# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/161 "2007-11-27T23:18:28Z")
Duplicate Post. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/162 "2007-11-28T00:05:32Z")
Jeez, I got maybe 5 total. “The rain made everything sound different – the engine of my delivery van, the traffic as it rolled by on a film of fallen clouds, the occasional dull honk.” A gimme - “LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped, we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!” “A man with binoculars. That is how it began: with a man standing by the side of the road, on a crest overlooking a small Arizona town, on a winter night.” ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/163 "2007-11-28T00:53:51Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] “LO, praise of the prowess of people-kings of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped, we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!” [/QUOTE] Beowulf! I got one…albeit it a very easy one 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/164 "2007-11-28T01:06:09Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] … “A man with binoculars. That is how it began: with a man standing by the side of the road, on a crest overlooking a small Arizona town, on a winter night.” [/QUOTE] _The Andromeda Strain_, Michael Crichton. [QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] … “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Of course they became heroes.” " [/QUOTE] Err…the novelization of Star Wars Ep. IV? ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/165 "2007-11-28T01:18:10Z")
OK, I’ve got a few: **LL1** : “The water in the metal tank slopped sideways and a treacly ripple ran along the edge, reached the corner and died away” **LL2** : “I can see by my watch, without taking my hand from the left grip of the cycle, that it is eight-thirty in the morning” **LL3** : “I am an invisible man” **LL4** : “I have never begun a novel with more misgiving” **LL5** : “If you should walk and wind and wander far enough on one of those afternoons in April when smoke goes down instead of up, and nearby things sound far away and far things near, you are more than likely to come at last to the enchanted forest that lies between the Moonstone Mines and Centaurs Mountain” ---
**Author:** ![pprgrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f6c823/32.png) [@pprgrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pprgrl)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/166 "2007-11-28T01:21:28Z")
[QUOTE=VampyChick] _Swordspoint_ “She scowled at her orange juice.” [/QUOTE] Did anyone guess this one yet? _The Blue Sword_ by Robin McKinley. ---
**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 28, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/167 "2007-11-28T01:28:38Z")
[QUOTE=Laughing Lagomorph] **LL4** : “I have never begun a novel with more misgiving” [/QUOTE] _The Razor’s Edge_ W. Somerset Maugham ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/168 "2007-11-28T01:32:15Z")
[QUOTE=Tengu] William Gibson, Neuromancer. [/QUOTE] Yes. “The police in the small town of Los Alamos, New Mexico, worried briefly in 1974 about a man see prowling in the dark, night after night, the red glow of his cigarette floating along the back streets.” and “He drank alone. Which was odd since he didn’t have trouble with people.” (2 sentences since the first is so short) ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/169 "2007-11-28T01:32:49Z")
[QUOTE=lobstermobster] _The Razor’s Edge_ W. Somerset Maugham [/QUOTE] Yup. ---
**Author:** ![cromulent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@cromulent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cromulent)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/170 "2007-11-28T01:34:42Z")
[QUOTE=Laughing Lagomorph] **LL3** : “I am an invisible man” [/QUOTE] Well, having narrowed this down to two choices, I’m going with **Invisible Man** by Ralph Ellison. My new one: My father and mother should have stayed in New York where they met and married and where I was born. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/171 "2007-11-28T01:37:37Z")
[QUOTE=cromulent] Well, having narrowed this down to two choices, I’m going with **Invisible Man** by Ralph Ellison. … [/QUOTE] Yes. Easy one. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/172 "2007-11-28T02:01:22Z")
A rule clarification: you’re allowed to consult any physical book to _generate_ first lines to pose as challenges. But the first lines you _answer_ must come out of your memory. I suppose you can check your answer before you post it, but it must come from your memory. Honour system, folks. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/173 "2007-11-28T02:05:18Z")
I think we need a recap. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/174 "2007-11-28T02:21:10Z")
_“The night was. . .”_ Sorry. How about _“The thing stank.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/175 "2007-11-28T02:47:22Z")
[QUOTE=Laughing Lagomorph] **LL2** : “I can see by my watch, without taking my hand from the left grip of the cycle, that it is eight-thirty in the morning” [/QUOTE] Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig **ENG1:** “My first memory is of a time ten years before I was born, and the memory takes place where I have never been and involves my daddy whom I never knew.” [posted earlier] **ENG2:** “I am seated in an office, surrounded by heads and bodies.” **ENG3:** “See the child. He is pale and thin, he wears a thin and ragged linen shirt.” ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/176 "2007-11-28T02:54:20Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd] Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig … [/QUOTE] Correct! ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/177 "2007-11-28T03:03:27Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd] Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig [/QUOTE] Bastard! Why does everybody always beat me to the ones I know!? ---
**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:** [November 28, 2007, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/178 "2007-11-28T05:49:34Z")
[QUOTE=Laughing Lagomorph] … …“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Of course they became heroes.” … Err…the novelization of Star Wars Ep. IV? [/QUOTE] Correct. Credited to George Lucas, but widely acknowledged to have been ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster. Here are some more first lines: “At the first gesture of morning, flies began stirring.” “Hello? Hello? Yes, I see it works. Good.” “I don’t usually go to a bar with one of my students. It is almost always a mistake.” ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2007, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/179 "2007-11-28T06:03:12Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] “Hello? Hello? Yes, I see it works. Good.” [/QUOTE] _The Dracula Tape_ ? ---
**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:** [November 28, 2007, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408/180 "2007-11-28T14:08:03Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] _The Dracula Tape_ ? [/QUOTE] No. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-guess-the-book-from-the-opening-line/427408.md?page=10)