Book with best opening paragraph

[diebitter]

Here's my choice for this. Do you know better?

Shirley Jackson - The Haunting of Hill House

"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone."

[Dynasty]

How can that be the best? I don't even want to read the second paragraph.

[tolbiny]

It saves you from having to read the rest of the book- gotta be worth something.

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
How can that be the best? I don't even want to read the second paragraph.

[/ QUOTE ]

then you're an idiot.

[beta1607]

[ QUOTE ]
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.

[/ QUOTE ]

[TheBlueMonster]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
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.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]
award for most long winded and redundant.

[Los Feliz Slim]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
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.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]
award for most long winded and redundant.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just reading that paragraph made me want to forget how to read.

Wasn't he getting paid by the word or something? Or is that a myth?

[AceHigh]

[ QUOTE ]
Wasn't he getting paid by the word or something? Or is that a myth?

[/ QUOTE ]

Dickens originally wrote a Tale of Two Cities as a series of articles for a periodical. So in a sense he was paid per chapter.

[tdarko]

when nobody had posted in this i was thinking how i couldn't wait for someone to list a tale of two cities so i could tell them how god awful of a choice it was...so thanks, its a god awful choice.

pick something original.

[eviljeff]

[ QUOTE ]
pick something original.

[/ QUOTE ]

right, Dickens was a complete hack.

I'm guessing the version of A Tale of Two Cities you read was about 50 pages thick and had a black and yellow striped cover.