Friday, September 18, 2009

Friday Firsts (1)


The first line can make or break a reader’s interest. Just how well did the author pull you in to the story with their first sentence? To participate in this weekly book meme is extremely easy.

  • Grab the book you are currently reading and open to the first page.
  • Write down the first sentence in the first paragraph.
  • Create a blog post with this information. (Make sure to include the title & author of the book you are using. Even an ISBN helps!)
  • Did this first sentence help draw you into the story? Why or why not?
I'm still reading The Hollow by Jessica Verday. The book begins with this sentence:
It was funny.
Actually, it wasn't funny. It wasn't funny at all. The scene takes place at a memorial service/funeral/viewing (I'm still not sure what it was supposed to be). The second sentence actually sets the scene a little better.

Yes, I realize that "funny" in this instance means "strange". But this book often uses ten words when three would suffice, so the use of inexact words doesn't really surprise me. (I will, of course, expand on this when I actually review the book.)

The first sentence did not help draw me into the story. In fact, a couple hundred pages of sentences have not helped to draw me into the story. I'm more than halfway through the book, and I'm beginning to wonder if there even is a story.

So this first line is not really apt. The scene wasn't funny, the book is not funny, and the time I feel like I'm wasting is definitely not funny.

Funny, isn't it?

7 comments:

  1. LOL! Yes, that is funny. :) I hate when you have you read pages upon pages and it hasn't hooked you yet. Some books never will, which is such a shame!

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  2. That is funny. =) Most first sentences don't really do anything for me, very few really pull me in. I should start keeping track of all the ones that I actually liked.

    This would be a fun meme to participate in, I'll have to give it a try.

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  3. Now that IS funny. haha it took me a month to finish reading The Hollow. I agree with you about the word usage issue. The book could have been 300 pages shorter!

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  4. Your analysis of the first sentence sound very much like mine! It also took me about 100 pages to really get into the book I'm reading.

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  5. You know, that first sentence of any book makes me wonder at times. Sometimes it isn't the best but the book is really good. Other times, well...not good to start not good through and if you make it to the end just not good there either.

    It does seem they really do need a catcher at the start.

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