GREAT OPENING SENTENCES.

GREAT OPENING SENTENCES. The high school library asked the students for nominations for the best opening sentence of a book. Either Annalisa or Nick (we can’t remember which) nominated, “Marley was dead: to begin with.” I can’t think of a better opening sentence. A CHRISTMAS CAROL is going to be about ghosts, but we begin with something that is certain and matter of fact. The certainty is that of the grave; at the outset, the story is dark. And then there is the inspired punctuation, the pause. The story is about to begin, and the story is to be about a new beginning.