First sentences from 5 books sitting on my bottom bookshelf:
There was a wall. Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed
Dante finds himself astray in a dark wood, where he spends a night of great misery. Dante's The Divine Comedy
From the demonstrations in Seattle through Prague and Quebec, the left has organized an opposition that is steadfast and strong, and which is raising havoc with the master's plans to further enrich and empower the already rich and powerful. Michael Albert's The Trajectory of Change
I'm writing to you today out of sentimental necessity - I have an anguished, painful need to speak with you. Fernando Pessoa's The Book of Disquiet
When a man is small, he loves and hates food with a ferocity which soon dims. MFK Fisher's Serve it Forth