Subjective selections, yes. Some dubious. But Esquire‘s choice of the greatest 70 sentences are a humbling and inspiring read that I stumbled upon.
Finding them led to a search for best opening sentences, and this list of 100 from novels echoes longer.
Neither list contains my favorite, from Vladimir Nabokov’s memoir Speak, Memory:
The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.
Rereading it triggers an inarticulate voice in my head: “Finish the book, fool!”
