Books: The First Sentence

[Chris L]

Is it The Time Machine by H G Wells?

Yes. 

[valmont]

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

[valmont]

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.  We had been wandering, indeed, in the leafless shrubbery an hour in the morning; but since dinner (Mrs. Reed, when there was no company, dined early) the cold winter wind had brought with it clouds so sombre, and a rain so penetrating, that further out-door exercise was now out of the question.

[MartinG]

Jane Eyre  


I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighborhoods.

[Chris L]

I am always drawn back to places where I have lived, the houses and their neighborhoods.

It certainly sounds familiar, but...any hints, @MartinG?

[MartinG]

It's a novel which was adapted into a film with an Oscar-winning song.

[valmont]

Breakfast at Tiffany's?

[MartinG]

Give the man a vegan chocolate medal! 

[valmont]

To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.

[MartinG]

Is it Green Grow the Lilacs? 

[Chris L]

I was just going to guess this, but I checked and verified it first: The Grapes of Wrath.

[Chris L]

"She was so deeply imbedded in my consciousness that for the first year of school I seem to have believed that each of my teachers was my mother in disguise."

[valmont]

A Prayer For Owen Meany?

[Chris L]

A Prayer For Owen Meany?

No.

[Chris L]

"She was so deeply imbedded in my consciousness that for the first year of school I seem to have believed that each of my teachers was my mother in disguise."

This was the first line from the breakthrough bestseller by one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. (He's my personal favorite among 20th century literary writers.) He kept writing until well into the 21st century, but recently announced his retirement.

Never trust a writer who says he's retiring unless he has Alzheimer's (which I hope he doesn't)...