# Guess the book from the opening line **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963 "2003-04-15T22:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/41 "2003-04-16T15:57:54Z")
I just want to see if anyone else has read this; I really liked it: “During the night something like a miracle happened: Jim’s age grew an extra digit.” ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/42 "2003-04-16T16:06:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeVena \* > \*\*_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 the train was an hour late. Buda-Pesth seems a wonderful place, from the glimpse which I got from the train and the little I could walk through the streets._ \*\* _Dracula_. In a not unrelated vein (:rimshot:)… > [@](#): > > MR. UTTERSON the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that wasnever lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed indiscourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable. ---
**Author:** ![swannguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@swannguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swannguy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/43 "2003-04-16T16:13:27Z")
Here’s my contribution… “Here the sea ends and the earth begins.” ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/44 "2003-04-16T16:16:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biffy the Elephant Shrew \* > \*\*“What’s it going to be then, eh?” \*\* **A Clockwork Orange** by Anthony Burgess ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/45 "2003-04-16T16:59:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by swannguy \* > \*\*“Here the sea ends and the earth begins.” \*\* The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis by José Saramago. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/46 "2003-04-16T17:05:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Steve Wright \* > **MR. UTTERSON the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable.** The Strange Case of Dr Jekell and Mr Hyde - RLS ---
**Author:** ![swannguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@swannguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swannguy)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/47 "2003-04-16T17:13:19Z")
Here’s my contribution (It’s kind of a tough one) “Here the sea end and the earths begins.” ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/48 "2003-04-16T17:13:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Steve Wright \* > **MR. UTTERSON the lawyer was a man of a rugged countenance, that was never lighted by a smile; cold, scanty and embarrassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary, and yet somehow lovable.** The Strange Case of Dr Jekell and Mr Hyde - RLS ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/49 "2003-04-16T17:24:47Z")
1984 is correct. A clue for one of the others - it runs: > [@](#): > > Listen. Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time. ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/50 "2003-04-16T17:31:19Z")
Yes, that does give it away. That’s _Slaughterhouse 5_ by Kurt Vonnegut. The answers given earlier to two of mine ( _Jane Eyre_ and _Remains of the Day_) are correct, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/51 "2003-04-16T20:18:29Z")
Correct, **Jabba**. Any guesses on “It was a diamond, all right.” and “There was a wall.” ? The first is another detective novel, and the second science fiction/fantasy by an author previously mentioned in this thread. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/52 "2003-04-16T20:18:48Z")
**Tapioca Dextrin** nailed my one. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/53 "2003-04-16T20:42:37Z")
Wow. A lot of replies. Here’s two more: "As a citybound journalist, I never had to justify myself by answering the silly question “Why do men climb mountains?” “Puggy has held down his job at the Jolly Jackal Bar amd Grillm which did not have a grill, for almost three weeks.” ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/54 "2003-04-16T21:00:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Man With The Golden Gun \* > \*\* > “Puggy has held down his job at the Jolly Jackal Bar amd Grillm which did not have a grill, for almost three weeks.” \*\* That’s David Barry in his debut novel Big Trouble. Stick to the weekly column Dave. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/55 "2003-04-16T21:03:27Z")
How about: “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.” ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/56 "2003-04-16T21:09:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shodan \* > [“There was a wall.” > \*\* The Dispossed, UK LeGuin Maybe I’ll take a break - I need to catch up on my reading. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/57 "2003-04-16T21:54:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by herwono \* > \*\*A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle. \*\* Cee-rect! “The late twentieth century has witnessed a scientific gold rush of astonishing proportions: the headlong and furious haste to commercialize genetic engineering.” ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/58 "2003-04-16T22:08:35Z")
“At three-thirty A.M. on the night of June 5, 1992, the top telepath in the Sol System fell off the map in the offices of Runciter Associates in New York City.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/59 "2003-04-16T22:32:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Winston Bongo \* > \*\*“At three-thirty A.M. on the night of June 5, 1992, the top telepath in the Sol System fell off the map in the offices of Runciter Associates in New York City.” \*\* Ubik by Phillip K Dick. ---
**Author:** ![Loneraven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c0e974/32.png) [@Loneraven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loneraven)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/60 "2003-04-16T22:34:23Z")
“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother…” Any more’d give it away. In fact, I probably have given it away. One more: “I tell a story of war and a hero.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963.md?page=4)