Great opening lines in literature

Ok, not really literature, but:

Once upon a time, a very long time ago now, about last Friday, Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest under the name of Sanders. -- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (Winnie the Pooh and Some Bees)

Because of the "about last Friday" part, I'll always remember lying down in the "green" bedroom at my grandparents house, while my grandmother read me this book.

 

Hell, if Pooh Bear counts, then we gotta bring in some classic Dr. Seuss :

"The sun did not shine; it was too wet to play. So we sat in the house, all that cold, cold, wet day."

 

"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

 

For the record, the real thing:

"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..."

One of my favorites, from one of my favorite books:

"It was love at first sight. The first time Yossarian saw the chaplain he fell madly in love with him."
-- Catch-22

 

Catch-22 was one of those books I wanted to read, loved it ... and never want to read again.

 

Not sure if I'll never read it again, but I likewise have never read it a second time despite loving it when I read it.

 

I was all set to google this when I saw the thread title. Good work.

 

It's definitely a somewhat tedious read, but still fantastic. I think I've read it five times.

 

There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. � C. S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)

Also, one that stands out because of the alliteration alone.

Ages ago, Alex, Allen and Alva arrived at Antibes, and Alva allowing all, allowing anyone, against Alex's admonition, against Allen's angry assertion: another African amusement . . . anyhow, as all argued, an awesome African army assembled and arduously advanced against an African anthill, assiduously annihilating ant after ant, and afterward, Alex astonishingly accuses Albert as also accepting Africa's antipodal ant annexation. � Walter Abish, Alphabetical Africa (1974)

 

Is that the real thing from the book or the prep gamer?

 

Not literature, but great movie opening line:

"As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster."

 

This is a great thread.