# Yet another "Guess the book from the opening line" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 22, 2007, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408 "2007-11-22T06:32:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/101 "2007-11-25T20:49:34Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] **HAVE BEEN SOLVED:** “There were angels in the glass, two four six many of them, each one shuffling into his place in line like an alderman at the Lord Mayor’s show.” [/QUOTE] _Aegypt_, John Crowley. "It was a Saturday afternoon on La Salle Street, years and years ago when I was a little kid, and around three o’clock Mrs. Shannon, the heavy Irish woman in her perpetually soup-stained dress, opened her back window and shouted out into the courtyard, “Hey, Cesar, yoo-hoo, I think you’re on television, I swear it’s you!” ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/102 "2007-11-25T21:14:01Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] “AUTHOR: Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, came to power in 1740.” [/QUOTE] Gödel, Escher, Bach - Douglas Hofstadter ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/103 "2007-11-25T21:25:14Z")
[QUOTE=stucco] Here’s mine: “The full truth of this odd matter is what the world has long been looking for, and public curiosity is sure to welcome.” [/QUOTE] Was that one of the Sherlock Holmes stories? (_What was the title … ?_) (I would like to add that it’s a bit scary that a least four of us know the opening to _The Mayor of Casterbridge_) ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2007, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/104 "2007-11-25T21:31:23Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] "It was a Saturday afternoon on La Salle Street, years and years ago when I was a little kid, and around three o’clock Mrs. Shannon, the heavy Irish woman in her perpetually soup-stained dress, opened her back window and shouted out into the courtyard, “Hey, Cesar, yoo-hoo, I think you’re on television, I swear it’s you!” [/QUOTE] I thought I knew this one and googled it to confirm. I was totally wrong, so I’ll leave it for someone who actually knows. But I’ll add another opening line just for fun. “In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountains.” ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/105 "2007-11-26T00:50:26Z")
[QUOTE=Paladud] " Bonus points for: “The weather beaten trail wound ahead into the dust racked climes of the baren land which dominates large portions of the Norgolian empire.” [/QUOTE] The Eye of Argon, Jim Theis. I’m embarrassed at myself for recognizing that. ---
**Author:** ![ChattyChattyBingBing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@ChattyChattyBingBing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChattyChattyBingBing)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/106 "2007-11-26T04:58:31Z")
_“John Dortmunder was a man on whom the sun shone only when he needed darkness…”_ ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/107 "2007-11-26T11:04:10Z")
[QUOTE=ChattyChattyBingBing] _“John Dortmunder was a man on whom the sun shone only when he needed darkness…”_ [/QUOTE] Bad News, by Westlake ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/108 "2007-11-26T13:52:34Z")
[QUOTE=j666] (I would like to add that it’s a bit scary that a least four of us know the opening to _The Mayor of Casterbridge_) [/QUOTE] Five. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![stucco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@stucco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stucco)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/109 "2007-11-26T23:25:18Z")
[QUOTE=j666] Was that one of the Sherlock Holmes stories? (_What was the title … ?_) [/QUOTE] Nope. Right nationality though. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/110 "2007-11-27T00:15:28Z")
Are we working on memory, or can we research? If we can research, can we do it online, or only by hard copy? _“To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/111 "2007-11-27T00:25:31Z")
[QUOTE=j666] Are we working on memory, or can we research? If we can research, can we do it online, or only by hard copy? _“To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman.”_ [/QUOTE] “A Scandal in Bohemia.” And a couple more: “Brother Francis Gerard of Utah might never have discovered the blessed documents, had it not been for the pilgrim with girded loins who appeared during that young novice’s Lenten fast in the desert.” “An easterly is the most disagreeable wind in Lyme Bay – Lyme bay being that largest bite from the underside of England’s outstretched south-western leg – and a person of curiosity could at once have deduced several strong probabilities about the pair who began to walk down the quay at Lyme Regis, the small but ancient eponym of the inbite, one incisively sharp and blustery morning in the late March of 1867.” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/112 "2007-11-27T00:30:37Z")
[QUOTE=j666] Are we working on memory, or can we research? If we can research, can we do it online, or only by hard copy? [/QUOTE] It’s the OP’s place to say, really, but I’ve been assuming we were going by memory, with double-checking allowed (I’ve been using hard copy), on the honor system. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/113 "2007-11-27T00:54:27Z")
[QUOTE=Fretful Porpentine] “A Scandal in Bohemia.” [/quote] Elementary, my dear Porpentine > [@](#): > > “Brother Francis Gerard of Utah might never have discovered the blessed documents, had it not been for the pilgrim with girded loins who appeared during that young novice’s Lenten fast in the desert.” > > “An easterly is the most disagreeable wind in Lyme Bay – Lyme bay being that largest bite from the underside of England’s outstretched south-western leg – and a person of curiosity could at once have deduced several strong probabilities about the pair who began to walk down the quay at Lyme Regis, the small but ancient eponym of the inbite, one incisively sharp and blustery morning in the late March of 1867.” Everything is starting to sound like a Bulwer-Lytton entry to me … ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/114 "2007-11-27T01:10:37Z")
[QUOTE=Fretful Porpentine] “Brother Francis Gerard of Utah might never have discovered the blessed documents, had it not been for the pilgrim with girded loins who appeared during that young novice’s Lenten fast in the desert.” [/QUOTE] I almost submitted this one myself! Walter Miller, **A Canticle for Liebowitz**. ---
**Author:** ![lobstermobster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobstermobster/32/10033_2.png) [@lobstermobster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobstermobster)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/115 "2007-11-27T01:15:06Z")
whoa! I didn’t know people were double checking on google or using google at all!! I really like this thread but its not a fun game if people are only posting answers they know are correct. If I had double checked my ideas I would have gotten way more by now! I vote for memory or whats on your bookcases only ETA: Here’s the first line of my favorite book: "_A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head._ ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/116 "2007-11-27T01:20:55Z")
[QUOTE=lobstermobster] I vote for memory or whats on your bookcases only [/QUOTE] I’m fine with that, but am going to have to get a clarification on what “your bookcases” means. I’ve done my double-checking by what books were on my bookcases … at work. ---
**Author:** ![lobstermobster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobstermobster/32/10033_2.png) [@lobstermobster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobstermobster)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/117 "2007-11-27T01:24:09Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] I’m fine with that, but am going to have to get a clarification on what “your bookcases” means. I’ve done my double-checking by what books were on my bookcases … at work. [/QUOTE] ohhhhh you make a good point I didn’t consider. ETA: I don’t make the rules don’t want to step on anyone’s toes here. ---
**Author:** ![cromulent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@cromulent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cromulent)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/118 "2007-11-27T01:59:26Z")
[QUOTE=lobstermobster] "_A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head._ [/QUOTE] A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. A new one: We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall. ---
**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:** [November 27, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/119 "2007-11-27T02:20:29Z")
I don’t know any of the unsolved ones, but I’ll submit this: “The music-room in the Governor’s House at Port Mahon, a tall, handsome, pillared octagon, was filled with the triumphant first movement of Locatelli’s C major quartet.” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/120 "2007-11-27T02:47:32Z")
[QUOTE=Eleanor of Aquitaine] I don’t know any of the unsolved ones, but I’ll submit this: “The music-room in the Governor’s House at Port Mahon, a tall, handsome, pillared octagon, was filled with the triumphant first movement of Locatelli’s C major quartet.” [/QUOTE] Oh, oh, _Jumps up and down and waves hand_. Is that Master and Commander? I love O’Brian!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408.md?page=7)