Sunday 19 October 2008

First Lines

Because I am curious and because I know several other people who read this blog are voracious readers like I am (although I haven't finished a book in over a month *sigh*) - what is a great first line of a book or short story you have read.  And, as always, that ever present question, why? (I can think of a much better phrasing than "ever present" but am stumped on the spelling).

It's a task for my creative writing class this week.  I think I'm probably going to go with Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier 

"Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again"

That was actually my friend Elisa's suggestion when I told her about the prompt but it's one I keep coming back to again when I think about it.  The amusing thing is she's actually never read Rebecca.  I read it earlier in the year and really enjoyed it.  Although I must say the fact you get to the end and still don't know the MC's name is strange.  Also, I'm toying with asking for one of the "unofficial sequels" for christmas/my birthday but I'm not sure how great they will be.  Actually the one I'm thinking of is probably more of a prequel as it's Rebecca's Story (so you probably still don't get a name for the MC of Rebecca).

My first thought was to use the first line of Pride and Prejudice but I always use that when we talk about examples of things we like from books.  So I'm considering the matter.  When we did favourite character I said Elizabeth Bennett - and the person who went next said Mrs Bennett which I found interesting.

"It is a universally accepted fact that a single gentleman of a certain age must be in want of a wife" 

[That might not be correct, I typed it from memory]

Oh and going back to the unofficial sequel thread of a minute ago, I read both Mr Darcy Takes a Wife* and Darcy and Elizabeth by Linda Berdoll last year which are sequels to Pride and Prejudice.

Very good books but I can't help feeling not really in the right tone for a Jane Austen "sequel".  The plot of those can basically be summed up as Darcy and Elizabeth have lots and lots of sex**.  I did like the books though and would read a third if she wrote it.

*published elsewhere as The Bar Sinister - I was disappointed when I discovered they were one and the same.

**There is more to the plot than the sex and it is a good plot which keeps you hooked but the sex is frequent and the main thing I remember and for an Austen sequel it's detailed.

1 comment:

Karen said...

In my earliest memory I am three years old and I tried to kill my sister- my sister's keeper by Jodi Picoult. Although I like the last line of the prologue better. "In the end though I did not kill my sister- she did it all by herself"

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