# What is the first sentence from the book you are currently reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [April 20, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858 "2017-04-20T16:51:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 143
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2024, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2851 "2024-01-10T16:08:56Z")
“Dr. Bharadwaj told me once that she thought I hated planets because of the whole thing with being considered expendable and the possibility of being abandoned.” _System Collapse_, by Martha Wells ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2024, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2852 "2024-01-11T17:06:30Z")
“Nobody ever believed murders ‘just happened’ around Mallory Viridian.” _Station Eternity_, by Mur Lafferty ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2853 "2024-01-16T21:07:46Z")
“The primary focus of this book will be of USS _Lexington_ CV-2 during her operations in the opening months of the Pacific War and her eventual loss.” _USS Lexington CV-2_ by Steve Wiper “The shiny hallways of Shaker Heights High School were silent and the classrooms empty, students and teachers scattered for summer vacation, when Hubert McIntyre walked through the door. He had an urgent question on his mind.” _Dream Town_ by Laura Meckler “‘To Matthew Brooks Dodson,’ the paper in his hand read, ‘greetings.’” _Space Cadet_ by Robert Heinlein ---
**Author:** ![inconspicuous](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inconspicuous/32/15617_2.png) [@inconspicuous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inconspicuous)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2854 "2024-01-18T11:00:35Z")
_I am aware as I step into the common room that the majority of the people here are almost dead, including me._ - solitaire, Alice Oseman ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2855 "2024-01-18T11:58:28Z")
Loved “Solitaire”. My book: “There was a moment in 1940, the bleakest year of the Second World War with the Wehrmacht carrying all before it, when Winston Churchill made the French government a curious offer.” - _Unruly_, David Mitchell ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2856 "2024-01-18T14:28:15Z")
I started to read that, then realized I wasn’t going to have the time or bandwidth for it. Looked really good though. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2857 "2024-01-18T14:41:49Z")
Goddess, sing of the cataclysmic wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which caused the Greeks immeasurable pain and sent so many noble souls of heroes to Hades, and made men the spoils of dogs, a banquet for the birds, and so the plan of Zeus unfolded - starting with the conflict between great Agammemnon, lord of men, and glorious Achilles. _The Iliad_, Homer, translated by Emily Wilson ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2858 "2024-01-18T15:21:19Z")
Izzy leaned against the railing and watched the sun rise over the far end of town. _Silver on the Road_, first book of the Devil’s West trilogy by Laura Anne Gilman There was a moment in 1940, the bleakest year of the Second World War with the Wehrmacht carrying all before it, when Winston Churchill made the French government a curious offer. _Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England’s Kings and Queens_, by David Mitchell ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2859 "2024-01-18T15:50:02Z")
Snap! I went to see the talk by Mitchell and Mary Beard (plugging her new “Emperor of Rome” book) on kings and emperors. It was quite an interesting evening. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2024, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2860 "2024-01-18T19:44:00Z")
“In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.” _A River Runs Through It_, by Norman Maclean ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2861 "2024-01-19T03:56:48Z")
(Delete wrong copy/paste) ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2862 "2024-01-19T04:00:00Z")
I posted the same at Christmas, but I’m still slogging though it. Maybe we should have a race to the end; just don’t test me on it! > [@What is the first sentence from the book you are currently reading?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2828): > > Goddess, sing of the cataclysmic wrath of great Achilles, son of Peleus, which caused the Greeks immeasurable pain and sent so many noble souls of heroes to Hades, and made men the spoils of dogs, a banquet for the birds, and so the plan of Zeus unfolded-- starting with the conflict between great Agamemnom, lord of men, and glorious Achilles. This is from the new translation of The Iliad by Emily Watson. At over 700 pages, it’s pretty hefty, but something I’ve never read all the way thr… ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2863 "2024-01-19T09:16:14Z")
Oh, I wouldn’t want to get in a race. I am enjoying it though. The quarrel scene between Achilles and Agammemnon was brilliantly done, really vivid and punchy. I initially found the combat and the descriptions of death very moving, but there are a _lot_ of them and its beginning to feel a bit repetitive, especially as I haven’t yet got to Patroclus joining, which is when the main plot gets moving again. I have considered starting a thread on it, but the very notion set off my “you are being incredibly pretentious” alarm - however, knowing there’s at least one other reader on the Dope, I might have a go. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2864 "2024-01-19T15:04:02Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I’m still slogging though it So did you read the “Ships” chapter, or just skip it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2865 "2024-01-19T15:29:47Z")
May I suggest you take your discussion here?: [Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - January 2024 edition](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-january-2024-edition/995416) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2024, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2866 "2024-01-19T21:59:31Z")
“The word ‘law’ is currently used in two quite distinct meanings.” _The Mind of the Maker_, by Dorothy L. Sayers ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2024, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2867 "2024-01-20T00:40:32Z")
At high tide on the clear morning of January 10, 1926, to the squalling of circling gulls, the _Prince Valdemar_, a five-masted steel-hulled barkentine weighed anchor. _Bubble in the Sun: The Florida Boom of the 1920s and How It Brought on the Great Depression_ by Christopher Knowlton ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2868 "2024-01-21T21:08:28Z")
“Samuel Adams delivered what may count as the most remarkable second act in American life.” – _The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams_, by Stacy Schiff ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2869 "2024-01-21T22:24:49Z")
“Welcome, my ultimate babes, you thieves and lovers, to the greatest spectacle this side of the Mississippi!” _Thistlefoot_, by GennaRose Nethercott ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/2870 "2024-01-22T00:04:58Z")
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