Frivolous Diversions: Literary Openings

We haven't posted a frivolous diversion for a while, and since Deborah seems to have cornered the market on movie trivia, I thought I'd try something (a little) different.

Instead of quotations from movies, I've compiled some opening passages from famous pieces of writing. Most contain only the work's first sentence; others venture further along. One (#3) contains only a portion of the first sentence. See how many you know (or can guess). Some of these are painfully easy. It was tricky choosing the quotes, because the opening lines needed to be distinctive without being too obvious—and the works needed to be famous enough for people to know. My fear is that they are all too easy.

This is an experiment. We'll see if it qualifies for the "Lead Balloon" award (or worse, the "Turd-in-a-Swimming-Pool" award).

To keep the blog's front page from being overwhelmed by this, I have placed the quotes on a web page. Please click the link below, and post your answers in comments. Enjoy!

And ahab, give the others a chance.

To the quotes!