Elizabeth (Betsy) MarroJan 29, 2023
RC Hopgood
#SundaySentence
"I lost an arm on my last trip home."
#OctaviaButler #Kindred
IMO, one of the great #OpeningSentences.
What are other great openers?
#bookstodon @bookstodon #books
Jan 29, 2023 at 10:40pmWeb
Show threadlouknightsmccuddenJan 29, 2023
@rchopgood @bookstodon This is a boring answer, perhaps, but I never get sick of "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." #bookstodon #Rebecca #daphnedumaurier #SundaySentence
Show threadRC HopgoodJan 29, 2023
@loumccudden @bookstodon
I have never read it! Maybe in part because i've seen the movie so many times (and i know the movie ending is weakened). I really should read it. That's it, I'm gonna put on the TBR list. This is just the nudge i've needed all these years. Thanks! 😊
Show threadlouknightsmccuddenJan 29, 2023
@rchopgood @bookstodon Yes, for me, the magic of the novel is in its poetry and ambiguity. Some movie versions are brilliant as a whole other art form in their own right but very different from what the novel offers.
Show threadMatt ChambersJan 29, 2023
@rchopgood @bookstodon "A screaming comes across the sky."
Show threadRC HopgoodJan 29, 2023
@MattChambers @bookstodon
oh lord, i spent like 6 months reading that last year! what a bear. Some great stuff in it and great opener, but so much of it was painful to get through.
Show threadBryan WrightJan 30, 2023

@rchopgood @bookstodon
Samuel R. Delany had a good example that he used for illustrating the way a word or two can suddenly transform a sentence. It went something like:

"The red sun is high,"

followed by

"the blue low."

Somehow, between the two parts of the sentence, the reader is transported to another solar system.

Show threadLouis EvansJan 30, 2023

@catselbow @rchopgood @bookstodon now that is a masterpiece.

my spouse often talks about the "two moons" effect, but to deliver it *in between clauses* is something else

Show threadNiftyLinksJan 30, 2023

@catselbow @rchopgood @bookstodon

Great example! I'd like to note that Delany is still alive, too.

Show threadEnno RehlingJan 31, 2023
@rchopgood @bookstodon I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills.