Monday, April 10, 2006

Famous First Words

It is the first words that you read of a book that will either repel you or draw you in. Here are some first sentences from ten of my favorite books. Let me know if you can guess the titles of the books; some are easy, some are obscure:

1. “My name is Howard W. Campbell, Jr.”
2. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again.”
3. “Mama died today.”
4. “Tell me, O Muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide
after he had sacked the famous town of Troy.”
5. “I first heard of Antonia on what seemed to me an interminable journey across the great midland plain of North America.”
6. “Marley was dead; to begin with.”
7. “Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K., he knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested.”
8. “In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.”
9. “On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge.”
10. “And then there was the bad weather.”

So many books, so little time.

3 comments:

Justine said...

Okay here goes nothing...

1. No clue
2. See #1
3. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
4. The Iliad by Homer
5. My Antonia by Willa Cather
6. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
7. The Trial by Franz Kafka
8. I know this one but can't remember
9. eerrgghhh?
10. Isn't this Hemingway?

For the record, some of those i know but for the love of bob i can't think of them. Also, I would have expected you to put up Mrs. Dalloway...tsk tsk

Kat said...

Oooh... I know #5!!!

My Antonia!

Oh, I see Justine beat me to that.

Bitch.

:)

Justine said...

ohhh kathleen...thems be fighten words...haha