As primeiras impressões são tudo. No caso dos livros, a primeira impressão que temos é a da capa, porque os olhos também comem e uma capa bonita dá outro ar ao livro. Mas quando começamos a lê-lo, há frases que marcam o tom do livro e, muitas vezes, são fulcrais para o que se segue. Quem escreve, seja ficção, posts de blogs, artigos científicos, o que seja, sabe o quão difícil é começar um texto, afinal a primeira frase pode definir o resto do texto. E as obras de ficção não são excepção, porque a primeira ou as primeiras frases podem ter o poder de agarrar imediatamente o leitor e de suscitar a sua curiosidade. Por isso, decidi reunir aqui algumas das frases mais conhecidas e marcantes da literatura.

The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

"It was a pleasure to burn."

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins."

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

The Secret History, Donna Tartt

"The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation."

The Martian, Andy Weir

"I'm pretty much fucked."

Rebecca, Daphne DuMaurier

"Las night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath

"It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York."

Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day."

Life of Pi, Yann Martel

"My suffering left me sad and gloomy."

Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie

"All children, except one, grow up."

High-Rise, J. G. Ballard

"Later, as he sat on his balcony eating the dog, Dr. Robert Laing reflected on the unusual events that had taken place within this  huge apartment building during the previous three months."

Beloved, Toni Morrison

"124 was spiteful."

The Road, Cormac McCarthy

"When he woke in the woods in the dark and cold of the night he'd reach out to the child sleeping beside him."