Throw Me A Line, Draw Me In...
You know when you pick-up a book, read through the opening chapter and precede to carry it around the bookstore whilst browsing other titles? You really liked the opening lines, it had a voice, it spoke to you - and yet, you choose to ignore it, unceremoniously tossing it on the '3 for 2' bargain table, opting for another book instead. Don't feel sorry for it because it actually wins out. Several days later, those opening lines are still etched in your subconscious and your inner muse is shaking her head at you. "Why the devil didn't you buy the book?!" she taunts, unsympathetically. "Why didn't you make me?" you reply, tartly. Wait...I'm having a conversation with myself?
Of course, you can't remember the title but that line - it was something about nuns and why you will never see a photograph of a nun while she is alive because they only allow themselves to be photographed when they are dead. Something to do with vanity. You see what happens when you ignore the muse? It gets you in the end. Desperate to find the book, I unashamedly googled "Dead Nuns + Photo + opening line of novels." Yes, I did. Alas, it turned up zilch on the Nun story but I did find 100 Best First Lines via i love english literature and, The Best 100 Opening Lines From Books via www.stylist.co.uk - do check them out. Here's a few that may bring a smile to your face.
"Where's Papa going with that axe?" - Charlottes Web, E.B White.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen.
"Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself" - Mrs Dalloway, Virginia Woolf
"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins." Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
"I will not drink more than fourteen alcohol units per week" - Bridget Jones' Diary, Helen Felding.
"Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu" Waiting, Ha Jin.
"It was a dark and stormy night...." Paul Clifford, Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (sorry couldn't resist this one)
A/N: Lesson learnt, I promise never to turn up my nose at memorable lines. And if anyone knows of the book which fits my 'nuns +photo' google search criteria, please let me know - I'll be eternally grateful. * Deep sigh* Talei xox
Comments
Loved the first lines.
My writing has really been on the sidelines for the last 2 or 3 weeks. Time to buckle down! Hope you've been more productive than I have. Happy writing!!
Danette, good point, my dear. It was a murder mystery of the historical sort, methinks. Hope you're writing furiously this week too!
Meredith, isn't it a wonderful line? Funny, how fantastic it sounds now, years later after first reading it as a child.
Peggy, *high fives * ditto!
Bish, ha. It definitely bites. You're so sweet for looking too - thank you! I'm on a mission, will keep you posted. x
Duncan In Kuantan
Good luck finding the book!
grateful dead throw
grateful dead throw