Which book opens with the line 'It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen'?
Nineteen Eighty-Four 1984: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." Yet he is uncertain of the true date, given the regime's continual rewriting and manipulation of history. In the year 1984, civilization has been damaged by war, civil conflict, and revolution. Airstrip One (formerly Britain) is a province of Oceania, one of the three totalitarian super-states that rule the world. It is ruled by the "Party" under the ideology of "Ingsoc" and the mysterious leader Big Brother, who has an intense cult of personality. The Party stamps out anyone who does not fully conform to
Thirteenth stroke of the clock of the preceding twelve". The idea of a clock striking thirteen times has shown up many times in literature. The most famous is the first line in George Orwell’s "Nineteen Eighty-Four" when it starts with, "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen". The famous children's book "Tom's Midnight Garden" by Philippa Pearce speaks of this phenomenon when it says "When Tom hears old Mrs Bartholomew's grandfather clock in the hall striking thirteen, he goes to investigate". Thomas Hardy's "Far from the Madding Crowd" (1874) 'This supreme instance of Troy's goodness fell upon Gabriel's