100 Best First Lines from Novels
无意间看到American Book Review评选出的100 Best First Lines from Novels，觉得蛮有意思，分享一下。
排名第二的是Pride & Prejudice：It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)
我今天刚看过新版的同名电影。咋就这么巧？
排名第九的是前十名里我唯一猜中的（不是准头差，而是看过的名著太少，没啥可猜的。比较惭愧。）：It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
排名第十二的放在今天可以当语法的反面教材：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. —Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885)
二十：和十六连在一起读比较搞笑。
四十一：这个大家都应该深有体会。不然也不会来我这里转了，呵呵。 
四十六：弓虽。
五十九：最泛滥的“经典”。不过十有九九你不知道它出自这本书。
七十九：看懂了吗？
九十五：看晕了吧？（若不是因为“标新立异”，这个绝对不是“最佳”的典范，而应该入选“最差”榜单，因为它无法让任何正常人舒服地读完并理解。Keep it simple, stupid是“好”的一大基本原则。）
另外，100 Best First Lines from Novels好难翻啊。“最佳一百句小说第一句”怎么听怎么别扭。“最佳一百句小说开篇”又感觉不够准确——因为开篇可以是一段，不一定是一句（所以理论上，最佳一百句小说开篇可以是五十本小说的头两句）。怎么办？谁能帮帮忙？
Bonus video: Kubb - Wicked Soul
February 21st, 2006 at 2:34 am
这个题目好。我头一个想起来的就是《傲慢与偏见》的第一句话。呵呵。第一次看的时候我对着这句话傻笑了半天。然后就是那个It’s the best of the times, it’s the worst of the times….然后就是“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. ”
《百万富翁》节目有一次的题目是哪本小说是以主人公的名字作为开头和结尾的。我猜是Mrs. Dalloway，结果是洛丽塔。９５号够狠。
翻成“开场白”可好？
Yan:
傻笑？有照片不？
“开场白”跟“开篇”类似，还是没有解决“一句”的问题。
February 21st, 2006 at 2:34 am
双城记的第一章实在过于经典了，单说第一句不公允啊，不过只评选“百佳首句”比较符合读者和篇幅的胃口。
February 21st, 2006 at 9:36 am
46太牛了，一整段的a。
Yan:
把a进行到底。
February 21st, 2006 at 10:25 am
I dare not quote directly “the universal truth” on my journal a few days ago, but you did brilliantly. Bravo!
February 21st, 2006 at 11:32 am
俺也是刚刚看了这个电影呢！正准备把英文原著搬出来看看，不知道能不能看的懂。电影的感觉是没有过瘾，总觉得差点什么。不知道你有没有好的方法能给读英文原著一些帮助。是单看原著好呢？还是要中英对照着看呢？
谢谢。
Yan:
只看原著比较保险。翻译版本水平参差不齐，万一碰上差的还不如不看。
February 21st, 2006 at 1:36 pm
最佳小说开篇一百句
Yan:
这个比较容易被误解为一本最佳小说的头一百句。
翻译不简单吧？
February 21st, 2006 at 3:02 pm
小说开篇最佳百句~~~
Yan:
这个还行。谢了。
February 21st, 2006 at 4:13 pm
小說啟首佳句百強？
Yan:
I like this one. Thanks.
February 21st, 2006 at 4:14 pm
最佳小說啟首句百條？
Yan:
Same problem as I mentioned above. It sounds like ONE best novel.
February 21st, 2006 at 5:31 pm
还有个小问题请教一下，为什么在“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. ”里面，light 和darkness 是大写的呢？有什么特别的意思么？
Yan:
说实话，我也不知道。就像我不知道为啥第七句开头的r是小写一样。不好意思。
February 22nd, 2006 at 10:28 am
Light與Darkness的大寫，是不是為了特指「大善」與「大惡」，所以要與「光明」和「黑暗」區分？
February 23rd, 2006 at 2:05 pm
请问第七句，詹姆斯·乔伊斯的《芬尼根守灵夜》首句该怎么翻译，据说这本书比《尤利西斯》还要晦涩难懂。
riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.
February 23rd, 2006 at 2:46 pm
How about “100最佳小说开篇句”？
February 28th, 2006 at 1:52 am
100 Best First Lines from Novels — 英文小说的百佳首句
September 8th, 2006 at 1:10 am
小说最佳开篇句100
Yan:
数字放最后，总觉得缺个量词。总之我找不到一个让我完全满意的版本。