# 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:** 4
**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, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/61 "2003-04-16T22:43:43Z")
**Loneraven’s** second one sounds like _The Aeneid_; the translation I have starts “This is a tale of rms and of a man.” For the one of mine which hasn’t been answered yet, I’ll give the next line as well: See the child. He is pale and thin, he wears a thin and ragged linen shirt. I thought that would be the hardest of my three, but I know there are people on the board who have read it as it often comes up in book threads. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/62 "2003-04-17T00:18:15Z")
**Ranchoth** ’s is definitely Michael Chrichton, but I don’t have the books with me, so I couldn’t say which. I’d guess either _Jurassic Park_ or his new one, _Prey_. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/63 "2003-04-17T01:04:01Z")
“The last drops of the thundershower had hardly ceased falling when the Pedestrian stuffed his map into his pocket, settled his pack more comfortably on his tired shoulders, and stepped out from the shelter of a large chestnut-tree into the middle of the road.” “The visitor, making his wasy unobserved through the crowded main laboratory of The Hill, stepped up to within six feet of the back of a big Norwegian seated at an electono-optical bench.” “I woke up in bed with a man and a cat.” If it makes it any easier, I have yet to keep interest all the way through one of these. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/64 "2003-04-17T01:15:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Loneraven \* > \*\*“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother…” > \*\* **To Kill a Mockingbird** by Harper Lee. Mine is: “Maman died today.” ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/65 "2003-04-17T02:12:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lisa-go-Blind \* > \*\*Mine is: > > “Maman died today.” \*\* The Stranger by Albert Camus OK Here’s mine… “This is a book about what happens to people when they are overwhelmed by change.” ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/66 "2003-04-17T02:15:10Z")
OOoooo or this one… “Mr and Mrs Dursley, of Number Four, Privet Drive, where proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” (Guess what I’m re-reading in preperation for July?) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/67 "2003-04-17T03:27:29Z")
> [@](#): > > “I woke up in bed with a man and a cat.” That’s Heinlein’s. _To Sail Beyond A Sunset_, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/68 "2003-04-17T03:35:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeVena \* > \*\*OOoooo or this one… > > “Mr and Mrs Dursley, of Number Four, Privet Drive, where proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.” > > (Guess what I’m re-reading in preperation for July?) \*\* _Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone_. Here’s mine: “The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and made his way towards the lagoon.” ---
**Author:** ![MikeRochenelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/49beb7/32.png) [@MikeRochenelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeRochenelle)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/69 "2003-04-17T04:36:45Z")
A couple of easier ones from the sci-fi bookshelf: “Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.” “Roscommon came and laid waste to the garden an hour after dawn, about the time I usually get out of bed and he usually passes out on the shoulder of some freeway.” “I’ve watched through his eyes, I’ve listened through his ears, and I tell you he’s the one.” And the literary wonks will probably snap this up in no time flat: “To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.” -Ben ---
**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 17, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/70 "2003-04-17T04:56:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by iamthewalrus(:3= \* > \*\ ***Ranchoth** ’s is definitely Michael Chrichton, but I don’t have the books with me, so I couldn’t say which. I’d guess either _Jurassic Park_ or his new one, _Prey_. \*\* Good call! It’s _Jurassic Park_. Here’s a couple that should be a bit more…challenging. “Apart from the one in the church tower, there were five clocks in the village that kept reasonable time, and my father owned one of them.” and… “Gene Cernan was having the time of his life.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/71 "2003-04-17T05:00:59Z")
> [@](#): > > “I’ve watched through his eyes, I’ve listened through his ears, and I tell you he’s the one.” _Ender’s Game_? ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/72 "2003-04-17T05:55:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MikeRochenelle \* > > And the literary wonks will probably snap this up in no time flat: > > “To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.” > -Ben \*\* Don’t think I’m a literary wonk, but that’s _The Grapes of Wrath_. How about this one? “News item from the Westover (Me.) weekly _Enterprise_, August 19, 1968:” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/73 "2003-04-17T09:28:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MikeRochenelle \* > “Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.” _The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_ Try this one: “We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.” ---
**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 17, 2003, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/74 "2003-04-17T09:41:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by asterion \* > \*\*“The visitor, making his wasy unobserved through the crowded main laboratory of The Hill, stepped up to within six feet of the back of a big Norwegian seated at an electono-optical bench.” > \*\* That’s E. E. “Doc” Smith, _First Lensman_. ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/75 "2003-04-17T10:58:48Z")
“The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and made his way towards the lagoon.” ( posted by **Diogenes the Cynic** ) William Golding, _Lord of the Flies_ ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/76 "2003-04-17T12:50:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Robot Arm \* > \*\*“We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.” \*\* “Fear and loathing in Las Vegas”, by Hunter S. Thompson. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/77 "2003-04-17T12:53:59Z")
Now mine: > [@](#): > > If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, (…) The sentence doesn’t stop there, but quoting it in full would surely spoil the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/78 "2003-04-17T12:56:01Z")
Damn - someone else got both the ones I knew. **Tapioca Dextrin** is correct about “The Dispossessed”. How about: > [@](#): > > It was not long after dawn, when the captain of HMS frigate _Lydia_ came up on deck. Should be easy. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Spoonbender](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spoonbender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoonbender)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/79 "2003-04-17T13:07:29Z")
> [@](#): > > If you really want to hear about it… _The Catcher in the Rye_ “You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning.” ---
**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 17, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963/80 "2003-04-17T13:07:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jabba \* > **See the child. He is pale and thin, he wears a thin and ragged linen shirt.** That was _Blood Meridian_?? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/168963.md?page=5)