Literary meme - for some definition of literary ;-)
A first lines of books meme, because I like quizzes, and books, copied from anazri and suzie_shooter ♥
1. Choose, by random means if at all possible, ten books that you have read recently.
2. Post the first sentences of every book in your journal and invite your f'list to guess at the title and author of the book.
Well, I picked some books that were lying around, and they had first lines like
This is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the hope and the heir to the Hairy Hooligan tribe. or
Once there were four children, whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy or
There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Iluvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made
So I poked about to find first lines that weren't just stuffed full of proper names, so as to make it a bit more of a challenge - I've also exercised some freedom in choosing whether to include the snippets that precede the start of chapters, for better effect.
1. One day, when he was naughty, Mr Bunnsy looked over the hedge into Farmer Fred's field and it was full of fresh green lettuces.
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett, guessed by rhosyndu. No list of first lines is complete without one by the brilliant PTerry :-)
2. Our first Siamese was called Sugieh and we bought her because we had mice.
Cats in the Belfry by Doreen Tovey, inherited from my grandmother and guessed by no-one except my household - so clearly obscure - funny anecdotes about Siamese cats and donkeys, and probably responsible for some of my sense of humour, such as it is ;-)
3. Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, guessed by halotolerant - a fairly recently published book, for a change.
4. There are many dingy and dreary rows of ugly houses in parts of London, but there certainly could not be any row more ugly or dingier than Philibert Place.
The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett, guessed by rhosyndu. Apparently I get squished for pointing out the existence of this :-)
5. I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world.
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart, guessed by uk_sef The first in a series of gently amusing oriental-style legends - one of the MIB's favourites and deserving of a wider readership.
6. "I think treacle pudding is my best pudding," said Mary, extending her pink tongue to remove the last scrap from her nose.
Mary Plain and the twins, by Gwynneth Rae, partially deduced by uk_sef. Again an old favourite, less popular than Paddington, but I don't see why?
7. "He's a Mad Scientist and I'm his Beautiful Daughter."
The Number of the Beast, by Robert Heinlein, guessed by rhosyndu. I have read and enjoyed too much Heinlein, and sometimes it shows - this is one of his later, and thus more rambling and less good books, but it holds nostalgia for me ;-)
8. Two tires fly. Two wail.
A bamboo grove all chopped down
From it, warring songs.
The Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. More recent again, and I'm surprised no-one got this - a massive historical epic fantasy, crammed with sex and mathematics and conspiracy theories. Probably belongs in the cenea household at least ;-)
9. I'll make my report as if I told a story, because I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K Le Guin, guessed by rhosyndu and weetziecat. I'm not a big Earthsea fan, but Le Guin's investigations of culture and sexuality interest me, and she is good with words too.
10. The primroses were over.
Watership Down, by Richard Adams, guessed by rhosyndu, and clearly well loved by my flist. Again it's the insights into rabbit culture that make the story for me, I think.
I think these are quite hard, and have a strong personal bias - I'll be interested to see what anyone makes of them.
ETA: The delightful ladybella was taking prompts for ficlets, now cross-posted to the comm - an extra half an experience point for any TGSers who tells me which one she wrote for me ♥
1. Choose, by random means if at all possible, ten books that you have read recently.
2. Post the first sentences of every book in your journal and invite your f'list to guess at the title and author of the book.
Well, I picked some books that were lying around, and they had first lines like
This is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the hope and the heir to the Hairy Hooligan tribe. or
Once there were four children, whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy or
There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Iluvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made
So I poked about to find first lines that weren't just stuffed full of proper names, so as to make it a bit more of a challenge - I've also exercised some freedom in choosing whether to include the snippets that precede the start of chapters, for better effect.
1. One day, when he was naughty, Mr Bunnsy looked over the hedge into Farmer Fred's field and it was full of fresh green lettuces.
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett, guessed by rhosyndu. No list of first lines is complete without one by the brilliant PTerry :-)
2. Our first Siamese was called Sugieh and we bought her because we had mice.
Cats in the Belfry by Doreen Tovey, inherited from my grandmother and guessed by no-one except my household - so clearly obscure - funny anecdotes about Siamese cats and donkeys, and probably responsible for some of my sense of humour, such as it is ;-)
3. Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, guessed by halotolerant - a fairly recently published book, for a change.
4. There are many dingy and dreary rows of ugly houses in parts of London, but there certainly could not be any row more ugly or dingier than Philibert Place.
The Lost Prince by Frances Hodgson Burnett, guessed by rhosyndu. Apparently I get squished for pointing out the existence of this :-)
5. I shall clasp my hands together and bow to the corners of the world.
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart, guessed by uk_sef The first in a series of gently amusing oriental-style legends - one of the MIB's favourites and deserving of a wider readership.
6. "I think treacle pudding is my best pudding," said Mary, extending her pink tongue to remove the last scrap from her nose.
Mary Plain and the twins, by Gwynneth Rae, partially deduced by uk_sef. Again an old favourite, less popular than Paddington, but I don't see why?
7. "He's a Mad Scientist and I'm his Beautiful Daughter."
The Number of the Beast, by Robert Heinlein, guessed by rhosyndu. I have read and enjoyed too much Heinlein, and sometimes it shows - this is one of his later, and thus more rambling and less good books, but it holds nostalgia for me ;-)
8. Two tires fly. Two wail.
A bamboo grove all chopped down
From it, warring songs.
The Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. More recent again, and I'm surprised no-one got this - a massive historical epic fantasy, crammed with sex and mathematics and conspiracy theories. Probably belongs in the cenea household at least ;-)
9. I'll make my report as if I told a story, because I was taught as a child on my homeworld that Truth is a matter of the imagination.
The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K Le Guin, guessed by rhosyndu and weetziecat. I'm not a big Earthsea fan, but Le Guin's investigations of culture and sexuality interest me, and she is good with words too.
10. The primroses were over.
Watership Down, by Richard Adams, guessed by rhosyndu, and clearly well loved by my flist. Again it's the insights into rabbit culture that make the story for me, I think.
I think these are quite hard, and have a strong personal bias - I'll be interested to see what anyone makes of them.
ETA: The delightful ladybella was taking prompts for ficlets, now cross-posted to the comm - an extra half an experience point for any TGSers who tells me which one she wrote for me ♥