mind_philip
saw the light
These 'finest'/'finer' things are all a little bit Borgesian, but I couldn't resist. My personal favorite is from Richard Ford's 'Independence Day':
"And I am in the crowd just as the drums are passing—always the last in line—their boom-boom-booming in my ears and all around. I see the sun above the street, breathe in the day’s rich, warm smell. Someone calls out, ‘Clear a path, make room, make room, please!’ The trumpets go again. My heartbeat quickens. I feel the push, pull, the weave and sway of others."
Obviously a last line is more in cahoots with the bulk of what has come before than a first line, but if you haven't read it, trust me when I say that's a pretty much beat-perfect closing to my favorite novel of the 90s.
"And I am in the crowd just as the drums are passing—always the last in line—their boom-boom-booming in my ears and all around. I see the sun above the street, breathe in the day’s rich, warm smell. Someone calls out, ‘Clear a path, make room, make room, please!’ The trumpets go again. My heartbeat quickens. I feel the push, pull, the weave and sway of others."
Obviously a last line is more in cahoots with the bulk of what has come before than a first line, but if you haven't read it, trust me when I say that's a pretty much beat-perfect closing to my favorite novel of the 90s.