# Guess the Novel By Its First Line: A Game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 30, 2008, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296 "2008-03-30T18:42:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/61 "2008-04-03T14:59:54Z")
How about these: 50: 129 lbs. (but post-Christmas), alcohol units 14 (but effectively covers 2 days as 4 hours of party was on New Year’s Day), cigarettes 22, calories 5424. 51: The best remedy for a bruised heart is not, as so many people seem to think, repose upon a manly bosom. 52: Jeff Winston was on the phone with his wife when he died. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/62 "2008-04-03T15:30:06Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] How about these: 50: 129 lbs. (but post-Christmas), alcohol units 14 (but effectively covers 2 days as 4 hours of party was on New Year’s Day), cigarettes 22, calories 5424. [/QUOTE] Without ever having read it, I’m gonna guess Bridget Jone’s Diary. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/63 "2008-04-03T15:54:54Z")
[QUOTE=Finagle] Without ever having read it, I’m gonna guess Bridget Jone’s Diary. [/QUOTE] Yeah, knew that was easy. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/64 "2008-04-03T16:00:39Z")
[QUOTE=Gadarene] 4. The primroses were over. [/QUOTE] _Watership Down_. [QUOTE=ivylass] 47. Having no personal commitment to either of the new consuls, Gaius Julius Caesar and his sons simply tacked themselves onto the procession which started nearest to their own house, the procession of the senior consul, Marcus Minucius Rufus. [/quote] _I Claudius_? And I’m going to guess at **Gadarene** ’s #10: \* A Soldier of the Great War\*? Here’s my entry: “On an evening in the latter part of May a middle-aged man was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott, in the adjoining Vale of Blakemore, or Blackmoor.” ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/65 "2008-04-03T16:44:33Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. It was a nice day. _Good Omens_ by Pratchett and Gaiman. > [@](#): > > When the office door opened suddenly I knew the game was up. _The Stainless Steel Rat_ by Harry Harrison? > [@](#): > > Hughes got it wrong, in one important detail. Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser? ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/66 "2008-04-03T16:46:43Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] _I Claudius_? [/QUOTE] No, I remember that _I, Claudius_ starts off, essentially, with “I, Claudius…”. I looked it up, and actually it’s “I, Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus This-that-and-the-other…” **ivylass** ’s line is from one of Colleen McCullough’s books, I’d guess. ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/67 "2008-04-03T17:22:51Z")
[QUOTE=Reno Nevada] _Good Omens_ by Pratchett and Gaiman. [/QUOTE] Yes. I thought that with all the Pterry fans around here that one would be easy, despite its brevity. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/68 "2008-04-03T20:58:51Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] **ivylass** ’s line is from one of Colleen McCullough’s books, I’d guess. [/QUOTE] Yep, the first one. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8491ac/32.png) [@GorillaGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaGirl)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/69 "2008-04-04T03:15:37Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] How about these: 51: The best remedy for a bruised heart is not, as so many people seem to think, repose upon a manly bosom. [/QUOTE] _Have His Carcase_, Dorothy Sayers Here’s mine: 1. It started when David came in from the lawn, absolutely furious. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/70 "2008-04-04T05:04:20Z")
1. Michael Crichton,\* Sphere.\* * * * 1. I’m sitting on the porch of a bungalow on the Yucatan Peninsula with lit cigarettes sticking out of both my ears. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/71 "2008-04-04T13:27:31Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaGirl] _Have His Carcase_, Dorothy Sayers [/QUOTE] Yes. I wanted to do _Gaudy Night_, but the first sentence has Harriet’s name in it. And I like that first line of _Carcase_, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/72 "2008-04-04T15:31:23Z")
All children, except one, grow up. There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. There was a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself - not just sometimes, but always. These two very old people are the father and mother of Mr. Bucket. The sun did not shine. Dog. It was a dark and stormy night. When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. Buck did not read the newspapers or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Chug, chug, chug. This is George. I will begin the story of my adventures with a certain morning early in the month of June, the year of grace 1751, when I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father’s house. “TOM!” This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/73 "2008-04-04T15:34:22Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. [/QUOTE] The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/74 "2008-04-04T15:35:43Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis [/QUOTE] Very good. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@Weaver\_of\_Nightmares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weaver_of_Nightmares)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/75 "2008-04-04T15:38:00Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it. [/quote] _Voyage of the Dawntreader_, C.S Lewis > [@](#): > > There was a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself - not just sometimes, but always. _The Phantom Tollbooth_, I’m guessing. > [@](#): > > These two very old people are the father and mother of Mr. Bucket. _Charlie and the Chocolate-factory_, Roald Dahl. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/76 "2008-04-04T15:38:46Z")
Right on all counts! ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/77 "2008-04-04T15:41:54Z")
**Eleanor:** > [@](#): > > 52: Jeff Winston was on the phone with his wife when he died. Replay, by Ken Grimwood. **Hilarity:** > [@](#): > > 1. I’m sitting on the porch of a bungalow on the Yucatan Peninsula with lit cigarettes sticking out of both my ears. This is by Charlie Huston, it’s the second in the series, and for the love of Pete I can’t think of the name of the book. **Sal:** > [@](#): > > And I’m going to guess at Gadarene’s #10: A Soldier of the Great War? Nope! ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/78 "2008-04-04T15:42:40Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. Buck did not read the newspapers or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Chug, chug, chug. This is George. I will begin the story of my adventures with a certain morning early in the month of June, the year of grace 1751, when I took the key for the last time out of the door of my father’s house. “TOM!” This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it. [/QUOTE] When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. To Kill A MockingBird. Buck did not read the newspapers or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Call of the Wild “TOM!” Tom Sawyer? This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it. The Princess Bride? Knew the Dawn Treader one too… ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/79 "2008-04-04T15:44:11Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] There was a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself - not just sometimes, but always. [/quote] Phantom Tollbooth? > [@](#): > > When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. To Kill a Mockingbird > [@](#): > > “TOM!” Tom Sawyer > [@](#): > > This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it. The Princess Bride? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/80 "2008-04-04T15:52:30Z")
Finagle and Hilarity N. Suze: all correct. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296.md?page=5)