book quiz

[bodhigirlsmiles]

various versions of book beginnings quizes have been posted on the internet, but i think they are always fun. for all you bookies out there, see how you do! (no cheating!!)

from which books do these first lines come?

1. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so.

2. On an evening in the latter part of May a middle-aged man was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott, in the adjoining Vale of Blakemore or Blackmoor.

3. Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo.

4. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

5. A wide plain, where the broadening Floss hurries on between its green banks to the sea, and the loving tide, rushing to meet it, checks its passage with an impetuous embrace.

6. 1801-- I have just returned from a visit to my landlord -- the solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with.

7. My father's family name being Pirrip, and my christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip.

8. Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen sat one morning in the window-bay of their father's house in Beldover, working and talking.

9. Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show..

10. The day broke gray and dull.

11. Now, what I want is Facts.

12. There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

13. In the days when the spinning-wheels hummed busily in the farmhouses -- and even great ladies, clothed in silk and thread-lace, had their toy spinning-wheels of polished oak -- there might be seen in districts far away among the lanes, or deep in the bosom of the hills, certain pallid undersized men, who, by the side of the brawny country-folk, looked like the remnants of a disinherited race.

14. Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

15. While the present century was in its teens, and on one sunshiny morning in June, there drove up to the great iron gate of Miss Pinkerton's academy for young ladies, on Chiswick Mall, a large family coach, with two fat horses in blazing harness, driven by a fat coachman in a three cornered hat and wig, at the rate of four miles an hour.

16. This is the saddest story I have ever heard.

17. Except for the Marabar Caves - and they are twenty miles off - the city of Chandrapore presents nothing extraordinary.

18. This is the story of what a Woman's patience can endure, and what a Man's resolution can achieve.

19. When I reached C Company lines, which were at the top of the hill, I paused and looked back at the camp, just coming into full view before me through the grey mist of early morning

20. As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a Den, and I laid me down in that place to sleep: and, as I slept, I dreamed a dream.

21. I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story.

22. Serene was a word you could put to Brooklyn, New York.

23. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

24. The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call "out there".

25. Late in the afternoon of a chilly day in February, two gentlemen were sitting alone over their wine, in a well-furnished dining parlor, in the town of P----, in Kentucky.

26. A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hill-side bank and runs deep and green.

27. Halfway down a bystreet of one of our New England towns stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.

28. This is America -- a town of a few thousand, in a region of wheat and corn and dairies and little groves.

29. The town is, in our tale, called "Gopher Prairie, Minnesota." But its Main Street is the continuation of Main Streets everywhere.

30. It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America, that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered before the adverse hosts could meet.

31. We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville, Tennessee in the time that I lived there so successfully disguised to myself as a child.

32. It was the hour of twilight on a soft spring day toward the end of April in the year of Our Lord 1929, and George Webber leaned his elbows on the sill of his back window and looked out at what he could see of New York.

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

34. When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.

35. In the town there were two mutes, and they were always together.

36. The story had held us, round the fire, sufficiently breathless, but except the obvious remark that it was gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an old house, a strange tale should essentially be, I remember no comment uttered till somebody happen to say that it was the only case he had met in which such a visitation had fallen on a child.

37. A destiny that leads the English to the Dutch is strange enough; but one that leads from Epsom into Pennsylvannia, and thence into the hills that shut in Altamont over the proud coral cry of the cock, and the soft stone smile of the angel, is touched by that dark miracle of chance which makes new magic in a dusty world.

38. I am living at the Villa Borghese. There is not a crumb of dirt anywhere nor a chair misplaced. We are alone here and we are dead.

39. Brrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinng! An alarm clock clanged in the dark and silent room. A bed spring creaked. A womans' voice sang out impatiently: "Bigger, shut that thing off!"

40. Through the fence, between the curling flower spaces, I could see them hitting.

Edited December 12, 2008 by bodhigirlsmiles

[Wingnut]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so.

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Jane Austen...either Emma or Pride and Prejudice, but I'm thinking the latter.

My father's family name being Pirrip, and my christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip.

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens

Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

Emma, by Jane Austen (now I'm definitely going with P&P on the other one)

A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hill-side bank and runs deep and green.

Something by John Steinbeck, I'm going to guess Of Mice and Men. I love Salinas, by the way.

Apparently I need to read more.

[bodhigirlsmiles]

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

Jane Austen...either Emma or Pride and Prejudice, but I'm thinking the latter.

Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens

Emma, by Jane Austen (now I'm definitely going with P&P on the other one)

Something by John Steinbeck, I'm going to guess Of Mice and Men. I love Salinas, by the way.

Apparently I need to read more.

isn't salinas beautiful!

[pushka]

8. Ursula and Gudrun Brangwen sat one morning in the window-bay of their father's house in Beldover, working and talking.

Women In Love, DH Lawrence?

[Moksha]

22. Serene was a word you could put to Brooklyn, New York.

A Tree Grow in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

16. This is the saddest story I have ever heard

The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford

29. The town is, in our tale, called "Gopher Prairie, Minnesota." But its Main Street is the continuation of Main Streets everywhere.

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

35. In the town there were two mutes, and they were always together.

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

[skippy740]

Might I suggest that you limit these kinds of posts to 10 items per thread? Over 10 and it's just too cumbersome to try to attempt.

Okay, now you can ignore my post have have fun! :)

[bodhigirlsmiles]

Might I suggest that you limit these kinds of posts to 10 items per thread? Over 10 and it's just too cumbersome to try to attempt.

Okay, now you can ignore my post have have fun! :)

but i had soooooo much fun putting them all in there that i just couldn't stop!! i actually did about 100 less that i was planning to do....

[pushka]

Are any of our answers correct up to now?

[Wingnut]

Perhaps it should be limited to 10, and when all of them are answered correctly, someone else can put up another 10?

[Connie]

First Lines, English Lit.

See the above link for the answers to the first 20.

21. I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story.

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

22. Serene was a word you could put to Brooklyn, New York.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

23. In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

24. The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call "out there".

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

25. Late in the afternoon of a chilly day in February, two gentlemen were sitting alone over their wine, in a well-furnished dining parlor, in the town of P----, in Kentucky.

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

26. A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hill-side bank and runs deep and green.

Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck

27. Halfway down a bystreet of one of our New England towns stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered chimney in the midst.

The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

28. This is America -- a town of a few thousand, in a region of wheat and corn and dairies and little groves. 29. The town is, in our tale, called "Gopher Prairie, Minnesota." But its Main Street is the continuation of Main Streets everywhere.

Main Street by Sinclair Lewis

30. It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America, that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered before the adverse hosts could meet.

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

34. When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Yeah, this should really be limited next time. My fingers hurt. Though, admittedly, i had to look some of these up. I guess that either makes me a party pooper or really bummed that i can't go to my family's Christmas party today. But, hey, why limit myself, it's probably both and then some.

[Connie]

Okay here's the other website with the rest. I guess i didn't have to type out all that above.

First Lines, America

Now, instead of being a party pooper, i will continue the party and put a few of my own out there.

1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2. When I was a little boy, we children traced paper hearts at school on Valentine's Day.

3. The Herdmans were absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world.

4. It was a pleasure to burn.

5. Up until I was fourteen years old, no boy on earth could have been happier.

6. A surging, seething, murmuring crowd of beings that are human only in name, for to the eye and ear they seem naught but savage creatures, animated by vile passions and by the lust of vengeance and of hate.

7. The studio was filled with the rich odour of roses, and when the light summer wind stirred amidst the trees of the garden, there came through the open door the heavy scent of the lilac, or the more delicate perfume of the pink-flowering thorn.

8. The other day, in looking over my papers, I found in my desk the following copy of a letter, sent by me a year since to an old school acquaintance:

9. The family of Dashwood had been long settled in Sussex.

10. The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone.

[Wingnut]

1. The Bible

4. Fahrenheit 451

5. for some reason I'm thinking Where the Red Fern Grows, but I'm pretty certain that's not it.

9. Sense & Sensibility

[Connie]

1. The Bible

4. Fahrenheit 451

5. for some reason I'm thinking Where the Red Fern Grows, but I'm pretty certain that's not it.

9. Sense & Sensibility

Correct, except on #5, though you're close as it's by the same author.

By the way, love your new avatar! It reminds of the Energizer Bunny for some reason. :)

[Wingnut]

Correct, except on #5, though you're close as it's by the same author.

Weird. I haven't read that book since 5th grade.

By the way, love your new avatar! It reminds of the Energizer Bunny for some reason. :)

It's supposed to be the Energizer bunny with a wingnut for a head. Refer to the Questions only thread to find out why. :)

[bodhigirlsmiles]

i am very impressed woth all of you! it is lovely to know that there are many out there who love books so much. i knew the majority of them, but there were several that i missed as well.

[Wingnut]

Okay, I'm going to go through some books I have on my shelf, instead of posting lists easily found online. That way I'll see if you actually know them.

1) In the early hours of June 24 a car pulled into a long macadam drive on Rolling Hills Road in the town of Mount Mason.

2) It was December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.

3) On February 24, 1815, the watchtower at Marseilles signaled the arrival of the three-master Pharaon, coming from Smyrna, Trieste, and Naples.

4) "Where's Papa going with that ax?" said ____ to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.

5) My dear ________, I note what you say about guiding your patient's reading and taking car that he sees a good deal of his materialist friend.

6) Every season of my nanny career kicked off with a round of interviews so surreally similar that I'd often wonder if the mothers were slipped a secret manual at the Parents League to guide them through.

7) My father and mother should have stayed in New York where they met and married and where I was born.

8) All happy families resemble one another, every unhappy family is unhappy after its own fashion.

9) The Santa Anas blew in hot from the desert, shriveling the last of the spring grass into whiskers of pale straw.

10) It's been almost ten years since I first ran for political office.

Alright, have at it!

[BenRaines]

Isn't the Steinbeck one East of Eden?

Ben Raines

[RachelleDrew]

I'm a really terrible book nerd. I just realize that I know 30 of these.

I couldn't add 2 plus 2, but I remember opening lines from classic books I read nearly ten years ago. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or an embarrassing thing.

[Wingnut]

Post your answers. If you number them, state who's numbers you're quoting, since three of us have posted first lines now.