wellinghall: (Owl)
wellinghall ([personal profile] wellinghall) wrote2011-11-16 07:07 pm
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Random first lines meme ...

... first lines of books, that is. These are pseudo-random books, in that they are on the shelf next to me. I'm interested to see what this comes up with, and whether anyone can guess any of them!

1. When Jocelyn Brandon died - at a great old age, as magicians tend to do - he left his house and his field-of-care to his grandson, Andrew Brandon Hope. Enchanted Glass, by Dianna Wynne Jones; first guessed by [livejournal.com profile] ladyofastolat
2. The best remedy for a bruised heart is not, as so many people seem to think, repose upon a manly bosom. Have his Carcase, Dorothy L Sayers; [livejournal.com profile] fallingtowers
3. "And by the way," said Mr Hankin, arresting Miss Rossiter as she rose to go, "there is a new copy-writer coming in today." Murder Must Advertise, Dorothy L Sayers; [livejournal.com profile] fallingtowers
4. Albrecht Durer is one of the most famous artists of all times.
5. "Too many!" James shouted, and slammed the door behind him. The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper; [livejournal.com profile] fallingtowers
6. "Don't forget you are going to Aunt Alicia's."
7. "Help me!"
8. Although I am writing this in the year 1877, I was not born until 1921.
9. From the Fosseway westward to Isca Dumnoniorum the road was simply a British trackway, broadened and roughly metalled, strengthened by corduroys of logs in the softest places, but otherwise unchanged from its old estate, as it wound among the hills, thrusting farther and farther into the wilderness. The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff; [livejournal.com profile] ladyofastolat
10. Eight is a golden age.
11. I have had some very odd meals in my time, and if I liked I could tell you about a meal in a mine, or a meal in Moscow, or a meal with a millionaire.
12. Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream. Cannery Row, John Steinbeck; [livejournal.com profile] fallingtowers
13. Veldt to scrub to fields to farms to these first tumbling houses that rise from the earth.
14. Attention I ask from all the sacred people, greater and lesser, the offsrping of Heimdall. The Elder or Poetic Edda, anon; [livejournal.com profile] fallingtowers / [livejournal.com profile] ladyofastolat
15. When nations go to war each side tries to destroy the other side's fighting forces - or, sometimes, the other nation; that is what war is about.

Okay, so many of those turn out to be pretty well-known. Others, though, probably aren't!

[identity profile] ladyofastolat.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 07:11 pm (UTC)(link)
1. Enchanted Glass, Diana Wynne Jones
9. The Eagle of the Ninth, Rosemary Sutcliff

A few others feel vaguely familiar, but I've not come up with anything concrete yet.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Both right.

[identity profile] fallingtowers.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 07:14 pm (UTC)(link)
2. Have His Carcase
3. Murder Must Advertise
5. The Dark Is Rising
9. The Eagle of the Ninth
12. Cannery Row
14. The Edda

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
All right (although I am forced to ask, which Edda?)

[identity profile] fallingtowers.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Um. You've got me there...

[identity profile] ladyofastolat.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 10:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Kicking myself for not getting The Dark is Rising, but in my defence I only gave the list a cursory glance since I was due to go and pick Pellinor up from the ferry.

I kind of got 14, too, but it doesn't really count since I had to pop into the other room to double check my copy of the Elder Edda to see if I was right. I've got a different translation from you, though. (And, strangely, I always think of it as the Elder Edda, even though it says Poetic Edda in big letters on the cover.)

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2011-11-17 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
I think of it as the Elder Edda, too, although our copy also calls itself Poetic.

[identity profile] widsidh.livejournal.com 2011-11-18 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
It is also the poem that the Prose Edda was later written "around" as it were.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2011-11-18 07:44 am (UTC)(link)
I don't think I knew that. Thanks!
tree_and_leaf: Watercolour of barn owl perched on post. (Default)

[personal profile] tree_and_leaf 2011-11-16 07:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Boo, everyone's got the ones I know! Unless 10 is Kenneth Graham, The Golden Age.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 07:54 pm (UTC)(link)
No, sorry.

[identity profile] muuranker.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 08:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I know I have read 8. 10 and 11.
I know I haven't read 13, but should have done. Cry, The Beloved Country?
15 Sounds like Sun Tzu.

I blame my brain freezing.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
13, 15, no.

[identity profile] bookwormsarah.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 09:33 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm carefully not looking at the other comments...

2: Have His Carcase - DLS
3: Murder Must Advertise - DLS
5: The Dark is Rising - Susan Cooper

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, yes and, er, yes!

[identity profile] evilmissbecky.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
8 sounds like The Mysterious Case of Benjamin Button, but I truthfully have no idea.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2011-11-16 09:52 pm (UTC)(link)
No, although I can see where you're coming from.
white_hart: (Default)

[personal profile] white_hart 2011-11-17 07:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I think 8 is Ward Moore's Bring The Jubilee.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2011-11-17 07:34 pm (UTC)(link)
It is indeed!

And - hi! How are you?
white_hart: (Default)

[personal profile] white_hart 2011-11-17 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Tired, mostly! New job is good but definitely exhausting right now. I have been reading (well, skimming, anyway) and I'm sorry to hear things are tough for you - I'm afraid I'm not doing as much commenting as I probably should be, though.

[identity profile] wellinghall.livejournal.com 2011-11-18 07:48 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you - that is sweet :-) And I am sorry to hear of your tiredness - I hope you can at least get a proper break over Christmas.

[identity profile] jane-somebody.livejournal.com 2011-12-15 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Okay, so I knew 5, obvs, and 3, and knew 2 was a Wimsey but might have had to think about which one. Didn't know 1, which means there's a DWJ I haven't read yet :-)

Have you posted the answers yet?