Novel first lines meme

[eldritchhobbit]

Blame altariel1. I usually don't do the meme thing, but this sounded like too much fun to miss.

1. Choose 10 of your all time favourite books.
2. Take the first sentence of the first chapter and make a list in your journal.
3. Don't reveal the author or the title of the book.
4. Now everyone try and guess.

Here goes:

1. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
guessed by randomalia and greenhoodloxley

2. It was predictable, in hindsight.
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
guessed by roo2

3. Lest anyone should suppose I am a son of nobody, sold off by some peasant father in a drought year, I may say our line is an old one, though it ends with me.

4. A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.
Dune by Frank Herbert
guessed by estellye

5. Brother Francis Gerard of Utah might never have discovered the blessed documents, had it not been for the pilgrim with girded loins who appeared during that young novice's Lenten fast in the desert.
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
novel guessed by beledibabe
novel and author guessed by roo2

6. Mr. Dunworthy opened the door to the laboratory and his spectacles promptly steamed up.
The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
guessed by roo2

7. I see in Lunaya Pravda that Luna City Council has passed on first reading a bill to examine, license, inspect -- and tax -- public food vendors operating inside municipal pressure.
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
novel guessed by ltlj
novel and author guessed by guessed by roo2

8. One minute it was Ohio winter, with doors closed, windows locked, the panes blind with frost, icicles fringing every roof, children skiing on slopes, housewives lumbering like great black bears in their furs along the icy streets.

9. The row of comconsole booths lining the passenger concourse of Escobar's largest commercial orbital transfer station had mirrored doors, divided into diagonal sections by rainbow-colored lines of lights.
Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold
guessed by ltlj

10. The night before he went to London, Richard Mayhew was not enjoying himself.
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
guessed by roo2 and terrylj


And two bonus ones, both short stories instead of novels:

11. There was a village once, not very long ago for those with long memories, not very far away for those with long legs.

12. West of Arkham the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut.
"The Colour Out of Space" by H.P. Lovecraft
guessed by roo2


Also, it is wonderful to see agentxpndble in LJ-land. Welcome! Check out her two terrific websites:






For the quote of the day, a first line that didn't make the above list, because I thought it was a dead giveaway:

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."
-George Orwell, 1984

Comments

[roo2.livejournal.com]

Wow! You rule! Do you get the impression that our libraries might look rather similar?


Do you have books stacked on the floor that are used as furniture? :-) My honey and I are both book addicts, and we've reached the point where we're not only out of bookshelf space but places to put bookshelves. We even have shelves in the attic. But I lean toward SF/F/horror, especially classic stories. It seems like too many modern works are way too derivative or cliched, but when I find an original writer who I like, I glomp on to them. Connie Willis is a favorite, along with Neil Gaiman and Charles DeLint. For years I adored Sheri S. Tepper, but some of her recent works have felt way too strident to me and have left me cold, which is a big disappointment for me. It's even worse because I often agree with with what she has to say, I just get my hackles up at the way she chooses to say it. I feel like I'm being beaten upside the head when I read some of her work, and it's left me wary of going back and re-reading some of her earlier work for fear that I won't enjoy it so much.

"The Colour Out of Space", a perennial favorite. Have you ever seen the awful movie adaptation from the mid-1980's?

Believe it or not, I haven't, though I seem to have caught just about every other HPL adaptation out there. So it's as bad as all that, is it? Yikes!

Keep in mind that I caught it on cable circa 1990 or so, so it's been a long time since I've seen it. Also keep in mind that it starred Wil "Wesley Crusher" Wheaton. I found it bad, but in that 'so bad it's actually kind of fun' sort of way, if you know what I mean. Then again, I love cheesy horror movies, so your mileage may vary. It was called "The Curse", and hey, the IMDB says John Schneider was in it! Cool! Too bad it's not available on DVD and the VHS is long out of print. It was way better (IMO) than the godawful adaptation of The Dunwich Horror, if you ever suffered through that, but not nearly as much fun as the Jeffrey Combs movies. It was very much a Joe Bob Briggs kind of movie.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed, this does sound familiar! :)

I lean toward SF/F/horror, especially classic stories. It seems like too many modern works are way too derivative or cliched, but when I find an original writer who I like, I glomp on to them. Connie Willis is a favorite, along with Neil Gaiman

Ah, we're definitely kindred souls!

Your description of "The Curse" now makes me want to search it out, for the "so bad it's almost good" kind of laughs. :) I do adore, in a perverse way, the Jeffrey Combs movies. I love JC anyway, but some are so tongue-in-cheek that you can't help but laugh with them. (The original Re-Animator, for instance.) And I'll admit that Castle Freak has a soft spot in my heart. I can't help it! :)