Book Beginnings | The Sea-Wolf

It's been quite some time that I have posted a book beginning, mainly because I have been busy.  I'm thoroughly enjoying reading this work so I thought I would revisit the beginning of the book.  It all starts out like this...

"I scarcely know where to begin, though I sometimes facetiously place the cause of it all to Charley Furuseth’s credit."

What this line says to me is that I'm in for a doozy of a tale, something that I may not even be able to believe or at the very least, something that the narrator can scarcely believe.  It also tells me that it all probably starts with a man named Charley... and despite the fact that he is referred to in the book, I don't remember who he is.  (My assumption is that he's the reason the main character is on a steamer at the start of the book, or perhaps he's the captain of that steamer).

I think this is an effective opening - simplistic and fairly indicative of old school adventure novels.  What do you think?

Book Beginnings | Robinson Crusoe

"I was born in the year 1632, in the city of York, of a good family, tho' not of that country, my father being a foreigner of Bremen, who settl'd first at Hull."

A very matter of fact beginning to a book which ends up playing out to be very 'matter of fact'.  Usually I don't read the entire work before I post the book beginning, so with hindsight here the opening is true to the rest of the novel.

I suppose that this sort of beginning was fairly common in 1719 when the book was written, though I'd love to know your impressions on it.  I was fairly happy that this book didn't scream of ye ole English, though the punctuation at first may throw you for a loop.

Book Beginnings | Washington Square

It's Friday, and you know what that means... it's time for book beginnings!  This week's opening line comes from Henry James' work "Washington Square" which I'm reading for February's book club meeting.

During a portion of the first half of the present century, and more particularly during the latter part of it, there flourished and practised in the city of New York a physician who enjoyed perhaps an exceptional share of the consideration which, in the United States, has always been bestowed upon distinguished members of the medical profession.

Okay, so I know there are going to be a ton of run on sentences right off the bat.  And it appears that the setting is in New York between 1800 and 1850 and a 'distinguished' physician is most likely the main character.  We also know, which Washington Square is being referred to... since there are many cities that have a square named exactly thus. 

Books from this time period, I find, frequently set the scene within the first sentence and it appears this work is no different.  It doesn't thrill me, but it definitely prepares me for what is coming and gives me a primary impression that Henry James is a very structured writer.

Your thoughts?

Book Beginnings | War and Peace

So this is a little bit of 'cart before the horse', since usually I post the beginning line of the book before I begin to read it, let alone post a review of the first book (of four).  But since I have been enthralled with this work, I neglected to post the opening line.

"Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the Buonapartes. But I warn you, if you don't tell me that this means war, if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist—I really believe he is Antichrist—I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend, no longer my 'faithful slave,' as you call yourself! But how do you do? I see I have frightened you—sit down and tell me all the news."

I laughed when I re-read this, because it's evident to me that this opening line would scare the crap out of people and may make some readers stop in their tracks.  That said, I really enjoy this opening line looking back.  It would be better if you had a preliminary understanding of the Napoleonic Wars before you read this, but rest assured that the rest of the book doesn't need more than a cursory history lesson which you can get in 15 minutes on wikipedia.



I really enjoy the use of dialogue in setting the scene, which I believe was a rarer device for an opening line during the time period, which typically focused on a long-run on detailed description of the setting [see Henry James' opening line next week].  I also like the ferocity of emotion and sets the reader up for a customary diplomatist reception.

Thoughts?

Book Beginnings | Treasure Island



Robert Louis Stevenson

 It's Christmas time, and I'm behind in next month's book club book and I have just decided to undergo a personal challenge to read "War and Peace."  It's not an ideal time to start a new book and it's not the season to read about pirates but arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, why not?

"Treasure Island" is short, so perhaps I can finish by the end of the month.  Usually I pull out a book beginning post on Friday but it's the holidays and Friday is the day before Christmas.  So, without further ado, here is the opening line from 'Treasure Island':

SQUIRE TRELAWNEY, Dr. Livesey, and the rest of these gentlemen having asked me to write down the whole particulars about Treasure Island, from the beginning to the end, keeping nothing back but the bearings of the island, and that only because there is still treasure not yet lifted, I take up my pen in the year of grace 17__ and go back to the time when my father kept the Admiral Benbow inn and the brown old seaman with the sabre cut first took up his lodging under our roof.


That's a long sentence, but think about the adventure!  The sentence describes why this tale is being told and talks of an island, treasure, and inn and an old seaman with a sword living with the narrator.  Not surprising why this book became a classic with children... this would have roped me in.  What do you think of the opening line?

Book Beginnings: Around the World in Eighty Days

After reading "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" last month, I really wanted to read some more Jules Verne.  Sure, there was a fair amount of un-realism (I'm making up this word because I think it should exist), but Verne has a great way of taking you to places around the globe and making you feel as if you're on a journey.  In addition, he manages to bring in a lot of history from these places which intrigue me and usually cause me to do further research.  My version of "A Journey to the Centre of the Earth" happened to contain another book... "Around the World in 80 Days", so it was a natural progression for me to read this one next.

I'm still in the middle of it right now, but I wanted to share the opening line "Mr. Phileas Fogg lived, in 1872, at No. 7, Saville Row, Burlington Gardens, the house in which Sheridan died in 1814."  Very historical and factual based.  It sets a physical scene, but other than the really great name, it doesn't do much for me.  What do you think of it?

Book Beginnings | Tortilla Flat

It's Friday, and while I haven't started to read this work by one of my all-time favourites, John Steinbeck, I got antsy and did a quick google search to see if I could find the opening line and viola!

When Danny came home from the army he learned that he was an heir and owner of property.

I have no idea what this book is about, but now I'm one step closer.  I think this is a decent opening line, in that it paints a picture for the beginning of the story.  It's not really exciting or sexy, but I think it gets the job done.

Thoughts in the community?  General opinions of Mr. John Steinbeck?

Book Beginnings | A Journey to the Centre of the Earth

This meme used to be sponsored by Becky at Page Turners, but she relinquished the meme to someone else.  I like the idea of still doing this every Friday, so here's the opening to "A Journey of the Centre of the Earth," by Jules Verne.

"Looking back to all that has occurred to me since that eventful day, I am scarcely able to believe in the reality of my adventures."

Love it.  It's using foreshadowing to get the reader excited to hear about the 'eventful day.'  Based on this, it could be anything... but it's an adventure that is so good we may doubt the reality of it.  Awesome.  I never read any Jules Verne as a kid, so I'm excited to give this one a go.

What do you think about the opening sentence?

(Parenthetically, I really like this portrait and I can't figure out if it's due to the eyes, all the facial hair, or the beautiful shading.  Or maybe I just have some sort of man crush on Jules Verne?)

Book Beginnings | The Way of All Flesh

It must be Friday... which means it's time for Book Beginnings!  Here is the opening line from Samuel Butler's "The Way of All Flesh":

When I was a small boy at the beginning of the century I remember an old man who wore knee-breeches and worsted stockings, and who used to hobble about the street of our village with the help of a stick.

Not transcendent, but I like the imagery just the same.  I also like the fact that the sentence comes from the viewpoint of a child.  It is fascinating to me what one remembers as a child, because it's never necessarily the most important thing... but it's quite frequently something that adults have not given enough thought to... and it is always something that is important in its simplicity.

Book Beginnings | A Tale of Two Cities

In normal circumstances, after creating a list of 20 Novels I'm Ashamed I have NOT read, I would have continued to go about my daily life and paid no attention to said list.  If I'm ashamed I haven't read these books, why would I procrastinate in reading them?  I'm not sure what the answer is [length of novel, intimidation, creating structure to selecting books when I prefer limited structure, etc], but I know that is how I would react.

Thus, when I finished this month's bookclub book early, I vowed to read at least one of the books and I'm in the heart of "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens as you read this.

As is customary on Fridays, here is the beginning of the novel:

It was the best of times,

it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope,
it was the winter of despair,

we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way— in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

I like the opening to the novel, but I wouldn't regard it as some due as the best opening line of all-time.  It tells me that opinion is subject to interpretation and that history repeats itself.  I don't think it tells me all that much about the novel - the opening seems a bit more flash than substance.  What do you think?

Book Beginnings | Death in the Afternoon

It's Friday again, and time for Book Beginnings (sponsored by Becky at 'Page Turners').

Without further ado, here's the opening line from Hemingway's "Death in the Afternoon":


"At the first bullfight I ever went to I expected to be horrified and perhaps sickened by what I had been told would happen to the horses."
 
This opening line has everything that Hemingway intended.  You feel that you don't really want to know what is going to happen to the horses, because you can pretty much guess.  That said, you still kind of want to know and it makes you want to read on.  Another example of Hemingway playing with you right away.  A strong literary technique to open a book, in my opinion.  What do you think?

Book Beginnings | The House of Mirth

It's Friday again, and time for Book Beginnings (sponsored by Becky at 'Page Turners').

I have come across a bunch of positive reviews for Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth" and I found an english copy floating around in a hoste just as I was finishing "The Fourth Hand", so I figured I would give it a whirl.  Here are the opening lines:

"Selden paused in surprise. In the afternoon rush of the Grand Central Station his eyes had been refreshed by the sight of Miss Lily Bart."
We learn from this that the novel's principle characters will be Selden and Miss Bart and that at least one has a crush (physical or otherwise) on another, and about a quarter of the way through, this has proven to be the case.  As an opening line, I suppose it gets the job done and I like the line "eyes had been refreshed by the sight".  All in all, a decent opening but again... nothing transcendant.

Book Beginnings | August 27th

It's Friday again, and time for Book Beginnings (sponsored by Becky at 'Page Turners').

As you know, I'm out of the country right now but I am having an out of body experience and publishing these posts in the virtual world from the past.  Think Hot Tub Time Machine without a horrible script, a hot tub or a time machine... really just me posting things a few days before I leave... in a magical forethinking kind of way.

That aside, here is the first line from John Irving's "The Fourth Hand":

"Imagine a young man on his way to a less-than-30-second event -- the loss of his left hand, long before he reached middle age."

I don't mind this foreshadowing right off the bat.  It sets an expectation right away and knowing Irving, the story behind this you're not going to be able to guess.  It's going to get bit off by a lion or he's a knife salesman and someone knocks him over and the knife lands an inch away from his left hand and then some crazy kid that got into his parent's drug stash comes at him with a meat cleaver.  It's going to be something like that, and this opening line gets the imagination flowing.  It's a technique that has been used before (it's nothing transcendent), but it gets the job done.

The one thing I don't like is that he starts it out with 'imagine' which is essentially like a salesman saying 'picture this!' before he gives his pitch.  Thoughts?

Book Beginnings | August 20th

Now it's time for Book Beginnings [a Page Turner TM idea]!  I'm currently reading "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", and here's the opening line:

"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversation?' "

Not a very intriguing opening, IMO.  Considering that this story is pretty messed up (in a good way), this start is a little boring.  It does show Alice's anxiousness, but it doesn't really endear the reader to her.  Is Alice an endearing character anyway?

Book Beginnings | Friday July 30th

I'm a few days late on the Friday Book Beginnings post.  I'm currently reading "The Curse of Lono" by Hunter S. Thompson and here's the wonderful opening line:

"We were about forty minutes out of San Francisco when the crew finally decided to take action on the problem in Lavatory 1B."

I'm sure there are a lot of thoughts going through your head on this one, but so far I have not heard the details of what happened.  Let's just leave it at this... the title of the chapter is "Blue Arm."

Book Beginnings | Friday, July 23

On every Friday, Page Turners posts a message asking for others to send a link to the opening sentence of a the novel that they are currently reading.  I just came across this, so I guess I missed out on last week but here goes for today.

The opening line from "Tender is the Night":

"On the pleasant shore of the French Riviera, about half-way between Marseilles and the Italian border, stands a large, proud, rose-coloured hotel."

First off, due to the spelling of "coloured", it's obvious that this is a Canadian edition.  Secondly, while this opening line is pleasant, it never really stuck with me and now that I'm about 70 pages from the end, I can't say that it does anything for me looking back except to tell me where all of this hullabaloo started [not chronologically, but in the story].  However, I do really enjoy the idea of a proud hotel, ignoring the concept of proud people within a hotel [which does nothing for me].