First Line Game Chapter 12

Eek! I did it! Here I am!

Okay, in the interests of finding something 'less obscure' (and bearing in mind that less obscure' to me isn't necessarily the same thing as 'less obscure' to you) I've picked a longish first sentence in the hopes that it includes a few clues of its own. For once, I'm not even going to blank out the character's name.

"When the doctor had gone, and the two women from the village he had been waiting for were upstairs shut in with her dead father, Lucy went out into the garden and stood leaning on the gate staring at the sea"

Good luck!

Lucy Church Amiably
by Gertrude Stein ?

Phew! I really thought someone had got it right away!

Sorry rp, not that one.

Hmm. There do seem to be a few clues in the sentence, but nothing that's ringing any bells yet. I'd guess it's set in the mid-20th century - "women from the village", rather than servants or professional undertakers laying out the corpse; "village" makes it sound as though it's set on this side of the Atlantic. The only Lucy I can think of at the moment is in A room with a view, and it's obviously not that.

As you say, definitely not A Room With a View. I'm beginning to think I've unintentionally picked something a little obscure after all and I will say that although the author is extremely well-known this is perhaps one of their lesser-known novels.

No specific date is given but judging by the date of publication I'd say we are a few years earlier than you have guessed. You're in the right location, though, with 'this side of the Atlantic'.

The Waves by Virginia Woolf ?

No but you're on the right track. A final few clues and then perhaps it's time to give up on this one. Late 19th/early 20th century female author, claimed by both Aussies and Brits. The title is a woman's name - though not Lucy. If it hasn't been guessed by 5pm my time (middday NY?) I'll come up with something easier.

Browsing through a list of female authors and looking at Australian-British, I wonder if the 'garden' in the first line is another clue.

I suppose it could be a tangential one - to the author, though not this book.

Time to admit defeat, I fear. The book in question was Vera by Elizabeth Von Arnim. Here's something a bit easier to try:

" _ _ _ _ tugged at his mother's hand and said, "Come on, come on . . ."

Dick and Jane: a* Storybook
Treasury (ed. by?) William S. Gray

*Hinting at hint-seeking, by guessing this anthology rather than one of the (hundreds of?)
Dick & Jane titles. Like:
"It is NOT (or: it IS (!)) a Dick and Jane book."

Definitely not Dick and Jane but I've now forgotten what it was! Off to look it up and remind myself.

ETA - Okay, got it!

Clue - this book is owned by between 15,000 and 15,500 LT members!

Iʻveforgotten sometimes, too what I had just spelled out, in the Hangman game!
". . .owned by between 15,000 and 15,500 LT members"
If only "Harry" had 4 letters instead of 5!
But I donʻtʻ suppose she would
name another character in
a first line. But thanks for the
exclusion of Dick & Jane.

You can comfortably exclude Harry Potter too but you're hovering around the right area (also part of a series (a trilogy, in fact) and far better books than Harry, IMO).

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman?

Hooray! You got it @bell7. The next one's all yours!

Ooh, cool. OK, here goes:

"It was almost December, and ----- was beginning to be frightened."

Dirk Gentlyʻs Holistic Detective Agency ?

Nope, sorry.

The Woman in Black?

No, not that one either.

Ragged Dick* by Horatio Alger Jr. ?

No special reason for this guess (certainly not because of having read it!), just that
"Dick" was 2nd only to "Dirk" (18,19)
as first name thought of,
when I saw the
"__ __ __ __"
of #17,"
(But I notice now (Thankgiving PM EST) that itʻs
FIVE letters not four!)

I've pored over my Xmas themed books and can now safely say it's a book I don't own and, quite likely, one I've never read. Time for the first clue maybe? Is it a children's book?

Sorry, I went away for Thanksgiving and just saw this. It is a children's book, and I'll repeat the line, this time with the character's name:

"It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened."

Okay, I don't think this even counts as a guess and it certainly doesn't deserve a point unless there's one to be had for the worst and vaguest guess ever made in this game. There was a children's movie around several years ago that involved some kind of Xmas train ride. It may have had 'express' in the title (I want to say Midnight Express but I know it's not that!) To be honest, I don't even know if it was ever a book. Is it that one? (I never saw the film OR read the book, as you've probably guessed, but I know what I mean!)

I see there are 324 results for characters named Jonas in Common Knowledge. None of them rings a bell for me, so I'm going to attempt an even sillier guess than Booksloth's: Erotic Tales of the Knights Templar in the Holy Land by Jay Starre (a book, I hasten to add, that I haven't read).

I think we might need another clue.

It was called Polar Express!! It just came to me!

ETA - And I got very excited just then! And I went on Amazon! And I looked it up! And there was one of those things where you get to look inside and read the first line! And it isn't the one :(

Sorry, not The Polar Express and definitely not Erotic Tales haha.

Despite the fact that it says "December" in the first line, it's not a Christmas book. Hmmm... another clue.... you'll find it on a lot of Banned/Challenged Books lists.

you'll find it on a lot of Banned/Challenged Books lists. Are you sure it isn't 'Erotic Tales . . . '?

I'm rescuing my pride by telling myself that if it's a children's book that was written in the past 30 years I almost certainly haven't read it (there have been a few but they are few enough that I would probably recognise that first line). I think I'm out.

LOL yeah I'm sure. ;)

Another clue: The author recently wrote a book that is one of the sequels/companions to this one.

Anyone else want to give it a go, or shall I post the answer and a new first line? (Sorry, I really didn't pick that obscure of a book, at least as far as numbers in LT go)

(I looked it up before because I definitely didn't know the line & was curious) No, you're right, it's most certainly not an obscure book, it's a very very popular, well-regarded YA book. :)

edited to fix missed word, oops

I just looked it up too. I've never heard of it but you certainly didn't pick anything obscure - as PM says, very, very popular among LT members. Maybe it is time for a new one, though, now everyone's started looking it up? One thing this game always reveals is that no matter how well-read we think we are (and I think, in general, that is true of the majority of LT members) we still can't read everything! Award yourself a winner's doughnut and let's try another.

Alright, for anyone who hasn't looked it up yet - it was The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Most of my books are packed because I'm moving this weekend, so I'm kind of limited in choice, but I hope this one won't be quite as difficult:

"When I think of my wife, I always think of her head."

*bump*

No takers? Here's a clue: this book came out in 2012 (sorry - I had a limited selection to go with at the time) and was kind of a breakout surprise of the summer.

Since I'm moving tomorrow and will be in the midst of craziness unpacking and getting settled, if no one gets this in the next couple of days, Booksloth, do you mind if I bump it back to you to pick a first line, as the last one to have it before me? I don't want to have the game flop in my absence. :)

That's very kind, bell7, and no problem at all but I have hopes for this one; that first line feels very familiar to me even though I don't think I've actually read the book. That makes me think it may be one of those oft-quoted ones. If nobody gets it would you like to return to it after your move or should we google it?

I don't mind returning, but don't know what my schedule's going to be like over the next few days. How about, if everyone gives up and I haven't answered in over 24 hours, Google it and move on without me.

I thought it was going to be The man who mistook his wife for a hat, but apparently I was being too literal...

>39 thorold: Ha, that's a great guess, but not the one I had. :)

Just checking in...
Booksloth, as the last one to have the line before me, would you mind filling in a new first line for me if/when everyone's done guessing? (I have no home Internet access still.)

No problem. I just took a few days away with a flu-ey thing but now I'm back and still nobody's guessed I'll share the wisdom of Google . . . (toddles off, looks it up, toddles back) . . . okay, it was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

This one should surely be an easy one. At least, figuring out who wrote it will probably be easy, the hard bit will be hitting on the correct book by this hugely prolific writer.

"In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr ------- --------, lately retired from the bench, puffed a a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in The Times"

Ed for typo.

Rumpole's Last Case
by John Mortimer ?

I like your thinking rp! Not Rumpole but you're not a million miles away from the right genre.
(Clue - readers may not necessarily recognise the name I've blanked out - it isn't the chief protagonist - but names sometimes make it all that bit too easy.)

>45 thorold:
Hmm. "hugely prolific" suggests Agatha Christie. Only about half her novels start with someone catching a train!
Booksloth is not normally mean and devious, so it's not going to be one of the most obscure. It ought to be 4.50 from Paddington but isn't: a bit of trial and error suggests Mr Justice Wargrave in the unfortunately-titled Ten little niggers a.k.a. Ten little indians a.k.a. And then there were none.

Hmmm, 'mean and devious' will have to be my watchwords for 2013 (assuming we ever get there, of course - world ending 21.12.12 etc). You got it thorold. It is Ten Little Faggots/Pakis/Ho's - basically anything offensive you can think of. Since the edition I was looking at was (re)titled And Then There Were None let's go with that, eh? Your go!

OK, we have a couple of weeks before we need to worry about the Mayans, so we can probably get another round in.

This one has a vague sort of relevance to the time of year. The blanked out name in this case would be a dead giveaway, but I don't think Devonshire helps much, so I've left that in :-)

There once lived, in a sequestered part of the county of Devonshire, one Mr ----- -----: a worthy gentleman, who, taking it into his head rather late in life that he must get married, and not being young enough or rich enough to aspire to the hand of a lady of fortune, had wedded an old flame out of mere attachment, who in her turn had taken him for the same reason.

Nicholas Nickelby!

>48 Booksloth:
Too easy! But there would have been no limit to my scoffing if you hadn't got it. :-)
Your turn again.

Shall I try out my 'mean and devious'? Off to have a think. Back in a mo. . . .

Maybe this shouldn't be too hard either (though you never can tell) -
"The final dying sounds of their dress rehearsal left the - - - - - - Players with nothing to do but stand there, silent and helpless, blinking out over the footlights of an empty auditorium."

Well, this is clearly going nowhere. I'm going to announce that last one deceased (it was Revolutionary Road) and try one more, getting a little more obvious/popular each time, I hope:

"The first Wednesday in every month was a Perfectly Awful Day - a day to be awaited with dread, endured with courage, and forgotten with haste."

Anyone?

I enjoy watching this game, however the handful who play it have totally different reading selections than I do, apparently, because there's never anything I know! hahaha.

Do have a guess now and then, even so. There only seem to be two or three of us playing at any given time. Here are some clues to kick-start:
It's a VERY popular classic children's book, written by a woman. Even if you don't own it or haven't read it, you'll still know of it.

Is it the first Nurse Matilda book?

Nope - but thanks for joining in! Keep trying.

>50 Booksloth:
Not mean and devious, but still exposing my ignorance ... Revolutionary road seems to be another book I should have read but haven't: I did try looking for books with amateur theatricals in them, but there are so many.

>51 Booksloth:
I don't recognise it: off the top of my head I would say it sounds a bit too modern for E. Nesbit, and a bit too witty for Enid Blyton, but probably no later than the 1950s, so I'm going to guess, without much confidence, that it might be Just William or one of the sequels.

The Moffats by Eleanor Estes?

#52 You are not alone PolymathicMonkey. I too enjoy watching this game but don't recognise any of the books. It's interesting though, the different reading patterns in the US as compared to New Zealand. Just wish I could read faster and get through more books - my wish list grows too fast!

On 50-51:

I should have spotted Revolutionary Road as it is one of my 25 (maybe my 10) favorite novels, even though it is just over a half-century since I read it.
Curiosity what was the
(6-letter?) word that preceded "Players" ? I took the blanks to mean that it was a word that would give away the title.
Yates later wrote one in
which the protagonist was in and out of mental hospitals all the time. Impressive when I read it, but I've forgotten the title.
Revolutionary Road had a few decades of obscurity -- being all but unknown, until the movie version came out. It had a new (and only its second?) edition soon after the movie.
I haven't seen the film, and don't know who was the screen writer(s), but I was glad that Hollywood is
occasionally able to revive a worthwhile author, though he is even now little-publilcized, just as Tom Keneally* has been not much publicized as the original author of Schindler's List.#
As for the new item-- not the slightest idea!

@ The list exists only in my head, not on paper.
*Met author.
# aka Schindler's Ark

>59 rolandperkins:
Keneally was on the BBC radio show "Private Passions" a couple of weeks ago. I missed the start, but he had some nice things to say about Percy Grainger. The kind BBC has already taken the recording offline, but you can see his music choices here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01nznx1

"Keneally . .. had some nice things to say about
Percy Grainger.

Thanks for the reference to
the BBC Keneally/Grainger item. Despite my interest in folk song, I have to admit, with embarassment, that it was necessary for me to google
Grainger! I rarely put a Wikipedia item into my "Your Books" collection (I don't know how long they'll be accesible), but I am entering this one. One thing familiar
in Wikipedia's "Grainger" was
the mention of his arranging "Country Gardens", and it is some 70+ years since I've
seen mention of that.
I remember as a 6-8year old elementary school student and piano student, wondering why the music textbooks of that era seldom contained what I would call "real" songs. Country Gardens was one of the exceptions to that general rule, and I think it was only
to be found in piano-arrangement books, not in
the "music for singing" books that we had in school.

Ooh. how nice to see a sudden influx of interest in the thread (6 messages since I was last here)! To those who say they never know the answers - please do take a guess every now and then, it's so much more fun when there are more players and often the clues can help even if you haven't read the book.

#56 - Thorold - nice try with the dating but you're actually nearer with E Nesbit than Crompton.

#57 @bell7 - No, not The Moffats

#59 @rolandperkins - The name of the theatre group "The Laurel Players" would only have made it too easy if you knew the book well but I always try to delete proper nouns that might give it away. Perhaps I shouldn't do that? Opinions please.

More clues? The author was American and there was a less-well-known (but still pretty popular) sequel.

Hello? Anyone out there? I'm desparately trying to think up more clues so that somebody will get this but it's hard without giving the whole thing away. The protagonist is a young girl, if that helps.

A wild guess -- I haven't read it -- but something in the clue made me think of
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch ?

I'd almost forgotten it was here! No, rp, sorry, not that one. I'll give it until sometime later today then reveal the answer so it's not hanging over us at Xmas. After that, I guess maybe we'd better have some sort of poll as to whether anyone wants to continue with the game as it hasn't exactly been a runaway success this time around.

Sorry I never quite got back on Xmas Eve. Anyway, I'm now declaring this one over - the book was Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster (1,606 copies on LT).

Instead of posting a new one please could we have a few comments from anyone who is interested in continuing the game? Even if I knew how, I won't be creating one of those 'yes or no' polls as I assume people who don't want to play won't actually be looking at the thread anyway but it would be handy to have some idea as to whether there is any interest out there.

I was very pleased to see this thread revived, but I think there is definitely a difficulty if we don't have a critical mass because we're less likely to get a correct guess. Perhaps we could have a set time after which a new question is posted? Eg, every three days unless there have been guesses and clues which might have taken people closer to the right answer?

Seconding Wandering__Star (67)

I'd like to keep going with the game, even though we've had a few in a row that no one was able to get.

I'll play -- I actually guessed Daddy Long Legs but got distracted by Christmas and didn't post it. I think three days is a good time limit -- I don't always get around to this thread and it moves off my radar if no one posts.

Let's try the three day rule then eh? Three days with no guesses means anyone can jump in and post the next one - does that sound fair? I suggest we throw this one open to whoever is quick enough to grab it.

I will have a go if that's ok?

The opening sentence is more like a paragraph, but it starts like this;

My true name is so well known in the records or registers at Newgate, and in the Old Bailey, ..........

Moll Flanders!

Sorry to snatch at this one so quickly but it's a bit of a favourite. Please have another go.

Haha I had a feeling that may be too easy!
Ok, at the risk of being even easier;

The first place that I can well remember was a large pleasant meadow with a pond of clear water in it.

I found this thread just yesterday, and although very interesting, I felt completely out of my league. But now I think I know one.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, right??

Aw! Should have known that! (I'm only guessing it's right because I'm too lazy to get off the sofa and dig out my copy.)

I haven't read the earlier chapters of this thread, but do I now post a first line from a book? Any rules I need to follow?

In general, we probably should wait for the poster of that one to confirm the answer is right but it seems a shame to let things go quiet while there's finally a bit of movement. In the interests of keeping that momentum going, I also moved, checked it and hope FionaWH will forgive me if I say, go for it, TBR. The only rule I can think of is that the book should have a minimum of 100 owners here on LT (and, hopefully, that you will be checking in at least once a day to see if anyone has got it).

Thank you, Booksloth. Perhaps I should give FionaWh some time to respond. In the meantime, I'll try to fnd an interesting first line.

Yep TooBusyReading, you are correct - go for it :o)

Sorry got busy with family and New Year's Eve celebrations - Happy New Year everyone!

Happy New Year!

I think this one should be fairly easy:

Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

Oh! I know that! Just can't remember the title.

I cant remember the title OR the Author! (Though I have a "Short list".)

Howards End by E. M. Forster ?

No, not Howards End. This one was a little earlier than that one.

The Portrait Of A Lady?

You've got it, wandering_star! It is from The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.

Woohoo! That was one of the set books for my English GCSE - didn't think I would have remembered it so well.

Here's the next one:

"The elevator continued its impossibly slow ascent."

I'm obviously having one of those phases where they all seem familiar, though I definitely should have known Portrait of a Lady having ploughed through it a million times at uni. I'm sure I've seen wandering_star's too. Right now, the only book I can think of that features an elevator at all is The Time Traveller's Wife and I'm 99.9% sure it isn't that one but I'll throw it in just in case. Happy New Year everyone!

No, that's not it - you need to be a decade or two earlier (depending on whether you're looking at original publication date or translation).

Oooooh . . . tantalising. I just know I've read it (which probably means I've never even heard of it). So now I'm thinking it's from somewhere around the late 1980's - am I close?

ETA - And something at the back of my mind is saying maybe sci-fi, which is weird because that's a genre I hardly ever read. Please tell me I've got that bit wrong.

The back of your mind is doing very well! This is not a book that you'd find shelved in the sci-fi section, but the style of parts of the book is definitely sci-fi.

ETA: originally published in 1985.

Not Cloud Atlas?

No...

...but you are thinking along the right lines. This book has an unusual structure and I think that David Mitchell would think of this author as an influence.

Oooo-er, these little snippets are like waving a bone just out of reach of a very hungry dog. I know I know it but my brain's still back in 2012.

I don't know this one; it doesn't ring a bell. But then, I have a mind like a steel sieve, so even if I've read it, I probably wouldn't remember it.

I'll post a clue later on today...

The book has two parallel narratives, which seem to be taking place in different worlds. In one of them there are some nasty creatures called INKlings.

One of the Inkheart books? To be honest, those inklings are starting to make me think perhaps I was wrong about having known it. Unless it is an Inkheart one, because I have read the first two of those.

Ah - no. And since you seem to be the only person guessing, perhaps I'll just give one more clue and then someone else can post a new first line!

Clue: the author is Japanese.

Haruki Murakami is the first to spring to mind. Does that get me any closer?

I have been watching - the line seemed familiar, but now with the clues you have completely lost me :o)

I'm going to assume it might be Murakami until told otherwise. The ones I've read are The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, South of the Border, West of the Sun, Norwegian Wood, After Dark - any of those?

Yes, it's Murakami, but not any of those.

Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World?

That's it! Your turn to post. (Booksloth - I can recommend it if you enjoyed The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle).

(I'll omit the 4 words ;that
give away four-word title):

"In the country of the Gillikins, which is at the North of the __ __ __ __ /
__ __ / __ __, lived a youth called Tip. There was more to his name than that, for old Moombi often declared that his full name was Tippetarius, butno one was expected to say such a long word, when "Tip" would do just as well."

#106 It's on my Mount TBR so I guess I'd read that first line a few times while planning what to read next and that's why it was familiar. I loved The Wind-up Bird Chronicle so this will now be my next Murakami!

#107 Definitely don't have a clue about this one.

This is Oz, but I don't remember which one! I'll guess The Land of Oz?

The Land of Oz is right!

Please take over.

No wonder it sounded familiar to me, but I didn't know why, couldn't place it. Congrats, aviddiva!

OK, here goes.

"The book was thick and black and covered with dust."

Haven't checked my copy but bells are ringing a tune called The Never-Ending Story, or is that too obvious?

If that isn't it I'll chuck in another instinctive guess - The Book Thief?

No, neither of those. Not a children's book.

It's another one I'd swear I've read (though, as we've seen, that doesn't mean a lot).

It's not The Thirteenth Tale, is it? That doesn't seem right either, but I can't think of anything else right now.

No, a bit earlier, but you're on the right track.

Need a hint? This one won a prize.

Anyone? At least two of you have this in your libraries.

Oh NO! Am I one?

Yes, you are.

Aw pooh. I was sitting around assuming I had no chance here. I'll start browsing through my library and see if anything rings a bell.

Judging by your tags, Booksloth, you may no longer own it, but it's still listed in your library.

I'm not that great at updating tags etc so that's a distinct possibility. If I've no longer got it that would mean it can't have been a big favourite so that makes me feel a tinyt bit better about not remembering what it was. I still have no bells ringing.

Ouch! By looking at Booksloth's tags I've just realised what it must be: a book I've read about four times with great (but slightly guilty) enjoyment. But I wouldn't have remembered the opening line without that hint. Strange.
I'm not in a good position to supply a new line just now, so I'll let Booksloth torment her brains a bit longer :-)
I suspect you're probably not a fan, Sloth - you only have two of this author's novels listed, and none of her sister's novels at all.

It's not Agnes Grey is it? (Not that I've read it, just a shot in the dark}

>127 bell7:
Right county, wrong century, I think...

Thank you Thorold! Great hints. I'm going to go for Possession and if that turns out to be wrong that leaves one more guess up my sleeve. I will be pretty busy for the rest of the day so if I'm right my next one will have to start sometime tomorrow - unless anyone else is willing to jump in in the meantime and post one of their own, which would also be fine with me.

Possession is right! Thanks for all helper hints. It's all yours, Booksloth, unless someone wants to jump in first.

I'm a genius! Although I think we'd eliminated practically every other book in the world before thorold manhandled me in the right direction ;-)

If anyone who hasn't had a go would like to jump in, please be my guest. I'm nursing a poorly dog today and I will get back here when I get the chance but it would be nice if we could widen the circle with somebody who hasn't picked yet.

Here's the next one then; sorry about the wait -

'Out of the gravel there are peonies growing.'

One that I've heard about, but haven't
even seen yet; so, this is a wild guess:

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

Nope, not The Periodic Table.

BTW - I had a thought while posting this one last night. How would it be if every time we give a clue (or after a set period (say every 2 days) we have to add the next sentence, and the next . . . etc (bearing in mind that we can still blank out any names/places/obvious giveaways etc? What does everyone think?

>134 Booksloth: I would go for that.

That sounds good to me.

Me too (seconding 134)

Okay then, here's the next line. This also has the advantage of constantly reminding me which book I picked.

"Out of the gravel there are peonies growing. They come up through the loose grey pebbles, their buds testing the air like snails' eyes, then swelling and opening, huge dark-red flowers all shining and glossy like satin."

ETA Interestingly, two out of the three previous posters have this book but I'm not yet ready to say which two.

I hope I haven't read this one: it sounds like the sort of opening line that I would remember, but it's not ringing any bells at all for the moment. With peonies, I suppose it could be something Asian; if there's someone who has time to watch flowers pushing through gravel, maybe the narrator is a prisoner...? The reference to snails makes me think of Patricia Highsmith, but the only one I can remember that involves a prisoner is The glass cell, and I don't really think that's it.

Interesting train of thought there, thorold. I have to ask why snails remind you of Patricia Highsmith? I've only read the Ripley books and don't actually recall any snails there. Sadly, it isn't The Glass Cell.

>140 Booksloth:
They play a role in Deep water (which I read a few weeks ago) and star in at least two of the short stories.

Whatever it is, it sounds good!

It's very popular on LT though not in your library, star.

OT: I don't have a guess (yet? ever?), but wondered if your dog is doing better, Booksloth. I hope so!

#144 Aw, thank you TBR, he's much better now. He had a scratch on his face that had turned into a huge patch of eczema which he kept trying to scratch. He'd made a real mess of it and had to be watched and entertained constantly but it's clearing up well now with steroids and anti-inflammatories and I have high hopes of getting a full night's sleep for the first time since Monday (hooray!) For caring about my darling you get another sentence:

"Out of the gravel there are peonies growing. They come up through the loose grey pebbles, their buds testing the air like snails' eyes, then swelling and opening, huge dark-red flowers all shining and glossy like satin. Then they burst and fall to the ground."

I'm so glad your furry one is doing better! My elderly dog had to have a couple of vet visits recently, but she is doing fine now. Most of the time, she doesn't know she is an old gal.

Hmmmm, I still don't know, but I like that beginning. Once I know what it is, I may have to read it. It sounds vaguely familiar to me, but that's now probably only because I've read it multiple times here. Mind like a steel sieve, still.

I'm glad your baby is doing well too. It hurts to see them poorly, doesn't it?

Okay, I cheated and Googled it. I like this author and have read several of his/her books but don't think I've read this one.

I thought may be it was something obvious, like Peony in Love, but of course, it was not.

I know as soon as I drop the nationality clue everyone will know (the author, at least, if not the actual title) so I'm hanging on to that for a while. :)

That in itself is a nice clue!

Let's have a few more guesses then everyone!

Right. The author must be someone who is a well-known representative of that country's literature. I'm still thinking "captivity", but I can't come up with anything for Asia. There are plenty of other places where they have peonies. The imagery is the kind of thing feminist writers often go in for, so it could be Ms Atwood, who rings the nationality bell: is it Alias Grace? If it is, I ought to have remembered it...

You ought indeed, thorold - shame on you!

Yes, it's Alias Grace.

Well, I got there by process of elimination, but it's a sign that I should re-read some of her books, obviously...

A slightly mischievous choice of line for the next one:

Since the days of Adam, there has been hardly a mischief done in this world but a woman has been at the bottom of it.

#154 Those first few lines have reminded me how good it is. I was thinking maybe it's time I read some too.

Your line looks very familiar and I'm sure I've read it somewhere before (mischievous, yes, but it still made me smile - maybe because I'm in a bit of a mischievous mood myself today). No firm ideas yet though. The phraseology sounds old-fashioned - is it set before the 20th century?

Yes, it's set before the 20th century. You may or may not have read the book (I don't think any of the recent posters here have it in their libraries), but you certainly know the author.

So, do I get to ask another one? Was it also written before the 20th century?

Yes. Not necessarily in the century in century in which it was set, though.

The voice (on very little to go on) sounds like an African or African American one to me. I'm way off now, aren't I?

Yes. Way off. I'd better move on to the next sentence.

Since the days of Adam, there has been hardly a mischief done in this world but a woman has been at the bottom of it. Ever since ours was a family (and that must be very NEAR Adam's time,—so old, noble, and illustrious are the -----s, as everybody knows) women have played a mighty part with the destinies of our race.

I know I've read this, but I can't think what it is.

I suppose Booksloth's idea does have a dim grain of connection with the book: not Africa, but somewhere else where there's a fine old tradition of colonial oppression.

India then. Kipling?

Oz?

>163 aviddiva:,164
Nope. You should be looking much nearer home.

Sounds like the American South or Appalachia

>165 thorold: Which home, Thorold? We're on different continents.

>166 Diane-bpcb:
No.

>167 aviddiva:
According to my very rough calculations, in Holland, England and California we are all closer to this place than we are either to India or Australia. Obviously that doesn't apply to anyone here who's posting from Asia or Australasia!
So you can start drawing rings on the map, Avid :-)

ETA: I suspect that guessing the place mightn't get you very much further in itself (and anyway, will be revealed as soon as I post the next sentence, unless I blank out every third word), so I'll add a clue: this book had a big revival of popularity in the 1970s.

Gotta be the ould sod then (not you, thorold)?

And does the author come from the place where the book is set?

>170 Booksloth:
No: rather confusingly, he was born in another continent altogether. If I remember it rightly, his mother-in-law was his principal connexion in the place you refer to.

As no-one's biting, I'll add the next, rather long sentence. This should resolve any doubts about the place, anyway :-)

Since the days of Adam, there has been hardly a mischief done in this world but a woman has been at the bottom of it. Ever since ours was a family (and that must be very NEAR Adam's time,—so old, noble, and illustrious are the -----s, as everybody knows) women have played a mighty part with the destinies of our race.

I presume that there is no gentleman in Europe that has not heard of the house of ---- of ----, of the kingdom of Ireland, than which a more famous name is not to be found in Gwillim or D'Hozier; and though, as a man of the world, I have learned to despise heartily the claims of some PRETENDERS to high birth who have no more genealogy than the lacquey who cleans my boots, and though I laugh to utter scorn the boasting of many of my countrymen, who are all for descending from kings of Ireland, and talk of a domain no bigger than would feed a pig as if it were a principality; yet truth compels me to assert that my family was the noblest of the island, and, perhaps, of the universal world; while their possessions, now insignificant and torn from us by war, by treachery, by the loss of time, by ancestral extravagance, by adhesion to the old faith and monarch, were formerly prodigious, and embraced many counties, at a time when Ireland was vastly more prosperous than now. I would assume the Irish crown over my coat-of-arms, but that there are so many silly pretenders to that distinction who bear it and render it common.

Now I'm really intrigued but I also know I've never read it so no idea why that first line seemed familiar.

Try reading it again with a Handel Sarabande playing in the background...

With every word I'm drifting further and further away . . .

Barry Lyndon?

>176 aviddiva:
Yes!

This was probably one that you would never work out from the first sentence alone, unless you happened to have read it recently. And that's something very few of us are likely to have done, even if lots of people bought the book after seeing the Kubrick film.

Your go, aviddiva.

And that explains why it seemed familiar to me. I can't count the number of times I've picked it up in a shop and wondered whether to buy. I'm not sure this has helped with that decision one bit. Well done aviddiva!

>178 Booksloth:
It's fun, but probably not Thackeray at his best. As a Victorian pastiche of eighteenth-century fiction, it has to struggle quite hard to be funny without being risqué.

Well, I did read it, ages ago, but to be fair it was the music clue that jogged my memory, even though the piece I really associate with it is lilliburlero, not Handel.

Here's an easy one ( I think so, anyway!)

"There was no possibility of taking a walk that day."

Easy-peasy! Jane Eyre!

Right-o, Booksloth. Take it away!

The Thackeray quote - I'm ashamed to admit I'd never heard of Barry Lyndon before. There is no hope....

Next one then.

"I have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since I saw a tractor tire blow up and throw Newt Hardbine's father over the top of the Standard Oil sign."

No idea, but what a great line!

I thought so too! I think anyone who has read it should recognise it quite quickly.

I'm sure I've seen it before, but I half-suspect that it was in a list of "great first lines"...

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver?

The Bean Trees it is! Your go bell7.

Woohoo! That opening about needing to know how to change a tire really stuck with me, apparently (especially since I still can't!). Here's a new one:

"My dear --------, I note what you say about guiding your Patient's reading and taking care that he sees a good deal of his materialist friend."

That sounds very familiar too; I'm starting to think this might just be a glitch in my brain, a kind of literary deja vu. It's not by Wilkie Collins, by any chance?

No, it's newer than that.

That sounds very familiar too - a lot of the lines sound familiar to me too, and maybe about a third of the time I've actually read the book. :)

Hmm, that widens the area considerably.

The Crimson Petal And The White? This is a total guess, just because the line sounds like it could have come from one of those sexed-up Victorian-style blockbusters that have been quite popular recently.

#194 Sorry to butt in but I definitely know it isn't that. I practically know the whole book by heart! (Sad but true.)

The opening of Crimson Petal is smellier than that, I'm sure. Another wild guess: could it be The Screwtape Letters?

Just showing off here - The opening line of TCPATW is "Watch your step."

>196 thorold:
Just realised that I have a copy on my shelves: apparently I was right about Screwtape! Must have been some very deep level of memory, I don't think I've looked into it for decades. Probably "Patient" that gave it away.

As Bell7 doesn't seem to be around at the moment, I'll post another one. Somewhat in the same tone as the last one I posted, but from a very different author:

It is universally admitted that the family from which the subject of this memoir claims descent is one of the greatest antiquity.

No-one biting? I'll add an unhelpful second sentence to keep the thread alive.

It is universally admitted that the family from which the subject of this memoir claims descent is one of the greatest antiquity. Therefore it is not strange that the origin of the name itself is lost in obscurity.

A little further down the same page, we are told that "...span in the Carthaginian tongue signifies Rabbit."

Is it a 'real' memoir or a fictional one? For some reason, the first line made me want to say To the Lighthouse even though I'mm 99.9% sure it isn't. The next one has me completely flummoxed though.

>198 thorold: Sorry for the delay since you know, of course, that was it. :)

>199 thorold: Almost positive I never read that one. hm...

>200 Booksloth:
i) Somewhere between the two: "imaginative treatment of real historical figure" is probably the best way to describe it.

ii) The mind works in strange ways! It's nothing remotely like the opening of To the lighthouse ('"Yes, of course, if it's fine tomorrow," said Mrs. Ramsay.'). But I don't think you could have made that guess without having the right answer in the back of your mind: you're not altogether barking up the wrong tree...

>201 bell7:
I don't think you have it in your library, bell7.

I'm less certain than you are. I think I can definitely say I haven't read this one.

Does it help if I say that the subject of the memoir grew up in rural Berkshire, later moved to London, was kidnapped several times in the neighbourhood of Regents Park, and spent his declining years in Tuscany?

Yup! Helps to confirm that I've never read the book and have probably never heard of its subject either.

Not a clue.

Iʻm realizing for the first time that "rural Berkshire" means
England and not "THE Berkshires" of Western Massachusetts. I was going to guess Herman Melville who
did live in the Berkshires for a while, but the rest of it sounded unlikely. "Tuscany" made me think of the late Gore Vidal (I was surprised that he died in California, not in Italy where he had lived most of his later years.)

>207 rolandperkins:
...and it's not Saul Bellow either!

Booksloth was very close with To the Lighthouse.

Time for a clue, I think!

Clue:

Like a lady's ringlets brown,
Flow thy silken ears adown
   Either side demurely,
Of thy silver-suited breast
Shining out from all the rest
  Of thy body purely.

(Not a quotation from the book, but a stanza from lines addressed to its subject by someone else who appears in a minor role in the book.)

Lad: A Dog?

>211 aviddiva:
You're barking up the right sort of tree, but this is a rather more literary dog, who lived a few decades before Lad (and in the places I mentioned in message 204).
Booksloth's inspired guess in message 200 is very relevant, too. If you put that together with Tuscany, 19th century, and poets obsessed with ringlets, you should be able to work it out, surely... :-)

Barking up the right tree hah! With all these clues I am going to have to guess that it's Flush?

>213 wandering_star:
Well done, wandering_star! Flush, the dog with poetical ears, it is.

I'm still wondering how Booksloth could have hit on Virginia Woolf from the first sentence...

How about this:

The deck of the French ship was slippery with blood, heaving in the choppy sea; a stroke might as easily bring down the man making it as the intended target.

#214 I can't enlighten you either because I don't know Flush at all. There must have been something in the writing style that reminded me of VW or maybe I have picked this one up in a shop sometime and the association was there without my even being aware of it. My computer's been down for several days but I'd never have got this one even if everything had been working fine (including my brain).

I'm going to throw in a quick and obvious author guess re #215 - anything by Patrick O'Brian? Again, even if I'm right it won't help because I only ever had one of his books and gave it away unread, this sounds great though.

It's not, but a lot of the reviews (on and off LT) reference O'Brian and apparently O'Brian is one of this author's favourite writers.

Hmm. I knew I was taking a risk posting this - although it's got several thousand copies listed on LT, it's sufficiently new (and sufficiently genre) that it's not as easily guessable as some of the earlier ones on this thread. However, another clue - this is the first in a series currently comprising seven books - the eighth (and penultimate) comes out this summer.

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

Got it! Well done bell.

Wow bell! Never even heard of it!

It's been ages since I've read it... I really should reread & catch up on the series, as they're a lot of fun.

Here's the next one:

"Home to stay, Glory! Yes!" her father said, and her heart sank.

Should I give a clue?

It's on one of the 1,001 books to read before you die lists.

" 'Home to stay, Glory! Yes!' her father said, and her heart sank. He attempted a twinkle of joy at this thought, but his eyes were damp with commiseration."

I think we need another clue...

Also an Orange Prize winner.

" 'Home to stay, Glory! Yes!' her father said, and her heart sank. He attempted a twinkle of joy at this thought, but his eyes were damp with commiseration. 'To stay for awhile this time,' he amended, and took her bag from her, first shifting his cane to his weaker hand."

My problem with this game is that, although I can't let go once I think I recognise a line, in other cases I just know immediately that I've never read the book in question and I'm afraid this in one of those. Judging by the language I'm going to take a stab by suggesting that it sounds as if it's set around the 1920s or 30s. Am I getting any warmer?

Nope, it's set in a later time period than that, in Iowa.

The Attic: a Memoir
by Curtis Harnack? *

*If the author is Iowan, Iʻm down to about 4 names, most
of their work being in the first half of the 20th century. So this is kind of a wild guess. (I havenʻt read it, or any Harnack.

No, sorry.

I believe the author lives in Iowa, but was born in another state.

The Voice of Bugle Ann
by Mackinlay Kantor ?

Oh, I loved that book as a kid!

No, afraid not.

Here's another clue: The book is the second of two books by this author that feature ministers, overlapping in events while each having a different focus.

" 'Home to stay, Glory! Yes!' her father said, and her heart sank. He attempted a twinkle of joy at this thought, but his eyes were damp with commiseration. 'To stay for awhile this time,' he amended, and took her bag from her, first shifting his cane to his weaker hand. Dear God, she thought, dear God in heaven."

Ah, with that clue I know which of two books it might be!

Yes, just checked my shelves, it's Home by Marilynne Robinson (the one I haven't read).

>234 wandering_star: That's it! Your go.

"She hurries from the house, wearing a coat too heavy for the weather."

"She hurries from the house, wearing a coat too heavy for the weather. It is 1941. Another war has begun."

Ooh - I knew I recognised this, but I couldn't place it for a while. And then 1941 sent me off on completely the wrong track, thinking we must be in a place where the war started in that year. But it's the coat that's the crucial clue, isn't it? Ms Woolf again, but this time as a character rather than the author, in Michael Cunningham's The Hours.

Very good! Your turn.

Sorry for the interval — I got distracted by other things yesterday and forgot to check back. A new line — I think this is one that you will spot straight away if you know the book, but which you might still be able to work out with a bit of rather tortuous lateral thinking in case you haven't read it:

The children were at the Theatre, acting to Three Cows as much as they could remember of Midsummer Night's Dream.

Another 'fail' for me. I don't even understand what it means!

Puck of Pook's Hill? I read that loads when I was little - we didn't live too far from Kipling's house, Burwash, and I think Pook's Hill was based on somewhere close to there.

Please do tell! Who or what are 'Three Cows'? It's got me intrigued now.

It's actually just three cows. The book starts with the children re-enacting bits of A Midsummer Night's Dream, just on a bit of land near to where they live, and with an audience of three cows. By doing so they accidentally summon up a sprite - because they act out a significant bit of the play, on a mystically significant bit of land ('the theatre'), on midsummer day. I can't remember any of the exact details unfortunately!

>242 wandering_star:
Yes, it is Puck of Pook's Hill. I thought of it because I had a holiday in Sussex last year and visited the house. Well done, Star!

A very odd book: leaps around unpredictably between being whimsical and boringly didactic. The sprite gives them lessons about how important it is to be British...

#244 That makes sense. The caps made me think perhaps it was the name of a pub . . . or something. ("Just off to the Three Cows for a swift pint.")

"(name) spotted her the moment he stepped onto the crowded platform: he was deceived neither by her close-cropped black hair, nor by her clothes, which were those of a teenage boy - loose cotton pants and an oversized white shirt".

This author is best known for his historical fiction, all set in the same region of the world. This book, however, has a contemporary setting.

"(name) spotted her the moment he stepped onto the crowded platform: he was deceived neither by her close-cropped black hair, nor by her clothes, which were those of a teenage boy - loose cotton pants and an oversized white shirt. Winding unerringly through the snack-vendors and tea-sellers who were hawking their wares on the station's platform, his eyes settled on her slim, shapely figure."

Oh dear, no-one is biting...

This author's most recent books are the first two in a planned trilogy, set during a particular historical period and spanning several continents. The names of the two books echo each other. I don't know what the third book in the trilogy will be called.

"(name) spotted her the moment he stepped onto the crowded platform: he was deceived neither by her close-cropped black hair, nor by her clothes, which were those of a teenage boy - loose cotton pants and an oversized white shirt. Winding unerringly through the snack-vendors and tea-sellers who were hawking their wares on the station's platform, his eyes settled on her slim, shapely figure. Her face was long and narrow, with an elegance of line markedly at odds with the severity of her haircut."

I think we're all trying to get our minds around the idea of eyes that can wind unerringly. I'm sure they would come in useful for knitting...

I wish I knew, because it sounds like something I would enjoy.

(Again, wildly guessing an unread item!):
A Division of the Spoils
by Paul Scott ?

Thorold - LOL! Although a lot of people on LT really love this author's work, I only find it interesting because I have certain problems with his writing style, which I think are well exemplified in this opening paragraph.

Roland, reasonable guess but the author is more recent.

"Kanai spotted her the moment he stepped onto the crowded platform: he was deceived neither by her close-cropped black hair, nor by her clothes, which were those of a teenage boy - loose cotton pants and an oversized white shirt. Winding unerringly through the snack-vendors and tea-sellers who were hawking their wares on the station's platform, his eyes settled on her slim, shapely figure. Her face was long and narrow, with an elegance of line markedly at odds with the severity of her haircut. There was no bindi on her forehead and her arms were free of bangles and bracelets, but on one of her ears was a silver stud, glinting brightly against the sun-deepened darkness of her skin."

This book is set in the Sundarbans, a huge mangrove forest which spans the border between India and Bangladesh - the Indian part contains a huge nature reserve.

I think this should be the final clue before moving on to something else, not least because the next paragraph is also about Kanai thinking about this woman!

Still lurking but I definitely know nothing about this one.

It was The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh, and the trilogy I mentioned starts with Sea Of Poppies and River Of Smoke.

Hope this one will be more popular!

"At sixty miles per hour, you could pass our farm in a minute, on County Road 686, which ran due north into the T intersection at Cabot Street Road."

The Wapshot Scandal by John Cheever (even though I greatly fear
it's written in the first person
(". . .OUR farm.. .) which most of
Cheever isn't.)
That redundant sounding name "Cabot Street Road"* does have "New England written all over it, and even
seems too have Leggett, Updike, or Cheever in invisible ink.

*I've seen streets/roads named a lot of things, during some 40 years in New England, but I've never seen
a name that combines "Street" and "Road".

Too far East, I'm afraid...

A Spell of Winter
by Helen Dunmore ?

Interesting choice! This are definitely family issues in this book, but the previous choice was closer geographically.

This author is extremely versatile - works include historical fiction, a campus novel, a mystery and even a Scandinavian-saga style epic.

"At sixty miles per hour, you could pass our farm in a minute, on County Road 686, which ran due north into the T intersection at Cabot Street Road. Cabot Street Road was really just another country blacktop, except that five miles west it ran into and out of the town of Cabot."

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley?

That's it! Your turn.

"When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch."

Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck

Too easy! All yours, bell7.

Darn it! One I knew at last and it was gone by the time I logged in. :(

Quite a memorable first line isn't it? Here's the next, which might be a bit easy:

"It was a pleasure to burn."

Fahrenheit 451! Yee-ha!

>268 Booksloth: That's the one! Just had a lively book discussion about it this evening. :)

I love that book! Would have had to send myself to the naughty step if I hadn't got it!

"There came Death hurtling along the Boulevard in a waning sepia light."

Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates

What a great opening line!

#272 Fantastic, isn't it! And definitely one that sticks in the memory once you've read it.

# 271 You got it mysterymax, well done! Your turn to post.

"It was as black in the closet as old blood."

Oooh, I like that.

And your guess is???

anyone? anyone?

clue: poison is her thing

"Closet" suggests an American setting, and it sounds like a fairly recent book. But I am racking my brains for something that would fit that clue! A wild guess to get things going: is it a Louise Penny book?

Nope. You're close in one way - both Penny and this author are Canadian...

and you're right in that it is 'fairly' recent - 2009. Might be an grammatical error, but the book takes place in England.

#277 The author's or the protagonist's?

#280 What part might be a grammatical error?

(Yoy might realise I'm fishing around in the dark here somewhat.)

Perhaps using the North American word 'closet' for something a Brit might call a 'cupboard' (as the book takes place in England... wandering_star was feeling that 'closet' suggested an American setting. I'm just clarifying that while it probably would, in this case the scene is England.

Oh hang on! Are we, by any chance, with the glorious Flavia de Luce? I'm going to guess The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie.

Righto! Over to you....

That's so funny! When I read The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie I never felt like the UK setting rang true, but I hadn't realised it started from the very first line ;-)

It's quite a while since I read that one but I only just finished A Red Herring Without Mustard about a week ago and noticed quite a few of those little anomalies at the time. So it was the 'closet' that gave it away.

Here's a nice longish one for the next guess (names deleted, of course):

For the rest of her life, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - would blame herself for her son's death because she had decided to have the Mother's Day dinner at six in the evening instead of noon, after church, which is when the - - - - - - - - 's usually had it.l

Is it The Little Friend by Donna Tartt?

Good one, moneybeets, it is. Your go.

Wow, I can't believe I actually got one. Here goes:

12th Day of September
I am commanded to write an account of my days: I am bit by fleas and plagued by family. That is all there is to say.

Sounds as if it is another young protagonist...

Just guessing - The Memoirs of Casanova?

Trying a Kafka (that I havenʻt read!):

The Penal Colony by Franz Kafka ?

Oh, these senior moments... I took a nap and woke up knowing - Catherine, called Birdy??????

Yes, it was Catherine, Called Birdy! A favorite from my childhood. Your turn, mysterymax!

This one will probably be done in record time!

3 May. Bistritz. - Left Munich at 8:35 p.m. on 1st May, arriving at Vienna early next morning; should have arrived at 6:46, but train was on hour late.

Except for the locale, it doesn't sound very Greeneian,
but I'll take a wild guess:

The Third Man* by Graham Greene?

*I've read that the sequence of this one was: the movie first, the book later, which perhaps happens more often now; rare in those days (1940s).

Sorry, no...

From the same era as 296"

The Night in Lisbon
by Erich Maria Remarque ?

Nope! And way, way off in the time frame.

One Deadly Summer
by Sebastien Japrisot ?

Probably not much good as a guess, but I did learn something: The odd-sounding name "Japrisot" was
a pseudonym formed from his real name: Jean-Baptiste Rossi

It makes me think of Dracula for some reason, although I read that many many years ago.

Dracula it is... you're up wandering_star.

Yikes! I've posted two so recently - I don't mind giving someone else a go. I'll hold off posting something for the next day or so - if anyone else has something they'd like to post, please just jump in!

"I donʻt mind giving someone else a go....please just jump in!" (303)

Iʻll jump in,because Iʻm unlikely to be a winner
of any round:

"Arawak* men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages and swam out to get a closer view of the strange big boat."

*Arawak: a Caribbean aboriginal tribe, but most of the book does not take place in the Caribbean. It is non-fiction, despite what any of the authorʻs detractors may tell you.

Thanks Roland! I must say, this sounds very familiar, but I can't think what it might be.

It has to be about one of the early explorers, right?

It is non-fiction, despite what any of the authorʻs detractors may tell you.

...so it's not Philip Roth's Goodbye, Columbus, then? :-)

"It has to be about one of the early explorers, then?"

--No! (except at the very beginning?"

not Goodbye, Columbus? . . ."
-- No.

I've just readin "Chapter 11" that

it's supposed to be "a novel".

Sorry.

ButI did give the hint that it's a non-fiction.

I've been mostly using it as a reference book,

and for this thread I was reading theopening lines

for the first time.
It's the kind of book where I use the

index a lot, but it isn't everybopdy's idea of

a reference book. Acording too the index.

there isn't as much about American Indians

in it, as you might expect.

I give up.

Hint: The author, who died within the past 2 years, is considered "Right Wing"
(Kiddin'!)-- he may be a little to the right of Noam Chomsky!

I think you will have to tell us.

". . . have to tell us"

I'll drop another hint instead:
The second word (1st word after a article) of the title is a possessive -- one that was very popular with writers and activists in the 1960s; not so popular in the 2000s when this was written. His way of distinguishing what KIND of a __ __ __ __ __ __ __ this is. (In contrast, I suppose he means, to many of his colleagues').
The 3rd--6th words appear in thousands of other works

*bump*

I got tired and looked it up -

People's History of the United States ????

Correct, mysterymax
(by Howard Zinn) (There's
an indefinite article before
"People's", so I should have called it a 7-, not a 6- word title (leaving out the subtitle) in the hint in 313.
Please take over.

"...looked it up..."
Did Google link those terms
up with the author and title?

Since I cheated on the answer, would someone else like to jump in with a new line?

"cheated on the answer" (317)

I don't regard "looking it up" (315) as "cheating". (I'm not sure, either, HOW you would
look up an opening line, that is an opening of ordinary prose) Might be possible with a poem
or classic play?). That was the only reason I inquired about Google (316): Curiosity, and possibly, instruction for myself as a guesser. I use any possible source in game threads.

Google picked it up on about the fifth entry. I just had to keep looking at the entries till it came up. I was pretty sure that was the one.

"Google picked it up on about the fifth entry"
Thanks, that was what I was curious about.

You were "pretty sure that was the one": So, your input
was greater than Googol's; hence no "cheating".

Just to try and clarify the rules of the game, if it had been looked up and then offered as a 'guess' then it would have been cheating. We had a suspected spate of this kind of thing before and it made the whole game pointless. However, this game was over and a request had already been made for the answer which wasn't responded to. Mysterymax looked up the answer and admitted to having done so to try and move things on. Go for it mm, I vote it's all yours!

Here's one:

"Lieutenant Commander Peter Holmes of the Royal Australian Navy woke soon after dawn."

On the Beach! Brilliant book.

(mm, for future ref, you are allowed to blank out names if they would make it easier to get.)

Ah so, but you would probably have gotten it anyway, right?!

Maybe. I do love that book. Here's the next one:

"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured."

Unfortunately I have no idea, but that's a great first sentence.

It's a great book too. Those of us who love it are still waiting for the sequel (annoyingly now promised for about 8 years).

The Periodic Table
by Primo Levi?

I see where you're coming from rp but it would be very hard for Primo Levi to be still promising us a sequel to that one ;-)

This is a novel, much more recent, by a living male writer. The next sentence will be posted after another guess.

I can't have read it, who could forget a line like that?!

The only book I can think of where the sequel has been promised for many many years is A Suitable Boy but I am certain that isn't how it starts!

No, not A Suitable Boy, though you're in the right area geographically. Here's the next bit:

"It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realised, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them."

Incidentally, though still a slim volume compared with A Suitable Boy this one still comes in at over 900 pages and I loved it so much I'd be quite happy to keep going a sentence at a time until we get to the end, RSI notwithstanding.

Shantaram? I haven't read it but it's been on my list for a while.

#333 Well, now you've read the first two sentences! Yes, it's Shantaram and it really is a fabulous book so put it off no longer! Your turn.

"I wonder if there isn't a lot of bunkum in higher education?"

Oooh, I'm sure I know that one! (Don't I always say that?)

And isn't there something about 'sonnets making .... hiccup?

Mysterymax, I believe there is.

Sugar. I know this, the story is there but the name is taking a senior moment sabbatical! Someone will probably get it before it comes back to me at 3 am or some odd moment.

Sounds like a novel (which I guess itʻs has to be anyway, according to the rules). A non-fiction writer would
just state the "bunkum" not wonder about it.

So i"m withholding the guess of Menckenʻs A Carnival of Bunkum and withholding the great novel Harry Vernon at Prep by Franc Smith (because it is on secondary, not higher, education.)

At least I learned something from these non-guesses: "withholding" has two hʻs
(or my spellcheck is crazy.)

Mentally going through all the 'higher education' novels I can think of and getting nowhere. I'll have a stab at Lord Jim but I'm pretty certain it isn't that.

I was working on the theory that it must be some slightly ironic account of a young woman going to college - L.M. Montgomery or someone like that. "Bunkum" is more North American than British, but "I wonder if there isn't..." sounds too genteel to be an earthy, homespun writer like Mark Twain. But it doesn't match any of the books of that description I could think of.

Still haven't thought of it. It is an incredible little book. Starts with a P - that's all I can remember except the cover which had a wagon/cart pulled by horses (?)

Even though I canʻt remember her opening sentence, and think she would do more than just "wonder" (335) about higher education:

The Groves of Academe by Mary McCarthy ?

No one has guessed it yet, but mysterymax has clearly read it. It predates Mary McCarthy by a fair number of years -- L.M. Montgomery is closer. In spite of the first sentence, it isn't really about academia.

Adding a second sentence:

"I wonder if there isn't a lot of bunkum in higher education? I never found that people who were learned in logarithms and other kinds of poetry were any quicker in washing dishes or darning socks."

I love the phrase "logarithms* and other kinds of poetry" -- even if it was
said sarcastically.

*Not that I ever mastered logarithms. My math education broke down somewhere in second year High School Algebra.

Ha! I even know who wrote it... just can't bring the title out of my memory bank. It was there once, and I haven't taken it out since, so I don't know what happened to it... I can SEE the .... book - except for the title!

Well, it's definitely not whatever I thought it was.

Oh, dear: I thought I hadn't read it, but I definitely remember the logarithms from somewhere...

Again, I sort of cheated, but since it cost me $9.50 incl tax, I will claim it! I called my fav used -book seller and said, "Do you have that book by Morley that starts with a P?" Yes, he replied, and he took it over to the library and it was waiting for me when I got there to do my volunteer shift.

The glorious little book is Parnassus On Wheels by Christopher Morley.

Another of my favorite lines is "Think what it would mean," he cried, waving an eloquent hand, "if some rich man would start a fund to equip a hundred or so wagons like this to go huckstering literatiure around through the rural districts?"

As a former bookmobile driver in another life 'them words tis music to my soul:"

". . .I called my fav used-book seller" (350)

Wish I could do the same! The very fact that you can do that, makes me think you and I are living in different eras!

Well, he's the only used-book seller for many a mile, but happens to live in town. We're both on the library board so it was easy for him to drop it off as he is only a short distance from the library.

" the ONLY used-book seller. . ."

Thanks. Too bad, he has little or no competition, but at least now you're sounding more 21st century!

Glad you finally remembered, mysterymax! And well worth the price if you don't already own a copy. Your turn!

I am sure I had the book a long time ago, but somewhere in the hundreds of moves in my life it disappeared. And when I say a long time ago - I think I had it back in the late 50s, early 60s....

Here's the new one, good luck everyone.

"We were using the old blue china and the stainless steel cutlery, with place mats on the big oval table and odd-sized jelly glasses for the wine."

So I did know it after all! I loved that book. #355 also sounds familiar.

I wonder if it might be time to repost a few of the 'rules' that have emerged over the previous 11 chapters of the game? I should have thought of doing this in the first post but we had quite a little group of regular players who knew them by heart and it didn't occur to me that we were wever going to pick up any newbies. It's wonderful that that has happened so perhaps this is a good time to clarify things.

1 The 'first line' is defined as the whole of the first sentence. Names of places and people may be blanked out if they occur in the title or are so well-known as to be likely to give away the answer.

2 The books chosen seem to traditionally be novels. To be honest, I don't have a problem with non-fiction being chosen and I wonder how everyone else feels about this? Perhaps the occasional non-fiction work, with a clear statement that it is non-fiction, might be okay? What does everyone think? Quite a bit of non-fiction will probably find itself ruled out by the next point.

3 Books chosen should have a minimum of 1000 owners/readers on LibraryThing. This is to ensure that there is at least a reasonable chance of somebody guessing the answer and to prevent the inclusion of books that are too obscure to stand a chance of ever being guessed.

4 NO Googling! If you think you know the answer and own the book then there's nothing to stop you checking before posting but Googling just counts as looking it up. Everyone is on their honour not to do this, of course, but it usually becomes apparent fairly quickly when it is going on. Mysterymax, you've done nothing wrong so far, especially as you've admitted to any checking of your answers but newcomers to the game might misinterpret this so I'm just trying to make it clear where the line is drawn.

5 Posters of the first line should reply to guesses to confirm whether or not they are correct. If a correct guess is made and no confirmation is forthcoming after 24 hours then it is okay for the player to confirm their own answer (by Googling or any other method) then going on to post their own line - however, if their answer turns out to be incorrect and they discover the correct one by Googling then it would be nice to think they leave others to carry on guessing at the right answer.

6 Clues and/or further lines from the text may be given at the poster's discretion - usually it will become apparent if the guesses are drying up and this is always a good time to give a little help. Once it becomes clear that people have stopped guessing or are asking for the solution it is up to the poster to give in gracefully and post the correct title. If the answer has not been guessed it is the poster's prerogative to take another turn if he/she wishes or to throw the game open to the first person to post their own line.

I hope this helps.

I misread the rules first time. I thought the book only needed 100 owners, not 1000. So my last entry only has 364 owners, so I can change it.

Seriously, mm, you've done nothing wrong. This is my fault for not having posted this at the start of the thread. Up to you, of course, but I'd suggest giving your current one a few days just in case anyone knows it. I just Googled it to see what you were referring to so I'm out of the running now. I'd also like to say that I personally don't think most of these 'rules' shjould be carved in stone; I've certainly posted more obscure books in the past by accident and nobody's died. The occasional slip now and then shouldn't really matter as long as we all know more or less what we're aiming for. Things had started to get a bit stale by the end of Chapter 11 and you've brought new life to the game, which is more important than anything else - it's good to have you here!

Thanks, I will leave it for a couple of days then.

If there were any justice, 355 would be Our spoons came from Woolworth's - but there isn't, and it's not!

Thanks for restating the rules, Booksloth. As you say, we don't need to be dogmatic about every detail, but it's useful that we at least try all to play the same game... I'm sure the magic number has gone up and down a few times in the past, but 1000 is probably reasonable.
FWIW, the way I apply the "no Googling" rule is that I absolutely avoid any kind of search using the words in the "first line". Other kinds of search are OK, provided they are devious and indirect, and are aimed at refining guesses rather than finding the right answer directly. And I'm sure there's nothing against checking the first line of a book you own (as I did with Our spoons came from Woolworth's), or using Amazon's "look inside" to verify a guess, provided you get there from the book title and not from the line.

Absolutely agree with all of that!

BTW: Parnassus on wheels is on Gutenberg, if anyone wants to save $9.50. I didn't find it quite as funny as I remembered, but it was nice to get a prod to re-read it - thanks, aviddiva and mysterymax!

#363 Though if, like me, you just don't enjoy reading on screen, it's still worth the cost. I only discovered it a couple of years ago and found it quite charming

I was surprised there were not 1000 copies of Parnassus on Wheels on LT. I guess it's old but not quite a classic. I still like it, though! (Also, I thought the minimum# requirement was not that high. Last time I read the rules I think the limit was lower. That high a limit eliminates a sizable portion of my aging library.)

I looked back through old threads to find out what the limit was and copied that from an early-ish one. If, as Thorold says, there have been other figures that have worked better then let's go for one of them. It's not my game, after all, so why not get some agreement on what the limit should be?

I'd like it to be lower than 1,000 too. But it doesn't matter, whatever everyone decides is fine and I will try to stick to it.

About 500 sounds reasonable to me.

500, 750, whatever works. The important thing is it not be so obscure that no one can possibly guess it. Sometimes I'll check the libraries of the recent guessers to see if at least one of them has the book I'm thinking of posting. In this case, Booksloth owned Panassus on Wheels, but Mysterymax, who didn't own it, was the one who remembered it.

Mysterymax, I have no idea what your current book is. I like the mismatched jelly glasses, though. Sounds like my house.

Curiosity prompted me to
look up how many members had listed the book I used in an earlier round of this thread:
A Peoples History of the United States by Howard Zinn. Over 8,000! But before this discussion, it didn't even enter my mind to check the membership's listings. But I was aware of the need for a not-too-obscure title.

A hint for the current first line in question -

Rest of first paragraph:

"The good stuff was all packed and stored, and the Salvation Army was due the next day for the leftovers. My mother called this last dinner a picnic, but she didn't wear her overalls to it. She had on the blue hostess gown with the purple flowers."

It was Red Sky at Morning by Richard Bradford

Would someone else like to pick a line?

Since nobody's posted in over a month, I'll give it a try. The first line is very short, so I may have to add to it.

"The leather-bound volume was nothing remarkable."

She
by H. RIder Haggard ?

Nope. Try again.

A Discovery of Witches?

aviddiva, you're right! Post away!

Here's a new one.

Brother _________ 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.

Probably a poor guess, but Under the Banner of Heaven?

I was wrong, no big surprise. I don't have the book anymore so looked at Amazon, and I'm not even close.

hm, it's not The 19th Wife, is it?

No. Older than both the above guesses. I'll give you another sentence.

Brother _________ 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.

Never before had ________ actually seen a pilgrim with girded loins, but that this one was the bona fide article he was convinced as soon as he had recovered from the spine-chilling effect of the pilgrim's advent on the far horizon, as a wiggling iota of black caught in a shimmering haze of heat.

I'm pretty sure from the second sentence that this is a book I haven't read, but I'm curious to find out what it is -- sounds interesting.

>382 aviddiva:
I thought it was going to be The valley of fear - but I checked and it isn't. :-(

Not as old as that one, Thorold. The author mainly wrote short stories -- this is the only novel he published during his lifetime (there was a posthumous sequel), and it won an award.

No guesses? Time for another sentence.

Brother _________ 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.

Never before had ________ actually seen a pilgrim with girded loins, but that this one was the bona fide article he was convinced as soon as he had recovered from the spine-chilling effect of the pilgrim's advent on the far horizon, as a wiggling iota of black caught in a shimmering haze of heat. Legless, but wearing a tiny head, the iota materialized out of the mirror glaze on the broken roadway and seemed more to writhe than to walk into view, causing __________ to clutch the crucifix of his rosary and mutter an Ave or two.

Hmmm. Definitely not a Mormon, then...

...right - I've worked out what it is, via a three-way Tagmash, but I'm not going to claim victory, as it turns out to be something I've never read and would be unlikely ever to pick up.
The riddle of the legless iota with a tiny head is easier. It must be a semicolon.

(Why does the iPad insist on turning legless into leg less? Doesn't it know that it should be leg fewer...?)

"Definitely not a Mormon..." (387)

I donʻt see anything that would rule out a Mormon author, while the Utah
setting only makes a Mormon seem MORE likely, assuming that the evidently Catholic
protagonist is going to be converted. Depending on the tone "clutch(ing) the crucifix of his rosary and
mutter(ing) an Ave or two" could be said condescendingly or even
anti-Catholic-ly; I was
reminded of Lew Wallaceʻs (in his The Fair God and more blunt, admittedly)
description of a Spaniard in Mexico "with a Catholic oath
on his lips."
I also donʻt see why not having read it yourself would rule out "claim(ing) victory".
That would be ruling out the
few that I"VE gotten right!

Not sure anyone who regularly plays this game has read this (except me!) even though there are 6,000+ copies on LT.

>389 rolandperkins:
I meant the protagonist!
The only discovery strategy we have always understood to be cheating is searching the actual words of the quotation. The rest is a grey area. In this case it felt like cheating for me, because I accidentally hit on a combination of tags that came up with only three or four results, and the book in question was something moderately well-known, but one I wouldn't ever have thought of, and knew nothing about beyond the title. I think it would be different if it were a book I'd read and forgotten, or something I knew about and intended to read.

Anyone else want to take a guess? Otherwise, I think you should tell us what it is, Thorold.

No-one seems to be volunteering, so I'll reveal that I discovered that it was A canticle for Leibowitz - one of those brilliant titles that stick in your mind, even though you haven't the foggiest what it's about.

To try to keep the game going, I'll post another opening line. This is a 1950s novel owned by around 450 librarythingers. I've blanked out the name of the book-within-a-book and another name that might make things a bit too easy, but I think this author's style will still be pretty easy to identify anyway.

The train of events leading up to the publication of the novel _____ _____, a volume which, priced at twelve shillings and sixpence, was destined to create considerably more than twelve and a half bobsworth of alarm and despondency in one quarter and another, was set in motion in the smoking room of the ____ Club in the early afternoon of a Friday in July.

I bought a copy of Mr. Mulliner speaking from Thriftbooks recently. As a bonus, it had the first chapter of another P. G. Wodehouse novel tacked on to the end. The novel was called Cocktail time and the first sentence that you posted comes from it.

Wow, that was fast, Bjace!

>393 thorold: Obviously , your are correct, Thorold. Would you like to share what tagmash searches lead you to the title? I'd be interested.

>394 Bjace:
Well done! I thought it might be an easier one, but wasn't expecting anyone to get it that quickly.

>396 aviddiva:
http://www.librarything.com/tag/Catholic,+Utah,+fiction
I'm curious how The Book of Mormon came to be tagged "Catholic"...

Also how an autobiography( Escape ) about Mormonism and domestic abuse came to be tagged fiction.

"how the Book of Mormon came to be tagged "Catholic"

393 doesn't say that the Book of Mormon was the correct guess; it was Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz. But the link given does list theBook of Mormon as one of 5 titles, of which "Canticle" is another.
The joys of octogenarian research! Instead of looking back at 393, I went to the link and was
puzzled at first, but I deduced that it must mean "Canticle" was the correct answer.
I read those opening lines many decades ago (And not much beyond the opening!) Now I know why it sounded somehow familiar.

>399 rolandperkins:
Tangled threads again - sometimes it isn't easy around here to keep track of which question you are answering...

>398 aviddiva:
The tag "fiction" is one that people are quite likely to apply to lots of books at once with Power Edit: I've done that sort of thing myself and discovered months or years later that one or two non-fiction books must have been tagged by accident because I forgot to uncheck them when going through the list. It's possible that someone applied it to Escape with satirical intent, but more likely that it was an error. "Catholic" is a tag you would expect to be allocated much more sparingly (less catholicly...), so it seems unlikely to be a simple error.

It appears that the one to play on (solve) now is way back in #393:

"The train of events leading up . . . a Friday in July."

No, Bjace solved 393 in 394. Since she seems to have forgotten to continue the game (or we all got distracted talking about something else), maybe you could post a new line, Roland?

". . .post a new line, Roland?"
(402)

"On a wet summer night, Danny Coughlin, a Boston police officer, fought a four round bout against another cop, Johnny Green, at Mechanics Hall, just outside Copley Square. Coughlin/Green was the final fight on a fifteen-bout, all police, card which included
flyweights, welterweights, cruiser weights and
heavyweights. Danny Coughlin at six-two, 220, was a heavyweight."

The author as you can see, is a Bostonian, writing of an era long before his time, but this isnʻt usually considered a historical novel. Heʻs very well known, but mainly for one book (not this one) which takes place mostly in South Boston and
was a successful movie.
I took the opening lines from chapter one, preferring it to the opening lines of the "Prologue" (about 25 pages) which precedes it. The prologue starts with obscure baseball World Series lore that is now almost a century old.

The Given Day by Dennis Lehane?

The Given Day is right, bell7.
Please set the "NEXT".

Cool! Here's the next first line:

"There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart’s Desire."

Shoot! I know that one....

#406 That one was so familiar and driving me so nuts that I just had to google it. Turns out I've never read it! I can reveal though, @aviddiva, that you own it.

Yeah, I'm sure I do. It's VERY familiar, but I can't place it.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman?

>411 aviddiva: That's it! Your turn.

OK!

"Maria was ten years old."

Nobody playing?

"Maria was ten years old. She had dark hair in two pigtails, and brown eyes the color of marmite, but more shiny."

Still checking in, but I'm afraid I have no idea what book that might be from. Any hints?

Ditto of 415

Author is English, 20th Century. This book is fairly well known, but his best known work, which also starts out with a child, has many more copies on LT.

I'd guessed from the marmite that it must be a British writer, but the only thing I could think of was Atonement, and it's not that.

Several decades earlier than Atonement.

Accidentally picked up Mistress Masham's repose by T. H. White and read the first sentence. That's it.

I can never think of one, so this one will probably be too easy.

"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents." grumbled **** as she lay on the rug.

Little Women?

Of course, Sanja!

Yay! Here's my line:

On a January evening of the early seventies, Christine Nilsson was singing in "Faust" at the Academy of Music in New York.

Aha! Something operatic. Will have to think about this one.

The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton.

You got it, Booksloth. Your turn.

"A bell clanged. Brazen, insistent, maddening."

I'm pretty sure that I ought to know that one, but I can't place it yet. It's a wonderful opening line: it could be almost any kind of book, from almost any period, you don't know if it's a doorbell, a servant's bell, a school bell...

I thought it might be the start of A Christmas Carol before I remembered that has a really famous opening line!

Yes, Dickens was the first author I thought of too, but it doesn't seem to be him. Unless I'm being unusually obtuse.

Dickens was the first I thought of. Then, I figured that if he had the adjectives "brazen", "insistent" and maddening" to play around with, he would do more than just record them -- would probably make a 15 - or- 20 word sentence out of them. Not that he would
be pre-emulating Henry James of the next half century, but he would smooth out the sentence a little more than this author* has.

*AND who is she/he? No further idea.

I'm fairly certain that the first line of A Christmas Carol is something like Marley was dead.

". . . something like Marley was dead." (430, 433)

Right. "dead as a doornail". Then DIckens has a riff on that cliche', wondering, or pretending to wonder why a doornail is any deader than any other piece of metal. He goes on to say that the surest proof
of M's death was that "Scrooge signed" his death certificate -- Scrooge being
the ultimate trustworthy individual of the whole financial Establishment.

Nice try there - you're only about a century out. This book is pretty well-known but not quite as well-known as Dickens.