All time favorite book openings?

As Gregor Samsa woke one morning from uneasy dreams, he found himself transformed into some kind of monstrous vermin

Goddess, sing the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought countless woes to the Achaeans

and sent the souls of many brave heroes to Hades, their bodies made into a feast for dogs and crows

all to carry out the unfathomable will of Zeus.

Begin from the time when they first quarreled:

the warrior king, son of Atreus, and godlike Achilles.

Also

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.

“The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel”

A Tale of Two Cities, I know it's cliche, but it really is a beautiful opening.

The introductory scene of Judge Holden in Blood Meridian will forever be burnt into my memory.

BIPOCS COULD BE HERE

Today it finally began! After all these years of talking—and nothing but talking—we have finally taken our first action.

notes from underground

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.

"They shoot the white girl first." ~ Toni Morrison, Paradise

All this happened, more or less

They're out there.

Black boys in white suits up before me to commit s*x acts in the hall and get it mopped up before I can catch them.

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.

Neurodivergent People Shouldn't Have Rights. I understand this sounds extremely messed up, but please hear me out. Approach this with an open-mind, and then see how you feel. You may be surprised.

Let me preface this by saying, I believe all humans should have basic universal rights, and I'm even a vegan because I believe all sentient beings should have basic rights.

Neurodivergent people do not follow logically from this. I don't know how society has become so uninformed on the autism spectrum. There have been a countless amount of peer-reviewed studies that demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt that neurodivergent people are not sentient beings. They have no self-awareness, can not perceive pain, emotions, etc. For all intents and purposes, they are biological machines. This is just science. If you disagree with me, you're disagreeing with all those peer-reviewed studies.

Now, if something isn't even a conscious being, why does it deserve rights? Watch me get downmarseyd for stating facts.

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.

While the book overall kinda sucks, The first chapter of Ministry for the future by Kim Stanley Robinson was very gripping, centering on our protagonist experiencing an extreme heatwave. Shame the rest of it turned into a giant blog post.

Maman died today.

This is not book of philosophy. It is exhortation. I hardly have anything to say to most who aren’t like me, still less do I care about convincing. This is account of my reveries. I tried to put, as brief and simple as I could, the thought that motivates me and the problem faced by life in ascent and decline.

Look at me!!! Im cockroach mc morphis!!!!!