Discussion » Questions » Books and Literature » What is the first sentence of the book you are reading?

What is the first sentence of the book you are reading?

Yesterday was National Book Lovers Day, so my mind has been on books. I love to read. Here is my book's first sentence: "The imposter borrowed the name of Neville Manchin, an actual professor of American literature at Portland State and soon-to-be doctoral student at Stanford." It is a book about a rare-book heist. Name: "Camino Island", by John Grisham. The first sentence is an important part of writing books.

Posted - August 10, 2017

Responses


  • 5354
    As i left the Kenya Beanstalk capsule he was right on my heels.
      August 10, 2017 6:55 AM MDT
    3

  • 5354
    Actually it is a good book for 'first sentences'
    Chapter 2: My own stupid fault!
    Chapter 3: Someone came in and gave me another hypodermic shot.
    Chapter 4: Some day I am going to win an argument with Boss.
    Chapter 5: Nine weeks later I left for New Zeeland.
    Enjoy
    This post was edited by JakobA the unAmerican. at August 10, 2017 11:43 AM MDT
      August 10, 2017 7:06 AM MDT
    2

  • 2515
    @Jakob, I was quite intrigued by your sentence, so I looked it up---sci-fi. The author has a very interesting bio. That led me to read about a bunch of science fiction writers. They are all interesting people. Some have very tragic lives. This post was edited by Marguerite, the Beloved at August 11, 2017 3:36 PM MDT
      August 11, 2017 3:21 PM MDT
    1

  • 2219
    Шли и шли и пели «Вечную память» и когда останавливались, казалось, что ее по залаженному продолжают петь ноги, лошади, дуновения ветра.
      August 10, 2017 7:24 AM MDT
    3

  • 46117
    I'm not reading.  Sorry.   I don't have time to concentrate.



      August 10, 2017 8:32 AM MDT
    4

  • 7126
    I'm sorry, what did you say?
      August 10, 2017 8:40 AM MDT
    2

  • 5354
    Take time. It's worth it
      August 10, 2017 10:45 AM MDT
    3

  • 46117
    I love books, I am a reader, but right now, I am still in study mode and work mode and I am not getting near a book right now.  I just feel guilty like I need to be reading job material.  So, I give up for right now.

    I do like that book you introduced on here as something that looks really interesting.  I would like that one.

      August 10, 2017 2:17 PM MDT
    1

  • 5354
    Actually it is terrible. It is about 100 years into a future where The US and many other countries have splintered into independent city-states that are mostly controlled by multinational companies. The people are utter individualists, with automatic defenses set to shoot and kill anyone who enter their garden and get too close to the house. I was reminded of it when Rosie mentioned hiring BlackWater as mercenaries for future wars, it is their kind of triggerhappy utopia.

    The book is "Friday" by Robert A Heinlein This post was edited by JakobA the unAmerican. at August 10, 2017 5:43 PM MDT
      August 10, 2017 2:45 PM MDT
    1

  • 23662
    It sounds like an interesting book to me! But it was terrible, huh? You make it sound great, JakobA!
      August 10, 2017 5:44 PM MDT
    0

  • 46117
    I thought he liked it too, Welb, what a nut.  LOL

    Thanks for warning me, Jakob.

      August 10, 2017 5:49 PM MDT
    2

  • 23662
    That guy by the Giant Circus Peanut is HOT!
    :)
      August 10, 2017 5:53 PM MDT
    0

  • 6477
    OOh Heinlein is usually pretty fluffy.. love and all sharing in the joy of sharing each other so to speak.. I've read Friday but it was a long time ago. 
      August 11, 2017 3:45 PM MDT
    1

  • 2515
    @Shar, Are those the first sentences of a book? Everybody reads. 
      August 11, 2017 3:13 PM MDT
    0

  • 7126
    I am Daniel

    I am Sam
    Sam I am

    That Sam-I-am
    That Sam-I-am!
    I do not like
    That Sam-I-am

    Do you like
    Green eggs and ham?



      August 10, 2017 8:44 AM MDT
    4

  • 5354
    Hey, I think I have read that book too :)
      August 10, 2017 10:46 AM MDT
    3

  • 46117
    I've read most of them.  I found them totally enjoyable throughout my life.  I love the illustrations.

      August 10, 2017 2:18 PM MDT
    2

  • 23662
    We could get together and spend time together reading these books - - I've liked them my whole life, too.
    :)
      August 10, 2017 5:47 PM MDT
    1

  • 23662
    Wonderful answer, LyricalOne!
    :)
      August 10, 2017 5:45 PM MDT
    1

  • 23662

    "Early on the morning of Monday, March 12, 1928, Tony Harnischfeger left the two-bedroom bungalow where he lived with his girlfriend, Leona Johnson, and his six-year-old son, Coder."
      August 10, 2017 11:46 AM MDT
    2

  • 5354
    Too long and too much run-on. I cannot recommend that book
      August 10, 2017 1:01 PM MDT
    1

  • 23662
    It's a non-fiction book about the March 12, 1928 collapse of the Saint Francis Dam in California, USA. Known as the "Deadliest Human-made Disaster of 20th-Century America." And I had never heard of it at all, ever. Thus, I'm reading it.

    At even that, you're still right -- it is a rather long, run-on sentence. Ha!
    :)
      August 10, 2017 5:52 PM MDT
    1

  • 6477
    One September morning, Giovanni Drogo, being newly commissioned, set out from the city for Fort Bastiani; it was his first posting.   The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati.  This book was bought for me by an *admirer* it's not the kind of book I would normally choose and the intriguing thing is. why did he choose this book for me.. what's the significance, if any.. How well does this person know me and what I Like... fascinating.
      August 10, 2017 2:13 PM MDT
    2

  • 23662
    I've been in circumstances like that, too -- where someone who knows me gives me/wants me to read a book. I've often thought the same things you've mentioned here.
    :)
    So far, I must be an easy person to decipher?  Because most of the people have nailed good choices for me.
    :)
      August 10, 2017 5:56 PM MDT
    1