefore made to oblige the compulsion to read further and know more about the fate of old man living at the mercy of the sea and whatever its depths yield to him as a fisherman, who is experienced, but old. 

Every reader can easily feel the haplessness of the old man and be willing to sail a little further with the fisherman at sea, and know if on eighty-fifth day the old man gets lucky at all. There are so many possibilities flashing as tides on the landscape of reader’s mind that he/she is drawn into the enigma that Ernst Hemingway is able to build around the story in the very beginning. And this enigmatic grip is only let loose in the concluding lines of the story titled, “The old man and the sea.” The irony of The Old Man and the Sea is that, after days of struggling against the marlin, Santiago is robbed of his prize. Sharks attack the dead marlin while Santiago is hauling it home. By the time he reaches the shore, nothing is left but the bones. The story ends with the words: “the old man was dreaming about the lions.” Here lions refer to whatever remains of the old man’s previous life, of his adventures: and we understand that Santiago is not really defeated. He maybe deleted by external circumstances however, he remains undefeated an invincible in his spirit and his love for life is still endless. 

And it is well said indeed, “A man can be destroyed but not defeated!” This is what makes Ernest Hemingway one of the best writers. He lets the reader build his/her own conclusion based on his/her understanding of the story, and yet, Ernest Hemingway conveys his message to the reader who is free to arrive at any conclusion. It is a skill only mastered by Him and nobody else!

In 2023, when we are using a lot of smart gadgets and are surrounded by Internet and Internet driven services, art of writing is undergoing a transformation. But hasn’t that been the case always! Otherwise a brave and wonderfully written novel like Lolita, published in September 1955 would not have received so much love from the readers. And let me not forget to mention about Forever, by Judy Blume and The Catcher in The Rye by J. D. Salinger. All these novels go to prove that art and literature are ageless, and as humans we shall always be able to relate with an artistic expression.

In my sci-fi novel titled, “They Loved In 2075,” I have attempted to highlight the circumstances that our younger generations will have to deal with in 2075. Also, it makes an honest venture into understanding how romance, love and human relationships will evolve in 2075. To discover more about the young boy who falls in love with a girl who is unable to express her feelings, read the sci-fi novel, They Loved In 2075. To motivate you, given below is the opening paragraph from my sci-fi novel.

“Year 2075. Human lives are changing fast with only two constants: gravity and time. The blue hue of the sky has disappeared completely. There is no sign of human beings on the streets, and on the unending maze of asphalt covered highways.”