5 books 5 opening lines

The power of opening lines. Here are five of them from five recently acquired books. Can you guess which belongs to which?

The palace still shook occasionally as the earth rumbled in memory, groaned as if it would deny what had happened.

-

It was a pleasure to burn.

-

The small boys came early to the hanging.

-

Everyone had always said that John would be a preacher when he grew up, just like his father.

-

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.

-

It’s almost as if a new story wants to show itself…

The Books: Wheel of Time, Fahrenheit 451, The Pillars of the Earth (tiny version), Go Tell it on the Mountain and Dune.

Chapter one - it was a pleasure to burn.

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct, so, to be sure, the small boys came early to the hanging. Everyone had always said that John, the one to be hanged, would be a preacher when he grew up, just like his father. The palace still shook occasionally as the earth rumbled in memory, groaned as if it would deny what had happened.

-

…

Probably best to read the actual books.

Here then, the opening lines and their books re-aligned:

The palace still shook occasionally as the earth rumbled in memory, groaned as if it would deny what had happened.

• The wheel of time

It was a pleasure to burn.

• Fahrenheit 451

The small boys came early to the hanging.

• The Pillars of the Earth

Everyone had always said that John would be a preacher when he grew up, just like his father.

• Go Tell it on the Mountain

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.

• Dune

And that’s 5.

More?

More.

Here are ‘18 of the best first lines in fiction’, curated by penguin itself.

It is the best of times,

it is the worst of times.

Ciao.

-

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i made something

i made something

i like it and now i don’t know what to do with it.

so i’ll just leave it here.

and without stone

‘and without’ is a strange combination

here you can witness that combination

an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment, or: a light that never goes out

(daily threads 20-24 april)

i’ve been listening to this beautiful musician on youtube, adam barrett, really extraordinarily beautiful - i became hooked on his radiohead covers a while ago and then last week the song ‘this night has opened my eyes’ opened my heart - 'oh you did a good thing, oh you did a bad thing, and i am not happy and i’m not sad’, more songs, more songs, more of this guitar, more of his voice, what’s THAT song? it’s called ‘there is a light that never goes out’ which opens with ‘take me out tonight, where there’s music and there’s people and they’re young and alive’ and that’s what i did, because i’m not happy and i’m not sad, and that’s just not good enough (a benevolent grandfatherly voice tells me), time to shake things up, get out of groundhog day, step out of rep rep rep repetition and let let’s go and see what happens, what happened?

a week

a week

a week of amsterdam

a week of amsterdam to clear the mind

a week of amsterdam

a strange medicine for clearing the mind

but i stepped out of my head

into a thread

lost the thread

resurfaced

and here i am

the second line of ‘there is a light that doesn’t goes out’ goes -

take me out tonight

because i want to see people and i want to see life

that’s it, that’s what i did, i didn’t know the song nor the lines, but that’s what i did and here’s what i did:

a mellow rendezvous at KILLACUTZ (that’s a record store) to kick things off, music (and some other stuff) to get rolling, the record and the head turns, the heart touched, here we go! old friends, new laughs, places with old memories repainted with new ones, the places themselves freshened, other spots seemingly degenerating, the best apple pie in amsterdam now the best apple pie of the internet, strange people, new people, not fitting in with new people (no matter, for this also feels fresh), meeting up with my former piano teacher (family included), leave with a new song to learn, meeting up with my somewhat new barber (for a new haircut ís mandatory in times of renewal), off to new clubs, old cafés, DJ’s and drags, dance dance dance, saying no to afterparties, feeling young and proud of myself and old and disappointed in myself, everything at the same time, music, people, life, life, life, all there in all its chaotic beauty, nourishment through exhaustion, inexhaustible nourishment? - i don’t know, but what i do know is that for this particular nourishment you have to find your well, what’s your well? - do you best, go look for it, go there regularly, for there you’ll find

- an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment -

or so the I Ching tells us:

how did i end up here in the well?

like so

(club) church showed the way.

there is a light that never goes out;

an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment -

easy to forget

therefore, don’t forget,

to look for your well

and who knows,

a fairy portal (or two, or three) might open up

and if it’s there…

just open the door

-

Go here to subscribe to my letter of news and receive my writings somewhat regularly, go here to check out my programs, and if you want to support my work you can do that right here