Show HN: Opening lines of famous literary works
A minimalist site that displays opening lines from famous literary works is drawing praise for its concept and design, along with many user-submitted favorite first sentences. Commenters suggest turning it into a game where readers guess the book, improving the quote rotation to avoid repetition using ideas like the coupon collector problem, and expanding beyond English-language literature. Others propose related extensions such as adding closing lines (with spoiler caveats), poems, or movie openings, and integrating personal reading data to recommend what to read next.
Overall reception
- Many commenters find the concept charming and the minimalist design well-suited to highlighting the text itself.
- Several say they quickly discovered new books they now want to read.
- Some praise how strong opening lines can set tone and remain memorable for decades.
Interaction and game ideas
- Multiple suggestions to turn it into a daily/Wordle-style guessing game where users identify the book from the opening line.
- Others propose a “quote of the day” system keyed to the calendar, shared by all users.
- Some request keyboard navigation (space/arrow/enter) in addition to the “Next chapter” button.
- A few want closing lines too, though others warn this would often spoil plots.
Randomization, repetition, and statistics
- Users notice repeats quickly and find it frustrating not knowing how many unique quotes exist.
- One commenter inspects the source and reports there are 60 quotes, estimating ~280 refreshes to see them all (coupon collector problem).
- Several discuss better algorithms: shuffling once per user and walking through the list without repeats; or daily shared quotes.
- Others branch into related statistical problems (birthday paradox, German tank problem vs. species richness estimators).
Content scope, bias, and contributions
- Commenters observe heavy overrepresentation of works originally in English.
- Some share favorite non-English openings and note at least one is already included.
- Requests appear for more languages and even a Spanish interface.
- Many users volunteer specific additional opening lines from novels, short stories, and even non-fiction, often explaining why they resonate.
Related ideas and tools
- Suggestions include:
- A variant focused on poems instead of novels.
- A movie version using opening shots rather than lines.
- A “what book should I read next?” recommender seeded by openings.
- Integrations with reading trackers or clocks that show literary quotes.