elwen: (Default)
elwen ([personal profile] elwen) wrote2005-04-17 02:16 am
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Another neat book meme, this time with reader participation!

...which just means that no one will respond. >.>

Jacked from [livejournal.com profile] labeth:
1. Choose five to ten of your all time favorite books.
2. Take the first sentence of the first chapter and make a list in your journal.
3. Don't reveal the author or the title of the book.
4. Now everyone try and guess!

1: . . . and the government of the United States of America is herewith suspended, except in the District of Columbia, as of the emergency.

2: On the day the armada went off to war, on the last day of life as we knew it, I was invited to a party.

3: Kowloon. The teeming final extension of China that is no part of the north except in spirit--but the spirit runs deep and descends into the caverns of men's souls without regard for the harsh, irrelevant practicalities of political borders.

4: She was dead. [The Valley of Horses, by Jean M. Auel. Guessed by [livejournal.com profile] nendil.]

5: When the world was new, the seven Gods dwelt in harmony, and the races of man were as one people.

6: It was the summer when the price of a small loaf of bread topped a million rubles.

7: 'I am inclined to think--' said I.

8: I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one. [Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card. Guessed by [livejournal.com profile] kalquessa.]

9: A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray, steeple-crowned hats, intermixed with women, some wearing hoods, and others bareheaded, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes. [The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Guessed by [livejournal.com profile] ibarahime.]

10: It was love at first sight. [Catch-22, by Joseph Heller. Guessed by [livejournal.com profile] nendil.]

Naturally I had to leave out books whose first lines were blatantly obvious, such as Lord of the Rings. And thank goodness for Amazon.com's "Look Inside" feature, or I wouldn't have been able to quote most of these as most of the books I actually have physically with me are either textbooks or manga. ^^;;

ETA: I will post the answers to any of the unguessed books at some point in the future, since I believe that, if you didn't recognize the books but were intrigued by the opening lines, then this meme will have served its purpose.

[identity profile] nendil.livejournal.com 2005-04-17 09:55 am (UTC)(link)
I suck, I only know Catch 22 (#10). XP Although a few of those I think I should know from other "name the book from the first line" games...

Is #3 The Bourne anything?

[identity profile] nendil.livejournal.com 2005-04-17 11:13 am (UTC)(link)
...Okay, so I just realized from searching for my own excerpts that #4 is Valley of Horses. ^^;

[identity profile] kalquessa.livejournal.com 2005-04-17 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
#8 = Ender's Game, of course.It's the only one I know, though. Cool meme, must do this myself.

[identity profile] twelvebeauties.livejournal.com 2005-04-19 07:18 pm (UTC)(link)
9 = The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne