First Line Game Chapter 5

The other thread was getting cumbersome, so I'm transferring the action here.

Here's where we are: I posted this line

"It was sunny in San Francisco; a fabulous condition."

It has been established that it is not from Tales of the City, and it is not from Faulkner. Oh, and it is not in my catalog.

Maybe a small clue. It has been made into a movie. Twice.

Wild stab in the dark: A crack in the edge of the world?

Nope.

Did you have that movie clue before?? I'm sure I didn't see it when I posted. *blush*

I think we were posting at the same time. No need for blushing.

Hellooooo? Anybody out there? Meryl Streep was in one of the movie versions.

Hm, looking at a list of MS movies, the only one I recognize as having been made twice is the Manchurian Candidate. (is that cheating?)

I don't know if it's cheating---nobody else seems to be playing, so you and I get to share the cookies!
It is, in fact, The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon. Haul us out of this hole, will you?

It's just about two in the morning here and I'm up checking for flooding, dog vomit and black eyes (long story, bad day) so I'm 'doing a booksloth' and checking in here.

Well done teelgee. Looking forward to your line.

manchurian candidate was a book? I so would never have gotten that.

that doesn't sound like a good day Jody...hopefully wednesday will be much much better!

Well, Jody, I'm not sure I can top your intriguing story, but here's a line:

"Brrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinng! An alarm clock clanged in the dark and silent room."

No idea, but are you sure you got the correct number of i's in there? ;)

The i's have it. (not a book quote or a hint)

Saturday by Ian McEwan

Nope, not Saturday.

Helloooooooo?? anybody out there?????? The alarm clock seems to have brought us to a screeching halt! I can give a clue if anyone is still awake....

I am awake, but I've learned from harsh experience that even clues do not help me in my bottomless swamp of literary ignorance. I'm resigned to just reading this thread and admiring other people's book-knowing capacity.

*not as grumpy as I sound. I love this thread.*

A clue might help....but it's no guarantee.

Clue: the novel's author also wrote the stage version.

The Mousetrap??

Actually...I don't even know if that was a book.

Nope.

I'm off to bed, so you Europeans and Aussies are on your own! No cookie stealing while we're asleep!

Oh no! Now the only way I'll know I'm right (or, more likely, wrong) is if I google the answer! And then I'll have to disqualify myself! :(

Damn! Now I know what it is. But it's ok because I never would have got it anyway. I'll keep an eye on it for teelgee if necessary....given thatI now possess the knowledge and the power!! Mwah ha ha ha!! /end insane laughter

The 39 Steps?
**racking brains for books with a stage show**

Nope, sorry!

I hate time differences. The time I'm most likely to be online is between 1am and 5am in America where the majority of you are. And the time difference to the UK is also not so good.

I'm so alone *sob*

*hugs*

you are not alone dreams. =)

Is it Death of a Salesman?

No, alas it is not.
Thank you for the hug :)

"The cheese stands alone, the cheese stands alone--heigh ho the derry Oh, the cheese stands alone." Sorry. Weep not, Cheese. We are with you in spirit.
Terri, is your quote from Native Son? (Well, I assume Terri is asleep out there on the west coast--so Cheese, it is Native Son?)

I don't think teelgee's around at the moment but....

ding ding ding ding
Your turn laytonwoman! Congrats....that was a long one

Thank you for the moral support everyone. Due to laytonwoman's bizarre form of solidarity I now feel the need to do a morris dance. Anyone got bells and sticks?

I've sent all my bells and sticks out for cleaning--they got a bit mired up during Mardi Gras...

Try this:

"A cool heavenly breeze took possession of him."

I'm off to bed (just as the rest of you are getting up...) so I'll throw my random guess out now. I'm going down the path of Graham Greene (simply because I'm reading The Quiet American at the moment) and I'm going to say Our Man In Havana

dreamlikecheese, how are you liking The Quiet American? I just finished it. It was my first Graham Greene.

I was weak and googled it....its not Our Man in Havana

I'm enjoying it greatly. I have actually read Our Man in Havana but it was a while ago so I thought it might be a (very distant) possible to answer Layton's line.

That's all right....I really didn't think it was. Well. Now I can sleep as I KNOW that I don't have to think up a line.

Happy dreams.....dream =)

Not Greene at all.

Hey cheese -- you don't have to google the quote -- just google the book you think it is or look on Amazon for that book and look up the excerpt (if it's available) - then if you're wrong, you don't have to disqualify yourself!

Well you all had fun while I snored!

But sometimes I know I don't know the book....but I can't wait to find out. And then sometimes it turns out that I DO know the book and have disqualified myself. Really....the solution is for me to just learn patience.

I know I said I was going to bed but I got distracted. I'm leaving now, I promise!

Further to my earlier post (#9), my house didn't flood in the night, the dog wasn't sick and my eye isn't black (my tale of woe is on the Crankycakes Crabpants thread) and I got an early reviewer book but I still don't recognise this quote.

All good news except the last---one can't have everything!

>43 QueenOfDenmark:: Crankycakes Crabpants thread???

#45 - It was formerly known as the Crankypants Crabcakes thread in the Green Dragon group and is the place where we can cheerfully complain about real life. We complained so much that a new thread, Crankycakes Crabpants, had to be opened.

I think we are just a few complaints away from needing to start Crankycrabs Cakepants (and there is a lovely picture of someone in those cake pants on the thread right now).

I still haven't tracked down the quote.

*dragging thread back on topic* The current line is

"A cool heavenly breeze took possession of him."

laytonwoman, I think we're in need of some clues.

clues are definitely in order

hmm doesn't sound familiar. clues clues!

I think we've lost some participants to the 20 Questions game.

i think this one has lurkers....here you know it or you don't....the 20 question game you have more opportunities to narrow it down

Yes. I'm much better once it's narrowed down. Here, I just shout out when the earth and moon align just right (hmm, happening tonight, isn't it?) and I've got one.

I think the eclipse is tomorrow (which is Thursday, in my neck of the world).

There is an eclipse going on tonight in the northeast USA...

Here's a clue:

A controversial movie was made from this book.

I'll be away from the computer for the next several hours. Sorry.

Is it The Last Temptation of Christ? I remember the brouhaha about that one a few years ago.

I checked about the book, and I got it correct, so here goes with the next one:

"Mr. Dunworthy opened the door to the laboratory and his spectacles promptly steamed up."

There are over 1000 copies of this book owned by LT-ers, so I think this one should be fairly easy.

alcottacre; quite right. Glad I didn't have to come up with another clue.

Is it Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? It's the only book I could immediately think of with a laboratory....and I figured any book using the word spectacles had to be more than 100 years old.

Ok. SO I went and checked and it seems I'm wrong (what a surprise!) about the Jekyll and Hyde thing....thinking cap back on.

the whole Mr Dunworthy name should be such a dead giveaway....and yet I am drawing a blank. Must not have read this one.

*sigh* I caved and went to check the quote. Well, actually I looked up Mr Dunworthy. Anyway, it wasn't a book I've heard of so I'm not too disappointed I didn't recognise it.

I did not think this one would be so hard to get since it is owned by over 1000 LT-ers. Here are some clues: the author is an American female and has won numerous Hugo and Nebula awards. The book in question is one of her Hugo award winners.

Hope this helps!

I am going to be out of pocket today (my husband is having surgery), but I will keep up as I can up until the time we leave for the hospital and I will check back in when I am home - sorry, no laptop here.

it is a book by Ursela Le Guinn

No, sorry Irisheyz

Ah ha! Caught you Irish! Re-using authors from other threads!

hehe...one just never knows when the threads might cross. ;-)

Anne McCaffrey? Although I've read most of hers and the name doesn't sound familiar.

Nope, not Anne McCaffrey, either.

Hmm...I checked it out too. Not an author I'm familiar with. That keeps happening to me, to the detriment of my groaning bookshelves and my limping wallet.

Is it The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis?

Where did everyone go? You're all over at 20 Questions aren't you?

They aren't all at 20 Questions :(

I did check to see if the line was right (I wasn't guessing, so it's not cheating)-and it looks right to me.

Killey, I checked too and it seems right so I think you're safe to put your line out there! :)

Yes. New line, please.

Hurrah! Gee, I was getting worried there for a while, it was sooo quiet!

This one is waaaay over the 1000 mark, so I'm sure I'll be snapped up:

"The notice informed them that it was a temporary matter: for five days their electricity would be cut off for one hour, beginning at eight P.M.

1984?

Nope, sorry!

I know it! But what is it? I think its The interpreter of maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri. I'm off to check.

boo you got it first! Yea, interpreter of maladies is right because I knew that one for sure.

your turn jody!

Thanks, I loved that story when I read it. Okay, this one isn't quite at the 1000 mark but it's close.

"It happens that I am going through a period of great unhappiness and loss just now."

Well done, Jody! No idea about yours though...

gawd that sounds familiar. dang it! I shall go off to ponder now.

Right, I'm off to bed so I'm posting a clue.

This book was shortlisted for the Mann Booker Prize in 200_ but did not win.

ETA - Having had a quick look at some libraries from some of the people who've posted, Teelgee has this book (and so do I).

Unless by Carol Shields!?

That's it, starfish!

My edit crossed over, but that's it! Well done. Now I can sleep, it's midnight here.

yay! i win i win i win.... :does winning dance:

ok. heres the line!

"The amber light came on."

Blindness by Jose Saramago

I KNEW it was too easy!

i just bought that book and was flipping through it just the other day =)

The course of history is determined not by battles, by sieges, or usurpations, but by the actions of the individual.

sounds exciting! but I don't know what is is

it was exciting. I enjoyed this book a lot. to give a quick clue....its the first book in a series, and the other books jsut get better and better.

since i had no clue i cheated and looked it up. I'm not going to give it away, but I do have a question.. why are the hardback versions of this book worth so much money? I see it selling for 100-300 bucks on amazon. Is it huge? or just tragically famous for some reason and i've never heard of it ?

$100?!?! that's insane.

That's like when I'm on half.com and see a poor condition book being sold for $50 (or more) when I know that i can walk down to borders and pick up the same book for a fraction of that.

This book isn't very old or large or tragically famous....and even if signed by the author isn't worth $100

wow, and they have versions selling for $300. Crazy, i wonder why

Sorry I held up the thread, but I am glad to see everyone carried on without me after my having been gone so long today. The surgery that was scheduled for 1pm, never took place until 4pm (after having had to be at the hospital at 11am!), and the surgery was only supposed to last for 45 minutes and took almost 3 hours. Lots of things went wrong and took forever, but hubby is doing well.

I'm glad to hear all is well, alcottacre. That must have been a bit disconcerting!

To say the very least, it was disconcerting. Next time, I am going to watch the operation, so I know what is going on!

Thanks for the good thoughts, teelgee.

i watched a surgery once where they cut the guy's skin from his face and then sewed it back on, it was pretty surreal.

but if it were my relative.. no way jose! too scary to watch that.

jeez, starfish, I was eating. Fortunately, not chicken skin.

Ohhh, I've seen that line sometime in the last 24 hours! Hmmm. Is it Troubles by J.G. Farrell?

glad to hear that your husband's surgery went well. It really sucks though all those issues that the hospital caused.

@104 killeymoon - no its not Troubles.

Next clue - its of the fantasy genre. its also in my library.

Thank you Irisheyz.

Well, the book I thought it might be, it's not, so I am going back to put my thinking cap back on . . .

Sorry teelgee! I should have put a warning or something =D

Furies of Calderon?

you got it dreams :)

Sorry. Disappeared for a bit there.

Hmm.....a new line.

I'll give you two lines. The first one is a touch short.

"I used to love this season. The wood stacked by the door, the tang of its sap still speaking of forest."

Year of Wonders?

I looked it up Jody & you are right.

Thanks. I need to find a book now and I'm not at home. Give me five minutes.

...tick tick tick tick....

I've had to google a line because I'm not at home to find one, this one should be nice and easy to give someone who does have their library at hand the chance to post a more difficult one. I've edited the one bit just to give the quote a tiny chance of not being guessed in the first five seconds (but it is just a tiny chance).

"Tian was blessed (though few farmers would have used such a word) with three patches: River Field, where his family had grown rice since time out of mind; Roadside Field, where k_-J______'_ had grown sharproot, pumpkin, and corn for those same long years and generations; and Son of a Bitch, a thankless tract which mostly grew rocks, blisters, and busted hopes."

ETA - took me ten minutes, teelgee's alarm clock must have been ringing, sorry.

Hmm, not ringing any bells for me heh heh heh.

The Good Earth?

Never mind. I was so wrong it's embarrassing. :-S

No need to be embarressed CG....it happens to the best of us (more often then we can count). ;-)

Right, I'll give a clue before I go to bed. Citygirl, if you've checked it and somebody guesses can you let them know if I'm not about. It's midnight here so I'll be away for a few hours.

It's part of a series and I have a lot of books by this author, as does laytonwoman3rd.

I've brought us to a standstill and I thought this would be guessed really quickly so I've put the quote in again, this time with the name I edited out.

"Tian was blessed (though few farmers would have used such a word) with three patches: River Field, where his family had grown rice since time out of mind; Roadside Field, where ka-Jafford's had grown sharproot, pumpkin, and corn for those same long years and generations; and Son of a Bitch, a thankless tract which mostly grew rocks, blisters, and busted hopes."

Another clue, the author is American, male and not the only author in his family.

Wow... I've never seen this thread quite as dead as this. IS ANYONE HERE..ERE...ere...ere.....

Nope. Only echoes.

For the record, as usual Jody, I don't have a clue.

I'm here as well but so have no idea what the book is....

Me either -- me too? Here but no idea, not even a guess.

OK, just to keep things lively, and give you guys something to laugh about, I'm taking a look at Jody's library, and based on her clues and my own ignorance, I'm going with an author guess:

F. Scott Fitzgerald?

I googled it. Not F. Scott Fitzgerald

Okay, another clue

This is book five of seven but several of his other books reference this series, the authors wife and son are also authors and one of them has a catalogue on Library Thing.

The first line is from the fairly long prologue and the first line of chapter one is "Time is a face on the water: this was a proverb from the long-ago, in far-off Mejis."

His son is an author? I didn't know that. But then I haven't read anything by this author in years.

His son is a very good author and I think more than capable of giving his dad a run for his money, since they have similar genre and writing style tastes. He (the son) has done one book of short stories and one full length novel so far and both of them are very, very good.

To give another small clue, in my 50 book challenge this year I have read a book by both the author you need to guess (not the book this line is from) and one by his son.

Stephen King?

Night Journey

or whatever Volume 5 is in the Dark Tower series?

ETA which would be Wolves of the Calla

Yes, that's the one! I didn't think this one would be so hard (or so unpopular maybe).

Well done, teelgee.

That was painful! I don't keep track of King anymore, haven't read him for years.

Be back soon with a line! (hmmmm, that sounds vaguely illegal...)

Ok, two lines cuz the first is so short.

"How lucky were they? A heat wave in the middle of the school holidays, exactly where it belonged."

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. I have the book in front of me. ;) I'll be back soon!

aaaaahhhhhh. Famine to feast! I didn't think it would be so easy. Way to go, izzy!

teelgee, our reading lists are very similar. You're making it easy for me. ;)

"A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate."

Wow! what a line! I'm drawing a blank...

That really is a gripping first line.

I had to google. I never would have gotten that!!!

The tone (but not the writing style) sounds kind of like China Mieville, but I really don't think it's him.

ETA: Just checked, and MAN was I off.

Clue! Clue!

oy iz....you sure know how to pick the difficult ones. ;-)

Great line though.

There are over 1300 copies of this book owned by LTers, I didn't think it would be so difficult. ;)

It takes place in France during the French Revolution (1792).

The Scarlet Pimpernel?

That's the one. Well done!

Yayayay at last!! :-D

Here's mine, I think it will be dead easy (but do surprise me!):

"When the lights went off the accompanist kissed her."

I'm going home now, so feel free to google the guesses. It's 5.50pm here - I'll be back at around 9.00am tomorrow...

Oh, that line is really familiar. I'm sure it's from a book I have read more than once but not recently. It should be easy, I can feel the answer wanting to be remembered and I'm so tempted to google but then I can't guess. I'll kick myself when someone gets it.

Bel Canto?

Not sure if I'm right or not but if I am I won't be back at the compouter until around 12pm EST. So just in case here is my line:

"A new lens passed over everything she saw, the shadows moved on the wall like skeletons handing things to each other."

It is Bel Canto and now I'm cross with myself for not recognising it. I've read that book three times.

I don't know your line though Irish

As Jody said, Irish is right. I thought it would be an easy one :).

Don't know Irish's line either.

if it helps mine was made into a movie. had a predominately female cast. the movie came out within the last five years

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya sisterhood by Rebecca Wells?

Not that one....this movie came out afterwards and doesn't feature Sandra Bullock

To narrow things down more....the movie came out last year.

Erm... Jane Austen Book Club?

sorry...no

another clue - in the movie there are two mother/daughter relationships. The actors cast in the roles were also mother & daughter

Was some of it set in flashback? I can sort of remember a trailer of a film like that, I think from last year. The flashback was the mother remembering when she was young but I can't think who was in it or what it was called.

yes it was

The deadline has long passed. The line was from Evening by Susan Minot

Next person in please choose the next line.

Greetings, I'm new to this group and this game, so here goes!

"In sooth, I know not why I am so sad; it wearies me, you say it wearies you; but how I caught it, found it or came by it, what stuff tis made of, whereof it is born, I am to learn."

Have been away from this game for a while - but back with a vengeance (it's okay, I've tied the vengeance up outside). That, my friends is The Merchant of Venice by one William Shakespeare. I know that as I once did the audio-description at my local theatre for that play and I practically know it by heart!

Right, I've got one. It will either be incredibly easy or incredibly difficult and there are no cookies for guessing which I'm hoping for!
"Is a pen a metaphorical penis?"
(discuss. . .)

I don't know what it is....but it makes me giggle.

Nice to see you back Booksloth. Is the vengeance house broken and what does Skeelo think of it?

I don't know your line but I like it.

The vengeance sends its love Jody. I'm sure we could probably start off another thread just on people's answers to that question.

It probably would be a very popular thread. The more I read it the more I feel like I should remember it.

*sends love back to the vengeance, vengeance rolls over for its tummy rubbed*

@163, ThePoet, that is one of my favorite lines from Shakespeare! Probably because it was always used in my classes as an illustration of perfect iambic pentameter, and then how it can vary. It is one of those lines that rolls trippingly off the tongue, to misquote Hamlet. Anyway, I had to unlurk in this thread for a moment to gush. I was excited for a second to actually know one of these, but I wasn't early enough.

I have no idea what the next line is, but my answer to the question is, of course!

I have no idea either. But my question is: then what would an inkwell be a metaphor for?

*slinks off to the naughty room*

#170 I thought for a moment that your comment about it being one of your favourite lines from Shakey was in reply to mine! If only it had been.
Teelgee - go and wash your mouth out with soap and water before you come back!

Stab in the dark
Death of a murderer?

No.

Is it something by Virginia Woolf? Maybe, A Room of One's Own?

dirty dirty dirty.. :) no idea, I bet its a feminist text talking about manhood and how our objects reflect our social context etc etc..I read a lot of such writings in art school. I am curious as to what it is! I got promoted this week, so it seems i'll only have LT on the weekends now. bah on work!

The Female Eunuch?? It sounds like something good old Germaine would write.

You're all hovering around the right area (vaguely) bit you're not there yet.

Starfish! Congratulations on that promotion! We'll have to save the really hard ones for weekends from now on;=)

Congrats on getting promoted Starfish!!!!

Mary Daly? Gyn-ecology?

Nope. Oh dear, this is getting near the time limit, isn't it. Bloomin' great clue then. It is an extremely well-known work of Literary Criticism. And yes, there's an obvious feminist slant.

Give in? It's gone over the limit. It was The Madwoman in the Attic by Gilbert and Gubar. Shame on you all! I've spent so much time lately on 20 questions I forgot all about the 1000-copy rule. Sorry. Here's a really easy one to get you all going again:
'The schoolmaster was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry.'

Is it Goodbye Mr. Chips?

Nope, Googled it and it's not, so I hereby withdraw from contention, lol.

I've been busy writing and haven't checked the site until just now. You are right! Sure wish I could recite The Merchant of Venice. Dear heavens! I can't even recite my own poetry. That's sad.

@185 - I can't recite my own poetry either....but I can still recite all the lines from The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes that I had to learn for my 8th grade English class.

#183 Booksloth,

Is it Jude the Obscure?

OMG. I couldn't wait, I googled it, I'm right. That's the first time I ever got one off the top of my head. I'm practically delirious with glee. I'm giddy.

OK, here's mine:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

I'm just kidding. There's no way I'm putting that one out there, even though it's one of my all-time favorite books.

Here's the real line, which, since there are only around 750 copies on LT, and since Sloth and Irish and Starfish and Teelgee don't have it in their libraries, is actually the whole first paragraph:

"Floating upward through a confusion of dreams and memory, curving like a trout through the rings of previous risings, I surface. My eyes open. I am awake."

Truthfully, I wouldn't get this from the first line, even though it's one of my favorite books, so let's consider this a bonus line. Instead, let's use a more gettable line, from a book included in more than 15K libraries on LT:

"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother ___ got his arm badly broken at the elbow."

How do you expect us to know it if it isn't in our library?? *lol*

To Kill a Mockingbird.

ETA -- on Jeopardy last week they had first lines as a category! I got all of them!!!!!

Ok, I know that's right but I don't know the bonus line! Still, here's my contribution. It might be a bit obscure, but it's such a great line;

"Having harbored two sons in the waters of her womb, my mother considers herself something of an authority on human foetuses."

familiar familiar.. dang it.

I read a book today and at first it felt familiar and then when I was two chapters in i realized I had read it before. lol this feels the same.... maybe if you gave me a chapter.. hahaha..

will think... think..

and thanks for the congrats :) it makes me happy but its working me hard!

#185 I said 'practically' - don't expect a performance any time soon. Actually, it's more my description I still remember - stuff about gold coins cascading to the floor etc.
#187 Of course it is! Well done you!
#188 eba1999 - I'm sure I know that one. Is it in my library or am I just deluded again?

starfish -- I don't see it in your library - which doesn't mean you haven't read it.

Here's the first line in the second paragraph:

"Having harbored no one anywhere in his body and lacking a womb, my father knows almost nothing about human foetuses."

Googled that 'floating upward' thing. Wrong as usual. Not only didn't know it, have never even heard of it. Darn certain I don't know the 'harbouring in womb' one either, which might mean I do know it , of course. Off to google that one too, just to chack.

Okay - now at least I have the satisfaction of knowing I was right in thinking I didn't know it. Which is not quite the same as the satisfaction to be gained from actually knowing it but sometimes you just have to be grateful for what you've got.

I like the way you think, Sloth!

At first I thought it was Behind the scenes at the museum by kate atkinson, but that's girls not boys. It's sounding familiar though.

I don't see it in your library either Jody. I'm breaking all the rules!

I didn't recognize it, so I googled it. It's not in my library either.

Well if I haven't got it I'm going to google it. I think I want to read it.

ETA - And I haven't heard of it before now so I don't know why I thought I'd heard of it.

#193--Booksloth, it's not in your library, but Teelgee has it in hers. Most the regulars in this thread don't have it catalogued.

Another clue: the author, a 20th century American novelist, is a Pulitzer prize winner, but not for this book. The book I quoted was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. It's about friendship, love, and relationships, and I highly recommend it.

And I have no idee on teelgee's line--but congrats on getting all the Jeopardy answers right in the first line category, Tee.

Ok, too obscure, sorry. It's from The River Why by David James Duncan, a remarkable novelist and essayist who should be much better known!

totally didn't know that. hahaha :) oh wells, next time!

Don't know that book but I do know that author....so that should count for something....right?

#205 I reckon that makes it your turn, Irish, as everything seems to have ground to a halt.

This should be an easy one

"The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large, square houses of _____ _____."

Edited to correct spelling error

harry potter and the order of the phoenix :) woo

This may be too easy, but heres my line:

"The air still smelled of charcoal when I arrived in Venice three days after the fire."

happy monday all!

Dang it....that one sounds familiar.

In the Company of a Courtesan?

Hmmm...seems that's not the right answer. Hooray for search inside book functions. I didn't have to rule myself out! Now....if I can only work out where this line comes from...

cheese - that look inside feature is great isn't it? lol

I've also started to add the first line of books i read to the private comments section of my library. Some mentioned in this group once as a way to never be without a line....and I thought it was a grand idea. =) Hopefully it will help with the remember too...lol

Irish .. that IS a good idea! :) I think i shall start doing that too, smart cookie.

I'm off to work (even though its a perfectly sunny day, why can't we cut work the way we used to cut school?) but i'll check back later and see how its going! happy musings!

you can.

its called a mental health day...you know those days where you call in and are "sick" for the 5 min it takes to make the call. ;-)

I thought I recognised this one, but it wasn't any of the things in my library I thought it might be - it's remarkable when you start searching how many novels are set at least partly in Venice.

I decided that "the fire" must mean La Fenice. The tag "La Fenice" brings up precisely three books, and The city of falling angels is the only one about the fire...

...and Amazon's "look inside" tells me I've guessed right.

OK, sticking with La Serenissima:

"The smell of Venice suffused the night, lacustrine essences richly distilled. Late summer was hot here. A very old man took the floor. Hoarse, tottering, a few residual teeth, arbitrarily assembled and darkly stained, underpinning the buoyancy of his grin, he rendered the song in slower time than ordinary, clawing the air with his hands, stamping the floor with his feet while he mimed the action of the cable, straining, creaking, climbing as it hauled upward towards the volcanic crater the capsule encasing himself and his girl, a journey calculated to stir her ungrateful heart."

- a bit more than one line, but I found it hard to stop. If we get bored with identifying novels, we could always morph into the literary version of "name that tune"!

(Edited to add a comma)

Hmmm, I haven't any idea where this quote came from, but it sure sounds like a book I would enjoy. The writing is superb. Guess I'll have to wait to find out the title of the book when someone either guesses correctly or we all have to say uncle!

Crazy first line :)

I haven't tried yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if looking up "lacustrine" in the OED brings up this line. Don't know if that would be cheating or not...

Well, I didn't use the OED, but I have to admit I googled lacustrine and didn't find this reference. Now I know what it means, though.

No, in fact the OED doesn't cite it, though possibly it should - all the citations they have are from 19th century geologists or paleontologists using it in a technical sense.

From the silence, I guess you all recognise it and are keeping quiet to let others have a chance :-)

Actually, I discovered that far fewer people than I imagined have this novel or a book that contains it (now there's a clue for you!). Only about 300 altogether. But it is very well-known, and was televised about 10 years ago. A fictitious ceiling painted by Tiepolo plays a major role, and a real Poussin is (less directly) important to the story.

The clues haven't helped me one bit - sob. Much to my chagrin I discover my before unknown literary deficiency.

Did some internet research and I've found the author but not the book, not quite sure if I've cheated too much though. I will keep it to myself. Hope someone recognises the line.

A Dance to the Music of Time, right?

but I don't know which volume. I was trying to figure it out and its driving me crazy! Amazon look inside doesn't have all of them =( someone help!

You're on the right lines! I think you've probably got enough clues to work out which volume it is.

hate you.

LOL no j/k j/k.. sigh ok off to hunt down which vol!

wait wait Temporary Kings?

Thorold! (A bit off topic for a sec) - coincidentally, A Dance to the Music of Time is the very series I am contemplating starting to buy. I've been trying to find someone who can tell me whether I'll like it or not. Would you recommend it? Anything much you can tell me about it? Thanks.

Yes, Temporary Kings. Sorry I got another obscurish one!

Booksloth: I think you might well like it. The style isn't normally as purple as that passage would suggest - he does throw things like that in from time to time, but in between it moves along quite briskly. What I particularly like about it is the way you can immerse yourself in it for a few weeks, watching familiar characters come and go, with pennies from three or four volumes back finally dropping into the slot when you'd all but forgotten about them.

It is very English, very mid-20th century - maybe somewhere between Evelyn Waugh and Iris Murdoch. In some ways it's like a very long version of Brideshead revisited, looking at how English society changed between the thirties and the sixties from an upper middle-class perspective, but it doesn't come to Waugh's negative conclusion (and it's not that interested in religion). Something that might put you off a bit is that it is rather male-centred, and it takes a while for any important female characters to appear. If you start and find you don't like A question of upbringing - basically a school story that doesn't do all that much besides introducing the characters - try skipping ahead to A buyer's market, which is much more representative of the sequence as a whole. If you don't like that, then stop!

...and if you do like it, you can move on later to Simon Raven, which is similar but a good deal naughtier!

Sounds okay - and I can skip ahead? Wow! Now you're going to have to tell me more about Simon Raven! Thanks for that, by the way.

Oh, and also - is there a lot of military stuff? I kind of slip into a coma when that happens. Love Brideshead but I don't really think it would have been improved by being longer; hate Officers and Gentlemen (despite it being set in Crete, one of my favourite places in the world).
BTW - no plans to sue you if I disagree with your recommendations, you'll be relieved to know.)

>is there a lot of military stuff?

Pretty much the whole of the third part (The valley of bones, The soldier's art and The military philosophers) has the narrator in the army, but there's no actual fighting. More Men at arms than Officers and gentlemen - the army as an institution, office(r) politics, what it feels like for a middle-aged intellectual to be in uniform, etc.

Don't get me started on Simon Raven...

'kay. I won't. Thanks.

Yay i was right! OK I will come back with a new line

wow did I kill this thread? =( sorry guys! I think my line is pretty easy, but after working all day and then volunteering.. i have no energy! Hopefully it might stump someone ;)

"Linda Vista, with its rows of yellow houses, is where we eventually washed to shore."

linda vista....linda vista....why does that sound so familiar??

Could it be Chocolat by Joanne Harris?

Nope...that's not it. Just looked it up on amazon.com

I thought it might be Life of Pi, but it doesn't seem to be, if Amazon is to be believed. The first page of that is all about sloths, so obviously of no relevance whatsoever :-)

so I caved and looked it up. not sure why I thought it sounded familiar because this is a book and author that i have never heard of before.

good luck everyone!

really? I thought it was pretty popular a while ago, everyone I knew seemed to be talking about it. Maybe thats just my little world :)

Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius?

(I first typed that as "staggering work of heartbreaking genius"--and ironically, with all the trouble we have with touchstones, it came up with the right title. Heh.)

Also--this is a random guess from starfish's library. I have no idea, but want to move the game along.

no sorry!! man i hope i didn't kill this thread. where is everybody? sleeping? eating cookies? come back!

hint: asian american writer

Saving Fish from Drowning?

Nope! This must be harder than i thought. or everyone is having fabulous weekends and are not on LT :)

Kafka on the Shore?

Another WAG from your library, based on your clue. But I'm not familiar with the book or author, myself.

Is it by Kazu Kibuishi? I am guessing based on your library as well. The line is not in the least bit familiar to me, so I feel pretty well stymied (and ignorant).

no dang! ok, so maybe i should say vietnamese - american writer. I think that gives it away, but I feel bad for stumping everybody :)

OK, I gave up and googled this, and I've never heard of either the author or the book. Hope the rest of you are better read!

geez! harder than i expected, most of my friends have read it so i thought it was pretty popular for a while. ok if no one gets it by tomorrow i'll give it up and let someone else go

Went trough your library with a fine tooth comb and it must be:
The gangster we are all looking for
I have never heard of it.

Looked it up on Amazon and it is correct.
Here's my line:
'There was once a young man who wished to gain his Heart's desire.'
Should be easy.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman? If it is, I will post my first line in the morning after I find one!

Stardust by Neil Gaiman?

Too fast for me alcott! I thought I had that one. I read it about 2 weeks ago. Oh well...

Way too easy,
congrats.

This one should be pretty easy as well since the book is owned by over 1000+ LTers: "I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a dumpster."

Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

New line: "It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on earth has ever produced the expression "As pretty as an airport.""

Should be quite easy, but that's okay, we've had a bunch of stumpers recently.

I know this one I'm sure....but I just can't place it. And now I'm off to bed to dream of airports. I'll wake at 3 am with the answer and I'll log on only to find that some clever cookie has already answered it. Sigh.

Great job fyrefly! Unfortunately, I wish I could reciprocate, but cannot. I leave it to brighter minds than mine . . .

I thought - "that sounds suspiciously like Douglas Adams" and for once I was right - it's The long dark tea-time of the soul (one of the two of his books I happen to own).

OK - still slightly obscure, but it's such a good line, and I left the names in to make it easier:

"At an age when most Scotsmen were lifting skirts, plowing furrows and spreading seed, Mungo Park was displaying his bare buttocks to al-haj' Ali Ibn Fatoudi, Emir of Ludamar."

good job :) aw of course i've read stardust and glass castle, but this last one i have no clue. bugger. sweet dreams everyone

The Last King of Scotland? I don't even know if that is a book, but I figured I'd take a shot . . . oh, I tried touchstones, and it is a book (which I've never read, nor have I seen the movie, though I have it DVR'd).

Intelligent guess, but wrong :-)

It's an early novel (the first, I think) by a very well-known author from a country where they spell plough with a "w".

You mean plow isn't always spelled as plow? ;-)

What's the matter - have you got shares or something? *groan*

Thorold, that deserves an echo: *groan*!

...a bit more, in case it helps:

"The year was 1795. George III was daubing the walls of Windsor Castle with his own spittle, the Notables were botching things in France, Goya was deaf, De Quincey a depraved preadolescent."

For a clue to the author, think about feet, breakfast cereals, and Mexican food.

Ahh! This is something by that well known author, Insole Cornflake-Fajita.

Jody, that author doesn't touchstone!!!

Maybe Toenail Grapeñuts-Burrito?

...who is of course the best-known modern Plowenian novelist. :-)

Jody had the right cereal, but I never said it was a clue to the author's name, did I?

These clues are getting harder than the original questions! Clue to the author's shoe-size maybe? I don't think my brain's up to this one. Can't wait to find out the answer though!

I think this one is past its "sell-by" date, isn't it?

Feel free to start another one!

It was T.C. Boyle - Water music. Obviously a bit too old to be familiar.

Now you have to explain that clue.

I didn't think it was that obscure - I was just referring to some of Boyle's later books. In World's end a character loses his foot; The road to Wellville is all about J. Harvey Kellogg; The tortilla curtain is about Mexicans in Southern California.

I am tempted to change my user name to Insole Cornflake-Fajita, though...

Right - I didn't even know he was the guy who wrote The Tortilla Curtain but I'll sound a lot cleverer the next time his name comes up in conversation!

hahaha that was a crazy clue.

I'd like to get this game going again, so here's a line for you all to sink your teeth into:

"We are in camp five miles behind the line."

The Red Badge of Courage?

I think that's All Quiet on the Western Front, although my translation has it as "We are at rest five miles behind the front."

If I'm right, the next line is:

"It wasn't a very likely place for disappearances, at least at first glance."

you are right! Don't know your line though.

The Magicians Assistant by Ann Patchett?

Nope! Good guess, though.

Neverwhere?

Not Neverwhere.

A clue: It's the first book of a series, and all of the books in the series are quite thick.

Is it the first book in the Wheel of Time series?

I don't think it could be - they all have the same beginning, with something to do with the Ages and the wind, don't they?

I'm sure I know this one... but I probably don't...

Assassin's Apprentice?

I know it! I know it! It's The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, known over here (for some reason I have never been able to fathom) as Cross Stitch. I think I've got the US name right but, anyway, it's the first one in the series, where she goes through the stones.

Cross Stitch was actually the original name. The US publishers changed it for publication over there. I think it has something to do with the plot. She goes back in time then forward and then back again...I think she visualised it as a cross stitch. Anyway.

You're right, I read that somewhere but I still thought it was a terrible name for the book. Still, ours not to reason why etc.
The next one (I've checked my copy to confirm and I was right) is:
'Imagine a ruin so strange it must never have happened.'

How funny -- I love that book, but it never occurred to me.

The Poisonwood Bible

I have no books at work, I shall return with a line when I get home :)

It is?

...it is. Shame on me. One of my favorite authors, and I never, ever would have guessed that.

"One hot spring evening, just as the sun was going down, two men appeared at Patriarch's Ponds."

:) enjoy!

Master and Margarita!

I've confirmed that. So here's my line:

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables."

Jitterbug Perfume ! I always wanted to smell it.

You are just too fast, starfish! I think it's time for a new thread, this one just topped 300.

...and here it is.

Choc is showing off her html skills again, as it's the only thing on this thread she's successful at...

She had nor given much thought to it, but imagined a woman like Mrs. Romer, a woman with a husband and three children, wouldn't have any cause to feel lonely.
The Hearts of Horse Molly Gloss