多数小说都是一景物描写或对话开篇，只有少数小说用议论开场。作者口吐莲花般抛出些警句，颇有画龙点睛之奇效。

最言简意赅而广为流传的开场议论，当推托尔斯泰的《安娜·卡列尼娜》。不懂俄文，Joel Carmichael的英译本Anna Karenina是这样翻译：

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its onw way.

最深刻丰富的话，或许是狄更斯的《双城记》的开篇，刻画了一个剧变时代，法国大革命时代。现在还有不少人用以形容的当代中国。

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

另一段话的深刻性一点儿也不亚于上面那段话，虽然没有那样广为流传。劳伦斯在《查泰莱夫人的情人》开篇写道：

Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We’ve got to live,no matter how many skies have fallen.

我个人特别喜欢上面这段话，尤其是在当年刚刚读到的时候。面对绝境，心怀希望，大丈夫不当如是也！Lawrence的小说中，这本Lady Chatterley’s Love非常精彩，其他小说如Women in Love和《虹》我觉得难以卒读。

除了时代话题外，也有关于人情世故的议论。奥斯丁《傲慢与偏见》的开篇：

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

前面三部都是英国名著。再添部美国小说，菲茨杰拉德的《了不起的盖茨比》：

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning overin my mind even since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”

小说中父亲的话，真是金玉良言，虽然有些自负。