# What is the first sentence from the book you are currently reading?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858
**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:** 160
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [December 7, 2024, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3191 "2024-12-07T03:11:59Z")
Given the thread title here, may I suggest any discussion of books goes over here?: [Khadaji’s Whatcha Reading Thread - December 2024 edition](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/khadaji-s-whatcha-reading-thread-december-2024-edition/1011041)
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 8, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3192 "2024-12-08T21:04:14Z")
“The purpose of this book is to offer information, primarily through books, on the Republic of Liberia, a country located on the West Coast of Africa, and its people.”
_Liberia: A Visit Through Books_, by Izetta Roberts Cooper with Kyra E. Hicks
“This time it is to be a real Christmas story.”
_The Flying Classroom_, by Erich Kastner
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2024, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3193 "2024-12-09T04:27:56Z")
“I am seated in an office, surrounded by heads and bodies.”
– _Infinite Jest_, by David Foster Wallace
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3194 "2024-12-10T21:33:44Z")
“When she was a young girl, Grandma Channah walked barefoot to the tsar’s cousin’s mansion to meet her father when his day’s work was over.”
_Dinner with Eleanor_, by Helen Niemtzow Pratt
“Oliver was a very minor mage.”
_Minor Mage_, by T. Kingfisher
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### Author:  [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2024, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3195 "2024-12-11T03:04:36Z")
“Frank and Joe Hardy clutched the grips of their motorcycles and stared in horror at the oncoming car. It was careening from side to side on the narrow road.”
_– The Tower Treasure,_ Franklin W. Dixon
(Taking a break from Real Lit’ra-choor to listen to a nostalgic audiobook…) (with the original text)
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2024, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3196 "2024-12-12T21:36:27Z")
“So Max has gone off with another woman?”
_Mistletoe Mysteries_, collected by Charlotte MacLeod (This is a short story collection, and the above sentence is from MacLeod’s “A Cozy for Christmas”.)
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3197 "2024-12-14T20:31:56Z")
“It was long ago now that Hercules came to the crossroads.”
_Right Thing, Right Now: Good Values, Good Character, Good Deeds_, by Ryan Holiday.
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2024, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3198 "2024-12-15T22:26:22Z")
“A small ship sailed through the vastness of the 'verse.”
_Firefly: The Magnificent Nine_, by James Lovegrove
“Hygge (pronounced “hoo-gah”) is a quality of presence and an experience of belonging and togetherness.”
_The Book of Hygge: The Danish Art of Contentment, Comfort, and Connection_, by Louisa Thomsen Brits
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### Author:  [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3199 "2024-12-15T23:15:23Z")
“The moment Fetter is born, Mother-of-Glory pins his shadow to the earth with a large brass nail and tears it from him.”
_The Saint of Bright Doors_ by Vajra Chandrasekera
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### Author:  [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2024, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3200 "2024-12-16T13:47:22Z")
When we first meet George Garvey he is nothing at all.
The Vintage Bradbury (story collection, this one is from the first story, _The Watchful Poker Chip of H. Matisse_
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3201 "2024-12-18T19:54:37Z")
“Lars Thorvald loved two women.”
_Kitchens of the Great Midwest_, by J. Ryan Stradal
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### Author:  [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)
#### Post date: [December 19, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3202 "2024-12-19T01:51:44Z")
“Even though Josie Nixon had graduated from college and gotten married and knew how to hang curtains and had opened a retirement account, going to this conference still felt like the most grown-up thing she had ever done.”
_A Talent for Murder_ by Peter Swanson
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3203 "2024-12-20T21:05:09Z")
“This is a story about two men, one named Gale Sayers, the other Brian Piccolo.”
_Brian’s Song_, by William Blinn
“It was winter, just a few days before Christmas.”
_The Wood at Midwinter_, by Susanna Clarke
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### Author:  [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)
#### Post date: [December 20, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3204 "2024-12-20T21:24:07Z")
“I fell in love with colors in the way most people fall in love: while concentrating on something else.”
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3205 "2024-12-21T16:54:37Z")
“I learned about the death of my uncle Jake in a deeply unexpected way, which was from the CNBC _Squawk Box_ morning show.”
_Starter Villain_, by John Scalzi
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3206 "2024-12-23T00:23:36Z")
“I’ve worked in hotels for more than a decade.”
_Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality_, by Jacob Tomsky
“The early history of Scotland, like that of most countries, is largely veiled by what are known as the mists of antiquity, in this case a more than usually felicitous phrase.”
_A Concise History of Scotland_, by Sir Fitzroy MacLean
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### Author:  [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)
#### Post date: [December 23, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3207 "2024-12-23T00:52:39Z")
_“Amerigo Bonasera sat in New York Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter, who had tried to dishonor her.”_
_The Godfather_
I have watched the movie so many times I thought I might try the book.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2024, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3208 "2024-12-24T04:31:56Z")
“The custom of drinking orange juice with breakfast is not very widespread, taking the world as a whole, and it is thought by many peoples to be a distinctly American habit.”
_Oranges_ by John McPhee
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2024, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3209 "2024-12-24T04:34:13Z")
Currently just _read_:
EVERY _Who_
Down in _Who_-ville
Liked Christmas a lot…
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### Author:  [@Strenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strenger)
#### Post date: [December 24, 2024, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/3210 "2024-12-24T05:02:15Z")
“‘num alio genere guriarum declamatores inquietantur, qui clamant: ‘haec vulunera pro libertate publica excepi, hunc oculum pro uobis impoendi; date mihi…’’” and eksetera.
First bit from Petronius, _Satyricon_…I know this is an English language board, but you can look it up or translate it yourself if you must.
No, I’d have no idea what a good English translation is. I cheated and picked up the Gareth Schmeling translation and edition in the Loeb Classical Library to accompany a couple of schoolboy latin-only readers I had lying around forgotten and not much used…can’t speak to the textual edition of Schmeling, but I don’t see anything wrong with Gareth’s workmanlike translation.
Just the once per five years or so reaquaintance I make with Silver age Latin…never really gave Petronius a fair shake after all these years with Vergil, Ovid, Horace, and everybody, so he gets a chance this time around.
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