# 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:** 73
**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:** [February 23, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1447 "2021-02-23T16:21:58Z")
“Duncan Makenzie was ten years old when he found the magic number.” _Imperial Earth_ by Arthur C. Clarke ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1448 "2021-02-23T18:44:31Z")
“Nativism has been hard for historians to define.” _Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925_, by John Higham. ---
**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:** [February 23, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1449 "2021-02-23T22:29:33Z")
Duke Maximilian of Bavaria kneeled by the side of the bier upon which his late wife’s body lay in state. _1634: The Bavarian Crisis_, by Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce ---
**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:** [February 25, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1450 "2021-02-25T19:25:08Z")
“The story of the current St. Albans Cathedral starts with Alban (third century) who was a citizen of the Roman city Verulamium, which we now know as St. Albans.” _Amazing and Extraordinary Facts: Cathedrals and Abbeys_, by Stephen Halliday ---
**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:** [February 26, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1451 "2021-02-26T18:50:02Z")
Fall 1633 The rain pelted down solidly, stirring up the puddles in the road’s many ruts. “Horse Thieves”, by Karen Bergstralh First story in _Ring of Fire II_, edited by Eric Flint ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1452 "2021-02-26T19:30:32Z")
“His dreams grew confused and ominous. Suddenly his muscles contracted in fear and he awoke, sweat cold on his body.” _Thieves Fall Out_, by Gore Vidal ---
**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:** [February 27, 2021, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1453 "2021-02-27T04:29:21Z")
“It was getting hotter. Frank May got off his mat and padded over to look out the window.” _The Ministry for the Future_ by Kim Stanley Robinson “I may have found a solution to the Wife Problem. As with so many scientific breakthroughs, the answer was obvious in retrospect.” _The Rosie Project_ by Graeme Simsion ---
**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:** [February 27, 2021, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1454 "2021-02-27T16:10:51Z")
“The publication party was held in the dean’s office, which was supposed to be an honor.” _Tomorrow’s Kin_, by Nancy Kress ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1455 "2021-02-27T23:17:49Z")
“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” _Voyage of the Dawntreader,_ CS Lewis … (yes, I remembered the line, and started re-reading the book just so I could post it) ---
**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:** [March 1, 2021, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1456 "2021-03-01T16:52:44Z")
“A regular feature of any hospital emergency department is the patient who turns up with an embarrassing and entirely self-inflicted complaint.” _The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth and Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine_, by Thomas Morris. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1457 "2021-03-01T20:53:43Z")
“I was supposed to die.” _Almost Interesting_ - David Spade ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1458 "2021-03-01T23:33:25Z")
“Clara stood outside a stranger’s tent, holding a naked sword in her hands.” _Paladin’s Strength_, Ursula Vernon (writing as T. Kingfisher) ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2021, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1459 "2021-03-01T23:51:37Z")
“When Liam Sullivan died, at the age of ninety-two, in his sleep, in his own bed with his wife of sixty-five years beside him, the world mourned.” _Hideaway_, by Nora Roberts ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2021, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1460 "2021-03-02T20:59:21Z")
I’m digging into it … “Call me Ishmael.” ---
**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:** [March 4, 2021, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1461 "2021-03-04T03:29:08Z")
Title and author, **Jack**? 😉 “In the springtime, when the Round Table was in its glory, King Arthur always held a high feast.” _The Kitchen Knight_ by Margaret Hodges, illus. by Trina Schart Hyman ---
**Author:** ![Eclipse\_Chaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Eclipse\_Chaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eclipse_Chaser)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2021, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1462 "2021-03-04T18:23:28Z")
“That’s torn it!” said Lord Peter Wimsey. The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers ---
**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:** [March 4, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1463 "2021-03-04T19:27:25Z")
"Towards the end of things, someone asked Michael Kearney, “How do you see yourself spending the first minute of the new millennium?” _Light_, by M. John Harrison ---
**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:** [March 5, 2021, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1464 "2021-03-05T15:59:02Z")
_ **Naples** _ Don Vincente Jose-Maria Castro y Papas, Captain in His Most Catholic Majesty’s Army in the Two Sicilies, tried sneering at the stack of paperwork and the books and ledgers of the company he commanded. It was of no use. The wretched things remained there, sneering back at him. _1635: The Cannon Law_, by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis ---
**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:** [March 7, 2021, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1465 "2021-03-07T05:51:22Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Title and author, **Jack**? I recognize his as from _Moby-Dick_, by Herman Melville. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858/1466 "2021-03-07T07:06:23Z")
Actually, it’s from _It’s Not a Rug, It’s a Piece of Art_, by Ishmael Liebowitz, Manhattan’s preeminent toupee merchant in the 1930’s [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=72) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-first-sentence-from-the-book-you-are-currently-reading/784858.md?page=74)