Thread: The Best opening line in English literature

Critics rarely agree about anything in literature whether it be best or one of the best author , novels or any other relation.
So it might be surprising to see the unanimity when it concerns the Best opening line in English literature which according to many is :


“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, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

This is from A tale of two Cities by Charles Dickens.
I have found out this novel vastly different from his other works. It is more like RLS novel.

thats one of the rare books i have read and i liked it

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

This is the opening line of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It is my second most favourite book.