Famous first lines of novels The literary spotlight may be on today’s most popular releases, but let's look back at the classics. Revisit some of the most famous novels of all time and read the compelling first sentences that have drawn us into other worlds. 'A Tale of Two Cities' "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 directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way." Moby-Dick "Call me Ishmael." 'Anna Karenina' "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." '1984' "It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thi...