Books: The First Sentence

Started by Chris L, Jul 13, 2017, 01:35 PM

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Chris L

Give the first line of a well-known book. (The first paragraph is okay too.) The person who names the book gets to post the next one. Try not to get so obscure that nobody can guess it. I'll go first:

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice
that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."
But us, old friend,
What's to discuss, old friend?

Chris L

#1
Quote from: Chris L on Jul 13, 2017, 01:35 PMGive the first line of a well-known book. (The first paragraph is okay too.) The person who names the book gets to post the next one. Try not to get so obscure that nobody can guess it. I'll go first:

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice
that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."


Okay, after a week with no response, I'm going to go with another one. (This was The Great Gatsby.)

"He was an [part of the title] who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish."
But us, old friend,
What's to discuss, old friend?

MartinG

I wondered about Gatsby and wanted to check the novel instead of Googling but can't find it - probably in the attic somewhere.

I'm pretty sure this is The Old Man and the Sea.

The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.
Morals tomorrow

valmont

The Picture of Dorian Gray?
I was born to ask "why was I born?"

MartinG

Morals tomorrow

valmont

You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.
I was born to ask "why was I born?"

Chris L

Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus - Mary Shelley
But us, old friend,
What's to discuss, old friend?

Chris L

"The [redacted] (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us."
But us, old friend,
What's to discuss, old friend?

Chris L

I'm going for the first paragraph on this one, because the first sentence is too generic.

"The [redacted] (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought roams gracefully free of the trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way—marking the points with a lean forefinger—as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it) and his fecundity."
But us, old friend,
What's to discuss, old friend?

KathyB

Is this Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice?

Chris L

But us, old friend,
What's to discuss, old friend?

Vera Charles

Quote from: Chris L on Jul 27, 2017, 05:35 AMI'm going for the first paragraph on this one, because the first sentence is too generic.

"The [redacted] (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought roams gracefully free of the trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way—marking the points with a lean forefinger—as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it) and his fecundity."
I have no idea, but I have read these five sentences four times now and still can't make any sense of them! I've ruled out Henry James and Enid Blyton. I'm wondering if it's from the pen of either E.L. James or Dan Brown?

Chris L

Quote from: Vera Charles on Jul 27, 2017, 02:21 PM
Quote from: Chris L on Jul 27, 2017, 05:35 AMI'm going for the first paragraph on this one, because the first sentence is too generic.

"The [redacted] (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought roams gracefully free of the trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way—marking the points with a lean forefinger—as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it) and his fecundity."
I have no idea, but I have read these five sentences four times now and still can't make any sense of them! I've ruled out Henry James and Enid Blyton. I'm wondering if it's from the pen of either E.L. James or Dan Brown?
Nope.
But us, old friend,
What's to discuss, old friend?

Vera Charles

Quote from: Chris L on Jul 27, 2017, 02:22 PM
Quote from: Vera Charles on Jul 27, 2017, 02:21 PMI have no idea, but I have read these five sentences four times now and still can't make any sense of them! I've ruled out Henry James and Enid Blyton. I'm wondering if it's from the pen of either E.L. James or Dan Brown?
Nope.
I've resorted to Googling it and now understand why it didn't make any sense to me :-[ 
Spoiler: ShowHide
I'm afraid it's a Genre that I've never been able to get a handle on!

valmont

Is it The Time Machine by H G Wells?
I was born to ask "why was I born?"