Classic literature is timeless, meaningful, and beautiful. Some of the greatest books ever written have ranged from drama and romance to horror, comedy, and science fiction. You’re sure to have read at least a dozen or so of the classics, but this quiz is designed to see just how many you’ve read and — more importantly — how well you remember them!
Writers know that the opening sentence to any story has the power to either grab or lose the reader, and some of the best opening lines can be found in the classics. At the same time, not all of the great novels have well-known opening sentences. Some set the mood and tone. Others introduce characters or settings. There are opening sentences from first-person and third-person perspective. The narrator sometimes speaks to the reader in the opening lines, while other times the characters start the book with dialogue.
The point is, there are so many different ways authors have found to start their stories which would eventually become classic pieces of literature.
Take the quiz below and read 20 opening sentences from classic novels. You have to identify the correct book to which that first sentence belongs. The quiz may start out easy enough, but it will definitely get harder as you go. Good luck, readers!