Books: The First Sentence

valmont · Sep 12, 2017, 08:24 AM

Many films, plays, and even an opera have been adapted from this book.

Chris L · Sep 14, 2017, 04:33 PM

I feel really bad that I don't know this because it sounds like exactly the kind of thing I'd be aware of (though when I find out what it is, I may be embarrassed to discover that it was something that I was quite aware of and my memory's just going

).

MartinG · Sep 15, 2017, 12:06 AM

It's not The Innocents is it?

Chris L · Sep 15, 2017, 12:56 AM

Quote from: MartinG on Sep 15, 2017, 12:06 AMIt's not The Innocents is it?

Wasn't The Innocents the film adaptation of The Turn of the Screw? Or am I thinking of a different The Innocents?

valmont · Sep 15, 2017, 04:56 AM

Quote from: Chris L on Sep 15, 2017, 12:56 AM
Quote from: MartinG on Sep 15, 2017, 12:06 AMIt's not The Innocents is it?
Wasn't The Innocents the film adaptation of The Turn of the Screw? Or am I thinking of a different The Innocents?

Yes, the book's title is The Turn of the Screw.

MartinG · Sep 15, 2017, 05:42 AM

Of course it was! D'oh - early morning brain fog.

That's Chris' turn really.

Chris L · Sep 15, 2017, 01:34 PM

Thanks, @MartinG. Yeah, I was right. I've read the book (many years ago) and should have recognized the first line (though somehow that second quote just didn't sound like Henry James).

Be back with a new one.

Chris L · Sep 15, 2017, 02:06 PM

It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills.

Chris L · Oct 21, 2017, 04:13 PM

Quote from: Chris L on Sep 15, 2017, 02:06 PMIt was about eleven o'clock in the morning, mid October, with the sun not shining and a look of hard wet rain in the clearness of the foothills.

Whoa, this has been sitting here for a while!

HINT: This is the first sentence of the first novel by one of the biggest name detective story authors of the mid 20th century. It was made into a film starring Humphrey Bogart. The title is iconic enough that quite a few later films, including one by the Coen Brothers, have had titles that allude to it.

MartinG · Oct 23, 2017, 12:29 AM

The Big Sleep?

Chris L · Oct 23, 2017, 06:42 AM

Quote from: MartinG on Oct 23, 2017, 12:29 AMThe Big Sleep?

Yes!

MartinG · Oct 28, 2017, 02:25 AM

The soldiers were shimmering again.

Chris L · Jan 07, 2018, 12:55 PM

Quote from: MartinG on Oct 28, 2017, 02:25 AMThe soldiers were shimmering again.

I really feel like I know this, but I think I need a hint. @MartinG?

MartinG · Jan 07, 2018, 04:11 PM

Well, the author lives mostly in a capital city and has another significant artistic string to her bow...

MartinG · Sep 30, 2018, 08:04 AM

Further clue - it's the first book in a series, the final instalment of which has yet to be published.