The first lines of 10 classic novels, updated for the hottest days of summer.
A Christmas Carol
MARLEY WAS SWEATY, LIKE SO SWEATY, to begin with.
The Secret History
The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation. The Bunny thing was bad, obviously, but the snow melting and the fact that it was so hot this time of year was keeping us all up at night with anxiety.
Anna Karenina
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is crowded around box fans, trying not to snap at each other.
The Metamorphosis
One morning, as Gregor Samsa awoke from anxious August dreams, he discovered that during the night he had been transformed into a puddle.
“It would have been better to have been turned into a bug,” he thought, “without any sweat glands.”
Jane Eyre
There was no possibility of taking a comfortable walk that day, like none at all.
The Great Gatsby
In my younger and more vulnerable years, my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since: “Son, you just have to accept that your electrical bill will be higher in the hotter months. But it will be worth it.”
Notes From Underground
I am a sick man… I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man. Normally I’m nice, clean up reasonably well, and don’t spend all day plotting the murder of polluting oil executives, but this unseasonable heat has been getting to me.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board, mostly things like “I bet it’s really breezy out there” and “if I were a sailor, I would swim in the cool water all the time.”
The Haunting Of Hill House
No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of outrageous humidity; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream of spending all their time in air-conditioned movie theaters.
Swann’s Way
For a long time, I went to bed naked but somehow still uncomfortable. Sometimes, when I had put out my candle, my body would glaze over with sweat so quickly that I had not even time to say, “I can’t wait until it’s finally autumn.”
