you’ve been feeding us so well lately king thank you very much

a part 2 after you read them and rerank them would be fun! like how did the first line hold up

the absolute pain of watching someone judge the opening of “we have always lived in the castle” by the first line only when the the first paragraph as a whole is actually one of the best openers for a novel ever

That isn't the first line in Kitchen ! That's the first line of the author's note (preface). The actual first line is "The place I like best in this world in the kitchen."

it PAINS me how he judged "we have always lived in the castle" by the very first line, because the first paragraph is one of my favourite beginnings to a book ever

I wrote a nine page paper on the first paragraph of Their Eyes We’re Watching God so I am biased, but that first line is so good! Enigmatic, simple, metaphorical. Incredible.

I am absolutely shocked you haven’t read Circe yet. One of my favourite books ever. I also think its a great opening line for that story, and what happens throughout. Edit: also, you should read the first couple lines for these. Stories favouring short sentences sort of get shafted here. The opening paragraph of “We Have Lived In The Castle” is one of the best openings of all time.

So Sad! The opening paragraph of "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" is excellent. Yes the first line seems weak, but its necessary for how the paragraph is structured..

It would be pretty cool if you read them and rank them again to see how the two rankings compare

"We Have Always Lived In the Castle" isn't actually a horror story, but does have a sinister vibe through it. It's as well-crafted read although I have to admit that I checked it out of the library so many decades ago purely because the cover was one of the few at that time that had a cat on it.

The opening to we have always lived in the castle has to be read in its entire paragraph. Also, the first sentence makes complete sense for the main character. She's 18 but very childlike.

You wait until you get to the rest of the first paragraph of We Have Always Lived in the Castle!

i really liked the last one tbh. the “you said” is intruiging cause it’s like.. the author is speaking to someone? who is it?? also the mental image of antelopes looking up at the night sky really really speaks to me

this absolutely needs to be a series

I love that Jack makes the line “My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood” seem interesting when he reads it. He should do audiobooks.

One of my favorite lines is the opening of "like water for chocolate" by Laura Esquivel. "The onion has to be finely minced." It's a wonderful book about love and family dynamics at the heart of a home: the kitchen. I will always recommend that book

For the record, the opening line of Circe did make me move it further up my tbr

it’s killing me that you read the paragraph for memorial but not for we have always lived in the castle 🥲 the opening paragraph is stellar!

If only you had read the second sentence of We Have Always Lived in a Castle! It's one of the best first pages of all time!

A part 3 but is ranking the first line of your favorite books of all time

OMG Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto is one of my favorite books (read in Japanese)....! Her writing is so beautiful, just her choice of words and sentence structure is like a sparkling stream in an enchanted forest. I hope it translates well in English :) うたかた/サンクチュアリ (Transient/Sanctuary) and 哀しい予感 (Sad Premonition) are my favorites, but unfortunately I don't think they have been trasnlated to English.

This is such a fun idea, you're making me want to go through all my books and do this

happy birthday Jack!! I really struggled with getting round to reading for so many years but ever since I re-discovered (I vaguely remember watching some of your study-tube content a while ago) your channel last year I've been really motivated to read more, and while I still would like to make reading more of a daily habit I feel like I've recently made so much progress in actually motivating myself to sit down and read. I was such a book worm as a kid and I'm finally starting to rediscover my love for books and your videos have been a large contributing factor to that so thank you!!! and happy Libra season!

Please don’t be put off by the first line of Crossroads ~ I was skeptical and suffer from big book fear but it’s one of my favourite books of this year. The story of the dysfunctional family and the depths it goes into each character made me feel like I was apart of the family and in the middle of all the drama that unfolds. You really get to learn the history, motivations and psyche of everyone in the book.

I wish more people would appreciate Literature and Books the way Jack does!

Breasts and Eggs is one of my all time favourite books- I can’t express how excited I was when I saw you had it!

We Have Always Lived in the Castle does get better. (Not really a scary book, but still Halloween appropriate imo.)

I love these types of videos

In breast and eggs, i feel the open line is referencing how houses where taxed on the number of windows they had, thats why in the uk you see some buildings with a windowed outline in the solid wall

How is opening line of Circe making it one of the last ones on the list… so short, yet telling, so intriguing… can’t disagree more 😐

Hi Jack! I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday and thank you for all the incredible content you give us. We are truly blessed to have someone as passionate and funny as you on booktube and you get better with every video you do. I hope you have an amazing year and never stop talking about books ❤

Happy birthday Jack 💖💖💖 Thank you for all the amazing content. I wouldn't have found these great books without you. I love you videos and how inspiring you are. Love you so much xx

Currently watching all of your old Paris vlogs so this came at the perfect time!

Happy Birthday Jack! August of 2021 will remain one of my favourite months ever because I discovered your channel, I discovered you. I wish you all the best. I hope you had a wonderful birthday 💜

ooh YES I was hoping for another one of these! I tend to judge books by their opening lines a lot and tbh I'd probably watch 20 videos' worth of this 😄

i just read tsoa and circe for the second time this year. i dont know what madelline puts in her books, but i cant get enough of it.

their eyes were watching god deserved better, that was the most poetic opening line i've ever heard

don't give up on We Have Always Lived in the Castle, it's one of my favorite books. Shirley Jackson does an excellent job at keeping the reader engaged throughout!

I really don’t comment on many videos,but thank you so much for giving us this break from life,jack! I just think your videos are awesome and a break from my terrible and atrocious exams,so thanks!

I love that you kept the roll of paper towels for this!

i’m currently reading crossroads, my first Franzen - i’m just past the middle and completely loving it. obviously not sure how it all ends but i would recommend not letting the opening line set up your expectations. a very interesting character study but also lots of plot starts absolutely snowballing about 1/3 of the way in

I like this especially with books you’ve read before so you can say if the first line matches the rest of the book 🤗🤗

Hey Jack, you just put we have always lived in a castle at the bottom of your stack but I’m here to tell you is a good book. I listen to it on audio tape.

I love these videos! I'm actually super eager to hear your thought on Circe because I think you will either love or hate it and I really am not sure which one I would bet on.

would be so interesting to see how you actually rank the books as a whole vs how you ranked the first lines!📚

Happy Birthday to the King of BookTube! 🎉

Happy Birthday Jack, all the best, stay in touch!

JACK YOU'RE POSTING SO OFTEN OMG I'M SO HAPPY

bLove having 3 uploads from Jack in a day. Also, Happy Blended Birthday!

i feel like thrillers usually have the best opening lines

My goodness Jack how did you do that with Hurston - my jaw dropped-you were spot on

Circe was a great read imo She kept this child-ish perspective when she's learning about the world around her, I can relate to that aspect since I had to teach myself everything without good family role models. This book was entertaining haha Happy Birthday!! Your content is always magnificent!

Circe is my favorite book of all time, and I’ve loved most of the books you’ve recommended! It’s a must read!

Really cool ! I loved the last one so much ! ^^

I'm obsessed with your voice and love what you have to say here's an idea make a podcast! I'd for sure listen to it ;)

You make me smile and keep the kitchen roll it’s great! you have a brilliant idea!!

my fav book: "Joost had two problems: the moon and his mustache."

It could be interestng to get listener write ins of their favorite first lines of books they've read or wrote and then you rank them? This series is fun. What a unique idea.

jack you are going to LOVE tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, so excited for you to read it

Looking forward to more videos like this! Maybe you could also make a ranking of your personal favorites of all time? Mine is from Epitaph of a Small Winner, by Machado de Assis. "To the worm who first gnawed on the cold flesh of my corpse, I dedicate with fond remembrance these Posthumous Memoirs."

Happy Birthday Jack! 🎉🎉

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is one of my fave reads this year and the opening sentence is great so I’m glad to see it rated so highly here! 😁

Happy birthday jack!!!! I hope you have a wonderful day🥳🥳🥳🥳

Omg Circe and Their Eyes Were Watching God are my two absolute favorite books. The opening passage of TEWWG is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read.

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto is one of my favorite books of all time!! I always return to it whenever I want comfort

I kinda need an audiobook read by Jack now

I'd love you to do this with these books after reading them. I wonder what order they would be in.

A video of comparison on how you felt with the last paragraph /lines of these books would be spectacular! Breast and Eggs is one of my absolute favorite reads of this year. 💯

love this !!

Their Eyes Were Watching God was so good, but honestly the first page was one of my favorite parts

JACKKKKKK THE UPLOADS THIS WEEEEK

If you want a book with a killer first line, read "Underworld" by Don DeLillo.

I love these!!!!

3 videos in one day 🥹 this is like Christmas

Do a part(3) but with random books in the strand😬😍

Could you make a video of how you’d rank them now after reading

for TEWWG, I studied it for my independent study novel this year, and the very first line is underwhelming, but the rest of that paragraph is IMPECCABLE!

Of those books, Jackson’s is my favorite. That first line means much more after reading the book.

happy birthday bro, this is so entertaining

omg please read crossroads jack i swear we have the same taste in books bc i love everything you recommend and i LOVED crossroads!!! it’s so nuanced and it’s such a tongue in cheek exploration of morality and ethics and the relationships of a dysfunctional family. i read it last december and still think about it all the time! also i’m going to keep commenting PLEASE read the overstory by richard powers !!

Liking the video before it even started, it’s like a standard procedure 🤝

Jack is one of my favorite KZfaqrs (:

Just read Memorial alreadyy! I don’t know it but I’ve spent a significant amount of time hearing you say that you want to get to it😂

jack active era i love to see it

100 Years of Solitude, best opening lines!

I would love to see you do it by closing lines.

Bestie I can’t wait to hear what you think of Memorial. I was so excited to read it and then I was majorly disappointed, so I’m really curious if you’ll feel the same or not!

department of speculation is by far my favorite that line was amazing lmfao

i picked up a franzen book at work today and flipped to random page and there was a flacid dick described as a 'faintly urinal dumpling' and that's all i need to know about his writing

tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow made me cry the entire time i loved it so much

Literally every single opening line, read by Jack, is amazing. When I read them myself, they definitely didn’t have the same charm 😂

jack you NEED to read memorial you’ve had it for so long 😭😭😭

the fact that you haven't read Circe, Brests and Eggs, Kitchen is hilarious! You're in for a treat.

I’d love to see the reverse of this! if you take a few classic books you’ve read and read the last line and discuss whether it’s a good wrap up or reflection of the whole book. For example, I know a lot of people are confused about why Jane Eyre’s last chapter is about stJohn, and the last line of the hunger games trilogy still makes me gasp

I’ve heard of Glutton for Punishment, but clearly some of us are Glutton for Multiple Uploads. Such fun! Let us all treasure this moment ❤

who else thinks a video of Jack rating how likely he would read unpublished novels based on their opening lines would be fun? Or is this just me wanting Jack to read the first line of my story and telling whether it's good or not

Would love to see you read some Australian authors!

I really loved the book Circe!

Hope you are well Jack and so amazing wonderful person 😊

My favorite opening line is "A screaming comes across the sky." It just leaves you with a lasting impression, nothing else. The book is Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon