Six of the Best First Lines in Modern Literature

A great first line can pull a reader into a story before they even realize it. Writers and editors at The Atlantic magazine were asked to name one of the best first lines in modern literature. Each person picked a line they loved and explained why it works so well. The choices come from novels and short stories written over the past hundred years, and they show just how powerful a single sentence can be.

The first pick comes from Toni Morrison's novel Jazz. The opening line is just three words: "Sth, I know that woman." Staff writer Sophia Nguyen says she loves it for how immediate and personal it feels. The sound "sth" copies the noise of someone sucking their teeth — a real, physical reaction. Morrison herself said she came up with the line out of frustration, and that small sound ended up giving the whole book its voice.

The second choice is from One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez. The line reads: "Many years later as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." Staff writer Ian Bogost says the sentence manages to cover an entire life while still leaving much of the story untold. It jumps between a deadly moment and a childhood memory in the same breath. The book it opens went on to inspire writers all around the world with its style called magical realism, which mixes fantasy with real historical events.

Next is a line from Cold Comfort Farm, a funny novel by Stella Gibbons published in 1932. The opening sentence is very long and describes a woman named Flora Poste, whose expensive education left her unable to earn her own living. Senior editor Talya Zax points out that the sentence sounds serious at first, but is actually poking fun at a certain type of proper English novel. The humor comes from the gap between how grand Flora's upbringing sounds and how useless it actually was. The rest of the book follows Flora as she tries to improve her gloomy relatives, with the story laughing at her the whole time.

The fourth line is perhaps the simplest of the group: "For a long time I used to go to bed early." It opens In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust. Contributing editor Walt Hunter says those plain words work like an orchestra tuning up before a big concert — they prepare you for something much larger and more complex. The full book is more than one million words long and explores memory, love, and loss in great detail. Even so, that quiet first sentence perfectly captures the thoughtful, inward world of the story.

The fifth pick is from a short story in Jhumpa Lahiri's collection Interpreter of Maladies, which won the Pulitzer Prize. The line tells us that a notice informed some characters that their electricity would be cut off for one hour each night for five days. Staff writer Clint Smith says this single sentence of just 26 words does an amazing amount of work. It makes you wonder right away who sent the notice and why, and it pulls you into the story. By the end of the 21-page story, the phrase "temporary matter" has taken on a much deeper and sadder meaning.

The final choice comes from Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar, published in 2024. The opening line introduces a man named Cyrus who has been using drugs, and jokes that after 27 years of silence, God finally spoke back to him — and all Cyrus wanted was a do-over. National editor Scott Stossel says the line is funny, mysterious, and ends on a note of real regret. It sets up a story about addiction, faith, and family in a way that is impossible to ignore. Akbar is also a poet, and his skill with rhythm and tone makes the very first sentence feel like the beginning of something unforgettable.