First Line (What's the first line of the book you're currently reading)
15 watchers
Oct 2018
9:16pm, 22 Oct 2018
31,052 posts
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Diogenes
(Yes, got to p.65 last time)
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Oct 2018
9:19pm, 22 Oct 2018
9,589 posts
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Cerrertonia
JG Ballard, Dio? It's funny how some opening lines are so memorable. "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel" is one that has stuck with me since childhood. Ironic as it's about a futuristic dystopia and we now know no-one would recognise what an untuned analogue tv looked like in. Mine is 'No, I don't want the mangosteen' - The Wind-Up Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. |
Oct 2018
9:20pm, 22 Oct 2018
36,020 posts
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McGoohan
Well, you might like it. It was - vaguely - like a black history month version of Philip Roth
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Oct 2018
9:20pm, 22 Oct 2018
9,590 posts
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Cerrertonia
And is the other one followed by something like "that was me alex and my three droogs" ? Another book which I suspect might not have aged well.
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Oct 2018
9:24pm, 22 Oct 2018
31,053 posts
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Diogenes
Top marks, Cerrers. The first is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. The second is Millennium People by JG Ballard.
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Oct 2018
9:25pm, 22 Oct 2018
31,054 posts
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Diogenes
(Sorry, third...)
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Oct 2018
9:26pm, 22 Oct 2018
36,021 posts
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McGoohan
I was thinking we should have a last line thread as well... but it might be a bit spoilerish
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Oct 2018
9:26pm, 22 Oct 2018
9,591 posts
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Cerrertonia
Not really top marks, though. Your other book is obviously set in Moscow (from the mention of Patriarch's ponds) but that only narrows it down a certain amount.
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Oct 2018
9:31pm, 22 Oct 2018
9,592 posts
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Cerrertonia
Just as long as no-one is reading Ulysses, McG. 3000+ word final sentence IIRC.
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Oct 2018
9:33pm, 22 Oct 2018
2,632 posts
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Surrey Phil
There is a party game with opening lines. Someone introduces a book and asks everyone to write down what the opening line should be. Once done, all the suggestions plus the authentic one are read out. Everyone votes for the 'correct' one. The winner is the person with the most fake votes. We were offered a book by Dick Francis and I suggested, "A manly smell filled the dressing room." I didn't win but got a vote or two. |
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