START AT THE BEGINNING.
 
&quot;One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discover that in bed he had been changed into a monstrous verminous bug. He lay on his armour -hard back and saw, as he lifted his head up a little, his brown, arched abdomen divided up into rigid bow -like sections. From this height the blanket, just about ready to slide off completely, could hardly stay in place. His numerous legs, pitifully thin in comparison to the rest of his circumference, flickered helplessly before his eyes. 
 
&quot;What's happened to me, &quot; he thought...&quot; 
 
--- The Metamorphosis. Franz Kafka --- 
 
...i love the beginning of this book... 
 
QUESTION: 
 
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE START OF A NOVEL??

Because it can't possibly have been both!&quot; Ordinarily I'd have to laugh at myself and agree with you. But the truth is that the afternoon when I met Mr. Tanaka Ichiro really was the best and the worst of my life. He seemed so fascinating to me, even the fish smell on his hands was a kind of perfume. If I had never known him, I'm sure I would not have become a geisha. ``&nbsp;Memoirs of a gheisha&nbsp; by Arhur Golden ,It is the last book i read and i&nbsp;think&nbsp;&nbsp;it has an interesting begining .

``Suppose that you and I were sitting in a quiet room overlooking a garden, chatting and sipping at our cups of green tea while we talked about something that had happened a long while ago, and I said to you, &quot;That afternoon when I met so-and-so . . . was the very best afternoon of my life, and also the very worst afternoon.``I expect you might put down your teacup and say, &quot;Well, now, which was it? Was it the best or the worst?

kafka, yeah, great start. :) 
I like specially several incipit of the books by dostoevskij, like for example &quot;notes from the underground&quot; or &quot;the man of a ridicolous man&quot;. 
also the start of &quot;Rayuela&quot; by Cortazar is pretty meaningful in my opinion. &nbsp;