Novel Beginnings: A Quiz Deck of Opening Lines

“Call me Ishmael.” Do you recall the opening line of your favorite novel, the sentence that drew you into the story’s world so suddenly that you couldn’t stop reading? The novel beginnings in this 48-card quiz deck will test your memory of the books you’ve read and provide you with others to add to your reading list. The card fronts contain an opening line, and the card backs reveal the title and why it and its author are noteworthy. And to keep you on your literary toes, two novels’ “first lines” actually introduce their second paragraphs. Can you find them? Here’s a hint: their authors’ initials are S. A. and C. I. Oh, and we slipped in one play, but it’s widely known, and we couldn’t resist. Happy reading!