10 First Lines of Novels with First Person Narration

1. The Great Gatsby (F Scott Fitzgerald, 1925)

'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.'

2. Room (Emma Donoghue, 2010) 

'Today I'm five. I was four last night going to sleep in the Wardrobe but when I wake up in Bed in the dark I'm changed to five, abracadabra.'

 

3. Moby Dick (Herman Melville, 1851)

 'Call me Ishmael.' 

4. Wuthering Heights (Emile Bronte, 1847)

'I have just returned from a visit to my landlord –

the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with.'

5. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou, 1984)

'When I was three and Bailey four, we had arrived in the musty little town, wearing tags on our wrists which instructed – ‘To Whom It May Concern’ – that we were Marguerite and Bailey Johnson Jr., from Long Beach, California, en route to Stamps, Arkansas, c/o Mrs. Annie Henderson.'

6. The Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger, 1951)

 'If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.'

7. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain, 1884)
  

'You don’t know about me without you have read a book by 

the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly.'

8. David Copperfield (Charles Dickens, 1850) 

'Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, 

or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.'

9. Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe, 1719)

'I was born in the Year 1632, in the City of York, of a good Family, tho' not of that Country, my Father being a Foreigner of Bremen, who settled first at Hull; He got a good Estate by Merchandise, and leaving off his Trade, lived afterward at York, from whence he had married my Mother, whose Relations were named Robinson, a very good Family in that Country, and from whom I was called Robinson Kreutznaer; but by the usual Corruption of Words in England, we are now called, nay we call our selves, and write our Name Crusoe, and so my Companions always call'd me.'

10. The Woman Who Walked into Doors (Roddy Doyle, 1996)

'I was told by a Guard who came to the door. 

He wasn't one I'd seen before, one of the usual ones.

He was only a young fella, skinny and with raw spots all over his neck.'

Related Posts:

• On Writing: Point of View
• 10 First Lines of Novels with Third Person Narration

 

10 First Lines of Novels with Third Person Narration

 

1. Ulysses (James Joyce, 1922)

'Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.'

2. The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway, 1952)

'He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.'

3. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen, 1813)

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

4. Middlemarch (George Eliot, 1872)

'Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress.'

5. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott, 1869)

'Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,” grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.'

6. Animal Farm (George Orwell, 1945)

'Mr. Jones, of the Manor Farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the pop-holes.'

7. The Road (Cormac McCarthy, 2006)

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

8. Candide (Voltaire, 1759)

'In a castle of Westphalia, belonging to the Baron of Thunder-ten-Tronckh, lived a youth, whom nature had endowed with the most gentle manners.'

9. Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone (JK Rowling, 1997)

'Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.'

10. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Caroll,1865)

'Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the riverbank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book', thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversation?'

 Related Posts:

•  On Writing: Point of View
•  10 First Lines of Novels with First Person Narration

On Writing: Point of View

 

In The Craft of Novel Writing Diane Doubtfire considers the point of view to be next on the agenda for the writer after theme. She describes the different points of view that the book can be written from including the first person, third person or omniscient.

Kate Pulinger, writing a piece on Point of View for the Guardian, considers the first and third person perspectives (limited and omniscient) to currently dominate fiction writing.

Points of view/narration types:

a) First person or the 'I' point of view.

'I had a dog once when I was a child' 

 The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide, p.8, 2014

 
b)Third person limited's use of 'he' and 'she' for a limited number of characters

 'Although he was only forty, Kerans' beard had been turned white by the radio-flourine in the water, but his bleached crew-cut hair and deep amber tan made him appear at least ten years younger.'

The Drowned World by JG Ballard, p.11, 1962

c) Third person omniscient where the story is told from an 'all-knowing' perspective and/or the various points of view of the various characters in it.

'As young readers like to know `how people look', we will take this moment to give them a little sketch of the four sisters, who sat knitting away in the twilight [...] 
Margaret, the eldest of the four, was [...] 
Fifteen-year-old Jo was [...] 
Elizabeth, or Beth, as everyone called her, was [...] 
 Amy, though the youngest, was [...]  
What the characters of the four sisters were we will leave to be found out.'

Little Women, by Lousa May Alcott, p.2-3, 1869  

Why choose one over the other? Is it just a style or is it important who tells the story?

I think its important who's point of view we hear the story from. We then know the biases that might ensue and what part of the story we are actually hearing. In Wonder by RJ Palacio, we hear the story of a disfigured boy called August from August himself. The story written in the first person, gives us an intimate view of what August is going through. However it is not until we see the same story from multiple other 'first person' perspectives, like that of his sister or friend that we see the full picture or know the whole story. 

I am writing my novel with a first person point of view. I want the reader to have an intimate relationship with Jez, and get to know the story from his perspective. The problem with this will be that we will only know the other characters and their actions through Jez and with that comes all of Jez's prejudices and assumptions. Also we will only be in the room with the other characters when Jez is. We will know nothing of the other characters or plot points unless Jez tells us. And on that basis we will have to trust Jez to tell us what we need to know and to give the other characters a voice. 

But then, isn't that like real life? We only have one perspective - our own. We have to gain and elicit trust. We don't know what other people are thinking, we listen and watch and get to know people and their stories. We are interested and want to know more. We want to develop, grow in knowledge, skills and understanding. If we knew it all already why would we bother or need to learn? 

We live our lives in suspense, with a first person narrative, our own stories unfolding before our eyes. Eyes blinded by sun, darkness or rose tinted glasses, because no matter what level of skill, knowledge or understanding I acquire in life I still have only only one point of view - mine.


Related Posts:

•  10 First Lines of Novels with First Person Narration 
•  10 First Lines of Novels with Third Person Narration