How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday and will be open for the entire week.
My opening lines come from The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz:
It was about nine o'clock one bleak November day that the key rattled in the heavy lock of my cell in the Lubyanka prison and the two broad-shouldered guards marched purposefully in. I had been walking slowly round, left hand in the now characteristic prisoner's attitude of supporting the top of the issue trousers, which Russian ingenuity supplied without buttons or even string on the quite reasonable assumption that a man preoccupied with keeping up his pants would be severely handicapped in attempting to escape.
I loved the opener of this non-fiction book because it took me immediately into the story without having to go through pages and pages of introducing characters and setting up the storyline. I'm a little more than halfway through and I'm still loving it!
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I agree, the reader immediately gets a sense of the dire situation that this prisoner is in. I hope the rest of the book is just as good
ReplyDeleteOoo nice and I LOVE your blog name!
ReplyDeleteHere is my BBF
Yes, I also like openers that take us right into the story. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteHere's MY FRIDAY MEMES POST
Very good. This paragraph already tells so much about the situation the narrator is in.
ReplyDeleteGreat! I agree, that's an opening that would grab me, and sounds like my kind of nonfiction. You know what it reminds me of? High school kids with their saggy pants! It's true, they can't run real fast...
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting beginning--I went and took a look at the Goodreads info on it just now. What do you think of the controversy over whether it is really a true story?
ReplyDeleteThanks for participating in Book Beginnings!
@ Helen- so far so good
ReplyDelete@ JuJu- why thank you!
@ Laurel- Checked yours out. I wouldn't expect to die with a key in my pocket either. Hmmm. I wonder what was waiting back at the hotel?
@ Ricki- it certainly does
@ pagesofjulia- lol My son used to wear his pants low and you're right-he never could run fast!
@ Katy- what? There's a controversy about this book too? I was oblivious to that!
As a high school librarian I think my reading level is decreasing year by year so eventually all I'll be able to read is YA Lit! Your quote sounded heavy and daunting yet fascinating.
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