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What is a first sentence?

In most cases when readers mention ‘first sentence,’ they probably refer to the very opening of a novel, or less frequently, the opening of an essay.

Let’s not confuse ‘first sentence’ with sentence openers, or opening sentences. These latter two refer to how writers —by force of habit or style— open their sentences throughout their written work. Successful writers use many different models of sentence openers to carry out the writing of a paragraph.

Returning to the topic of ‘first sentence’ let’s agree for our current discussion that by first sentence we mean a memorable sentence in a well-known short story or novel. That is not to say that we are speaking of quality  or excellency in writing, for there many a memorable first sentence that are badly written, or un-artful to say the least.

To make it abundantly clear, let’s cite some examples that may be considered memorable:  (regardless of the quality of writing):

“It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday, and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me.” (Anthony Burgess, Earthly Powers).

“It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.” (Sylvia Plat, The Bell Jar).

“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.” (Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities).
“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).

“It was love at first sight.” (Joseph Heller, Catch-22).

Without a doubt, the above examples are all memorable, but successful writers today would think twice before they open their sentence with the trite “It was …” In other words, while the idea is memorable the writing is second rate; there’s a mismatch between idea and the quality of the prose that manifests it.

What follows are examples where the prose matches —in quality— the idea:

“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.” (J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye).

Note that Salinger opens his complex sentence with the subordinating conjunction ‘if.’ This allows him to warn readers that they won’t be reading 19^th century prose, but contemporary!

Charles Dickens startles readers with a first sentence that uses a correlative conjunction ‘whether/or,” which normally is found in the middle or end of sentences and not at the beginning:

“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.” (Charles Dickens, David Copperfield).

The following two examples take advantage of prepositional phrases:

“Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting.” (William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury).

“In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.” (F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby).

Critics, scholars, and readers will go on for many years enjoying a well-crafted sentence. Although —it has been so documented— Tolstoy added this first sentence after he had completed the novel, it is a brilliant example of the happy match of idea and execution in prose. Why is this sentence so admired? There’s only one answer—it’s well written! Just notice the play of antitheses: ‘happy’ and ‘unhappy;’ ‘alike’ and ‘in its own way.’

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. – Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina (1877; trans. Constance Garnett)

Related articles

• Opening Sentence (sentenceopeners.com)