Incipits: Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)

These two very old people are the father and mother of Mr Bucket.


Roald DAHL, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (illustrated, 1964).

Incipits: Christie, Ten Little Niggers (1939)

In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr. Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed at a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in The Times.


Agatha CHRISTIE, Ten Little Niggers (a.k.a. Ten Little Indians, And Then There Were None, 1939).

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818,1823)

Mary SHELLY. Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus (1818, 1831). London : Penguin Books, 1992.


There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.
(p.19)

Incipits: Shelley, Frankenstein (1818,1831)

Letter I - To Mrs. Saville, England.
St Petersburg, Dec., 11th, 17-
You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an entreprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.


Mary SHELLEY, Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus (1818,1831).

Incipits: Stephens, Here Are Ladies

Listen! If but women were
Half as kind as they are fair
There would be an end to all
Miseries that do appal.
('Women')

He had a high nose.
('Three Heavy Husbands')

It was now his custom to sit there.
('A Glass of Beer')

Do you hate me, you!
('One on One')

He was one of those men who can call ladies by their Christian names.
('Three Women Who Wept')

Nothing is true forever.
('The Triangle')

He sat cross-legged on the roadside beside a heap of stones, and with slow regularity his hammer swung up and down, cracking a stone into small pieces at each descent.
('Three Angry People')

When Brien O'Brien died, people said that it did not matter very much, because he would have died young in any case.
('The Threepenny-Piece')

Do not marry, Breed, asthore!
('Brigid')

She was about to be a mother for the second time, and the fear which is the portion of women was upon her.
('Three Young Wives')

He was tall and she was short.
('The Horses')

While I sit beside the window
I can hear the pigeons coo,
That the air is warm and blue,
And how well the young bird flew –
Then I fold my arms and scold the heart
That thought the pigeon knew.
('Mistress Quiet-Eyes')

Young Mr. O'Grady was in love.
(Three Lovers Who Lost')

He was one who would have passed by the Sphinx without seeing it.
(The Blind Man')

At the end of the bough, at the top of the tree
(As fragrant, as high, and as lovely as thou),
One sweet apple reddens which all men may see,
At the end of the bough.
('Sweet-Apple')

One awakened suddenly in those days.
('Three Happy Places')

If the Moon had a hand
I wonder would she
Stretch it down unto me?
('The Moon')

The old gentleman entered, and was about to sit down, when a button became detached from some portion of his raiment and rolled upon the floor.
('There is a Tavern in the Town')


James STEPHENS, Here are Ladies. London, MacMillan & Co., 1913.

Incipits: Christie, The Adventure of the Cheap Flat (1923)

So far, in the cases which I have recorded, Poirot's investigations have started from the central fact, whether murder or robbery, and have proceeded from thence by a process of logical deduction to the final triumphant unravelling.


Agatha CHRISTIE, The Adventure of the Cheap Flat (1923).

Incipits: Christie, The Million Dollar Bond Robbery (1923)

'What a number of bond robberies there have been lately!' I observed one morning, laying aside the newspaper.


Agatha CHRISTIE, The Million Dollar Bond Robbery (1923).

Incipits: Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and having nothing to do: once of twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?"


Lewis CARROLL, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865).

Incipits: Christie, The Kidnapped Prime Minister (1923)

Now that war and the problems of war are things of the past, I think I may safely venture to reveal to the world the part which my friend Poirot played in a moment of national crisis.


Agatha CHRISTIE, The Kidnapped Prime Minister (1923).

Incipits: Christie, The Tragedy at Marson Manor (1923)

I had been called away from town for a few days, on my return found Poirot in the act of strapping up his smallvalise.


Agatha CHRISTIE, The Tragedy at Marson Manor (1923).

Incipits: Christie, The Adventure of the Western Star (1923)

I was standing at the window of Poirot's rooms looking out idly on the street below.


Agatha CHRISTIE, The Adventure of the Western Star (1923).

Incipits: Christie, The Murder at the Vicarage (1930)

It is difficult to know quite where to begin this story, but I have fixed my choice on a certain Wednesday at luncheon at the Vicarage.


Agatha CHRISTIE, The Murder at the Vicarage (1930).

Incipits: Christie, At Bertram's Hotel (1965)

In the heart of the West End, there are many quiet pockets, unknown to almost all but taxi drivers who traverse them with expert knowledge, and arrive triumphantly thereby at Park Lane, Berkeley Square or South Audley Street.


Agatha CHRISTIE, At Bertram's Hotel (1965).

Incipits: Christie, Sleeping Murder (1976)

Gwenda Reed stood, shivering a little, on the quayside.


Agatha CHRISTIE, Sleeping Murder (1976).

Incipits: Christie, Nemesis (1971)

In the afternoons it was the customs of Miss Jane Marple to unfold her second newspaper.


Agatha CHRISTIE, Nemesis (1971).

Incipits: Christie, The Plymouth Express (1923)

Alec Simpson, RN, stepped from the platform at Newton Abbot into a first-class compartment of the Plymouth Express.


Agatha CHRISTIE, The Plymouth Express (1923).

Incipits: Christie, The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim (1923)

Poirot and I were expecting our old friend Inspector Japp of Scotland Yard to tea.


Agatha CHRISTIE, The Disappearance of Mr Davenheim (1923).

Incipits: Christie, The King of Clubs (1923)

'Truth,' I observed, laying aside the Daily Newsmonger, 'is stranger than fiction!'


Agatha CHRISTIE, The King of Clubs (1923).

Incipits: Christie, The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan (1923)

'Poirot,' I said, 'a change of air would do you good.'.


Agatha CHRISTIE, The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan (1923).

Incipits: Christie, The Affair at the Victory Ball (1923)

Pure chance led my friend Hercule Poirot, formerly chief of the Belgian force, to be connected with the Styles Case.


Agatha CHRISTIE, The Affair at the Victory Ball (1923).