Thursday Thirteen #15 - 13 start lines to 13 books

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Opening lines... they're tough to write. They've gotta draw people in, set the tone and the style and perhaps even the theme. I was examining the start lines of a few books and was intrigued by their uniqueness.

Below find the first line or two from 11 novels, one diary, and one short story. If there was a preface, I skipped it and went to the first chapter.

I think you'll have heard of most of the authors (and perhaps many of the books), but it was hard to find well-known books whose first lines didn't give the book completely away. (like this one: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.")

Do you know what books these are from? I will post in the comment section as people guess them right. Personally, I think the hardest ones will be #11, #9, #7, and #5 - I picked them simply because I liked them, not because I thought anyone would guess them.

UPDATE
ANSWERS will be revealed as they are guessed

The TRUTH revealed by The Accidental Novelist

1. It was a bright, defrosted, pussy-willow day at the onset of spring, and the newlyweds were driving cross-country in a large roast turkey. - Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins
   
   
2. I can feel the heat closing in, feel them out there making their moves, setting up their devil doll stool pigeons, crooning over my spoon and dropper I throw away at Washington Square Station, vault a turnstile and two flights down the iron stairs, catch an uptown A train... (Naked Lunch guessed by Superfast Reader)
   
   
3. "When your mama was the geek, my dreamlets," Papa would say, "she made the nipping off of noggins such a crystal mystery that the hens themselves yearned toward her, waltzing around her, hypnotized with longing. (Geek Love guessed by Megan)
   
   
4. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
   (Anna Karenina - guessed by Superfast Reader)
   
   
5. An Octopus? He pulled out his knife and opened his eyes, it was a dream. - Troubled Sleep by Jean-Paul Sartre
   
   
6. Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. (The Little Prince guessed by Janet)
   
   
7. There was no hope for him this time: it was his third stroke. (Dubliners by James Joyce - I should have counted this as a short story, too, I suppose)
   
   
8. We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas guessed by Superfast Reader)
   
   
9. The day had gone by just as days go by. I had killed it in accordance with my primitive and retiring way of life. - Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
   
   
10. Through the small tall bathroom window the December yard is gray and scratchy, the trees calligraphic. - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
    
    
11. Ten thirty... once again I'm ready too soon. My friend Brague, who helped me when I first began acting in pantomimes, often takes me to task for this in that salty language of his... - The Vagabond by Colette
    
    
12. The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. ("The Cask of Amontillado" guessed by Susan Helene Gottfried)
    
    
13. In Spring it is the dawn that is most beautiful. As the light creeps over the hills, their outlines are dyed a faint red and wisps or purplish cloud trail over them. (Hint - this is a famous diary, not a novel.) - The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon
    

Have a great weekend everyone!