I've been revisiting the short stories of Raymond Carver lately, and I have realized that one of his best tactics is a great first sentence. It is so important, especially with the amount of literature out there to read, to pull the reader in immediately. Some writers do this within the first paragraph, but Raymond Carver almost always does it within the first sentence.
For example:
"A man without hands came to the door to sell me a photograph of my house."
- from "Viewfinder"
"In the kitchen, he poured another drink and looked at the bedroom suite in his front yard."
- from "Why Don't You Dance?"
"I was in bed when I heard the gate."
- from "I Could See The Smallest Things"
Each of these examples compels me to move forward, wither because I have to get an explanation for something bizarre (e.g. "Viewfinder") or because it is so ordinary I have to know why he even bothered to tell me this (e.g. "I Could See The Smallest Things").
Who are some other writers that are able to capture the reader in the first sentence? What do you think of Raymond Carver in general and in comparison to Hemingway?