Can You Identify the Classic Novel by Its Opening Lines?

1. “1801. I have just returned from a visit to my landlord-the solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with. This is certainly a beautiful country!”

A) “Their Eyes Were Watching God”
B) “Wuthering Heights”
C) “The Lighthouse”

2. “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board”

A) “Their Eyes Were Watching God”
B) “Beloved”
C) “The Lighthouse”

3. “When he was nearly 13, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow”

A) “To Kill a Mockingbird”
B) “Little Women”
C) “The Lighthouse”

4. “All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”

A) “Lolita”
B) “Little Women”
C) “Anna Karenina”

5. “Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed.”

A) “A Passage to India”
B) “Little Women”
C) “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

6. “Brrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiinng! An alarm clock clanged in the dark and silent room. A bed spring creaked. A woman’s voice sang out impatiently: ‘Bigger, shut that thing off!”

A) “A Passage to India”
B) “Native Son”
C) “Slaughterhouse Five”

7. “The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest.”

A) “Heart of Darkness”
B) “Native Son”
C) “Treasure Island”

8. “In the town there were two mutes, and they were always together.”

A) “Heart of Darkness”
B) “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter”
C) “The Color Purple”

Answers: 1:B; 2:A; 3:A; 4:C; 5:C; 6:B; 7:A; 8:B