At great risk of being accused of writing drivel again, there was once a Spectator competition for the best first line of a novel.I can't remember the book, but I rather liked
"It was the evening of my eightyfirst birthday and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali came to tell me the archbishop had called" Sorry, probably not quite accurate.
But "Call me Ishmael" (Moby Dick) is frequently said to be one of the best.
I like Bernard Levin's entry to the competition best. A friend had apparently done very badly in his Oxford finals. Asked by his tutor how he had spent his time there and not liking to say "nothing whatever" , which was the case, he replied "Writing a novel, Sir". "Ah, perhaps I can help you get it published?" "I doubt it, Sir. The opening sentence is-
"Mabel's naked body quivered in anticipation of the descending fury of the lash"
Not so much the opening sentence, as the whole novel.
I have had 2 full glasses off, egged on by p@
R