Guess the Novel By Its First Line: A Game

[Eleanor_of_Aquitaine]

@Gadarene

Replay, by Ken Grimwood.

Yes.

@pravnik

All children, except one, grow up.

Peter Pan. A very weird book, actually.

@pravnik

The sun did not shine.

The Cat in the Hat. I’ve read it out loud about 4,000 times.

[pravnik]

@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.

Yes and yes.

[Sal_Ammoniac]

@Eleanor of Aquitaine

The Cat in the Hat. I’ve read it out loud about 4,000 times.

Okay, not to nitpick, but is Cat the Hat really a novel?

[pravnik]

@Sal Ammoniac

Okay, not to nitpick, but is Cat the Hat really a novel?

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. )

[Siege]

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.

[Eutychus]

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

[pasunejen]

@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.

Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson?

[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.

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!

[Enginerd]

@Eutychus

“Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace

Right.

@Jragon

H) Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.

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.

[Eutychus]

@Enginerd

En2: Many people in the Miracle Valley had many theories about why [character’s name] did it.

The Milagro Beanfield War - John Nichols

[Siege]

@Eutychus

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

How did you know that? I thought it might be too obscure for this crowd.

[Weaver_of_Nightmares]

@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.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

[HMS_Irruncible]

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.

[Eutychus]

@Siege

How did you know that? I thought it might be too obscure for this crowd.

I just got finished reading “The ABC Murders” so Christie was still fresh in my mind.

[Hilarity_N.Suze]

@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.

100 years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

[Bambi_Hassenpfeffer]

@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.

Cien Años de Soledad, Gabriel García Márquez.

[Hilarity_N.Suze]

@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.

Eeek, double post

[pravnik]

@pasunejen

Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson?

Right!