# 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:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**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, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/81 "2008-04-04T16:06:44Z")
[QUOTE=Gadarene] Replay, by Ken Grimwood. [/quote] Yes. [QUOTE=pravnik] All children, except one, grow up. [/quote] _Peter Pan_. A very weird book, actually. [QUOTE=pravnik] The sun did not shine. [/QUOTE] _The Cat in the Hat_. I’ve read it out loud about 4,000 times. ---
**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, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/82 "2008-04-04T16:21:33Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] _Peter Pan_. A very weird book, actually. _The Cat in the Hat_. I’ve read it out loud about 4,000 times. [/QUOTE] Yes and yes. ---
**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 4, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/83 "2008-04-04T16:40:55Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] _The Cat in the Hat_. I’ve read it out loud about 4,000 times. [/QUOTE] Okay, not to nitpick, but is _Cat the Hat_ really a novel? ---
**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, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/84 "2008-04-04T16:51:00Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] Okay, not to nitpick, but is _Cat the Hat_ really a novel? [/QUOTE] Sure! They made a movie out of it didn’t they? (Okay, obviously some of mine aren’t novels, but there’s a common theme that shouldn’t be too hard to pick out. I was going to do “Pat the Bunny,” but I couldn’t remember the first line. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/85 "2008-04-04T20:49:01Z")
OK. here’s a line from an old classic of sorts. I’m re-reading it for the umpteenth time: > [@](#): > > In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr. Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed at a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in the _Times_. Meanwhile, it seems like I’ve got some more interesting books to read. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/86 "2008-04-05T00:09:45Z")
> [@](#): > > In the corner of a first-class smoking carriage, Mr. Justice Wargrave, lately retired from the bench, puffed at a cigar and ran an interested eye through the political news in the Times. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/87 "2008-04-05T02:02:36Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] 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. [/QUOTE] _Kidnapped_, by Robert Louis Stevenson? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/88 "2008-04-05T02:17:09Z")
A) Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of rugged countenance that was never lightened by a smile; cold, scanty and embarassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable. B) Solving the following riddle will reveal the awful secret behind the universe, assuming you do not go utterly mad in the attempt. If you already happen to know the awful secret behind the universe, feel free to skip ahead. (2 sentences but I figure it counts as one line) C) Welcome to the wonderful world of religion! D) I am no fan of books. E) The divine root being conceived, the origin emerges; The moral nature once cultivated, the Great Tao is born. F) There is a world where elves dance beneath the stars, where the footsteps of humanfolk trave restless paths in ever-widening circles. G) The long tapers flickered, sending the black shadows wavering along the walls, and the velvet tapestries rippled. H) Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. I think that’s good for now. Good luck, have fun! ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/89 "2008-04-05T04:18:41Z")
[QUOTE=Eutychus] “Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace [/QUOTE] Right. [QUOTE=Jragon] H) Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know. [/QUOTE] The Stranger - Albert Camus **En2:** Many people in the Miracle Valley had many theories about why [character’s name] did it. **En3:** See the child. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/90 "2008-04-05T12:14:04Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd] **En2:** Many people in the Miracle Valley had many theories about why [character’s name] did it. [/QUOTE] The Milagro Beanfield War - John Nichols ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/91 "2008-04-05T12:17:59Z")
[QUOTE=Eutychus] And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie [/QUOTE] How did you know that? I thought it might be too obscure for this crowd. ---
**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 5, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/92 "2008-04-05T13:53:33Z")
[QUOTE=Jragon] A) Mr. Utterson the lawyer was a man of rugged countenance that was never lightened by a smile; cold, scanty and embarassed in discourse; backward in sentiment; lean, long, dusty, dreary and yet somehow lovable. [/QUOTE] _The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde_, by Robert Louis Stevenson. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/93 "2008-04-05T14:09:43Z")
Muchos años después, enfrente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su papá lo llevó a conocer el hielo. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/94 "2008-04-05T16:17:02Z")
[QUOTE=Siege] How did you know that? I thought it might be too obscure for this crowd. [/QUOTE] I just got finished reading “The ABC Murders” so Christie was still fresh in my mind. ---
**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 5, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/95 "2008-04-05T17:28:05Z")
[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief] Muchos años después, enfrente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su papá lo llevó a conocer el hielo. [/QUOTE] 100 years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/96 "2008-04-05T17:36:18Z")
[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief] Muchos años después, enfrente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su papá lo llevó a conocer el hielo. [/QUOTE] _Cien Años de Soledad_, Gabriel García Márquez. ---
**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 5, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/97 "2008-04-05T17:43:19Z")
[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief] Muchos años después, enfrente al pelotón de fusilamiento, el coronel Aureliano Buendía había de recordar aquella tarde remota en que su papá lo llevó a conocer el hielo. [/QUOTE] Eeek, double post ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296/98 "2008-04-05T19:34:14Z")
[QUOTE=pasunejen] _Kidnapped_, by Robert Louis Stevenson? [/QUOTE] Right! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-novel-by-its-first-line-a-game/443296.md?page=4)