Great opening Lines Challenge
- Thread starter peapod
- Start date
Well aren't you feeling frisky today little monkey 
Zen you had to google don quixote 8O I googled yours..no wonder I did not know it...Bill clintons autobiography :sleepy1:
THE day broke gray and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child's bed.
Zen you had to google don quixote 8O I googled yours..no wonder I did not know it...Bill clintons autobiography :sleepy1:
THE day broke gray and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow. A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child's bed.
Of Human Bondage -- W. Somerset Maugham
"On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge."
"On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge."
Yo vanni you are a heavy dude
crime and punishment...... dostoevsky
Like the earth of a hundred years ago, our mind stil has its darkest Africas, its unmapped Borneos and Amazonian basins. In relation to the fauna of these regions we are not yet zoologists, we are mere naturalists and collectors of the specimen . . . Like the giraffe and the duck-billed platypus, the creatures inhabiting these remoter regions of the mind are exceedingly improbable. Nevertheless they exist, they are facts of observation; and as such, they cannot be ignored by anyone who is honestly trying to understand the world in which we live.
crime and punishment...... dostoevsky
Like the earth of a hundred years ago, our mind stil has its darkest Africas, its unmapped Borneos and Amazonian basins. In relation to the fauna of these regions we are not yet zoologists, we are mere naturalists and collectors of the specimen . . . Like the giraffe and the duck-billed platypus, the creatures inhabiting these remoter regions of the mind are exceedingly improbable. Nevertheless they exist, they are facts of observation; and as such, they cannot be ignored by anyone who is honestly trying to understand the world in which we live.
Heaven and Hell -- Aldous Huxley
Just tryin' to be an Ubergod, Pea...:wink:
"In that pleasant district of merry England which is watered by the River Don, there extended in ancient times a large forest, covering the greater part of the beautiful hills and valleys which lie between Sheffield and the pleasant town of Doncaster. The remains of this extensive wood are still to be seen at the noble seats of Wentworth, of Warncliffe Park, and around Rotherham. Here haunted of yore the fabulous Dragon of Wantley; here were fought many of the most desperate battles during the Civil Wars of the Roses; and here also flourished in ancient times those bands of gallant outlaws, whose deeds have been rendered so popular in English song."
Just tryin' to be an Ubergod, Pea...:wink:
"In that pleasant district of merry England which is watered by the River Don, there extended in ancient times a large forest, covering the greater part of the beautiful hills and valleys which lie between Sheffield and the pleasant town of Doncaster. The remains of this extensive wood are still to be seen at the noble seats of Wentworth, of Warncliffe Park, and around Rotherham. Here haunted of yore the fabulous Dragon of Wantley; here were fought many of the most desperate battles during the Civil Wars of the Roses; and here also flourished in ancient times those bands of gallant outlaws, whose deeds have been rendered so popular in English song."
oh..I would say you are pretty close to a ubergod already vanni
You might enjoy this one :lol: :lol:
Ivanhoe
The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way towards the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school seater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All around him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat. He was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry; and this cry was echoed by another.
You might enjoy this one :lol: :lol:
Ivanhoe
The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way towards the lagoon. Though he had taken off his school seater and trailed it now from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead. All around him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat. He was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird, a vision of red and yellow, flashed upwards with a witch-like cry; and this cry was echoed by another.
peapod said:Yes it is...did you actually read the book
Randall and the river of time...C.S. Forester
No, lived there, speak the language but can't handle German authors - am very impressed with your correct response to Randall... peapod.
Lord of the Flies... 8)
"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. The hour, some little time before sunset, and the place, the West Barricade, at the very spot where, a decade later, a proud tyrant raised an undying monument to the nation’s glory and his own vanity."
"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. The hour, some little time before sunset, and the place, the West Barricade, at the very spot where, a decade later, a proud tyrant raised an undying monument to the nation’s glory and his own vanity."
quote
am very impressed with your correct response to Randall... peapod.
No need swirl, to be impressed I mean. It so happens that I grew up with a person that was gay, he told me to try reading E.M. Forester. Well I got a book by this forester, only because I liked the title, barbary pirates. I also liked the book. But ehm...it was not by E.M. Forester, it was by C.S. Forester. Well since I already read one of his books, I knew who he was and what books he had written.
am very impressed with your correct response to Randall... peapod.
No need swirl, to be impressed I mean.
It so happens that I grew up with a person that was gay, he told me to try reading E.M. Forester. Well I got a book by this forester, only because I liked the title, barbary pirates. I also liked the book. But ehm...it was not by E.M. Forester, it was by C.S. Forester. Well since I already read one of his books, I knew who he was and what books he had written. Ivanhoe.....ehm there is no way anyone is going to get this...no way..I dug it out..
"The history begins with a tree, a spindly understory tree, content to grow in the shade of buttress rooted giants. How the seeds of this tree acquired immense importance socially, religiously, medically, economically, and course gastronomically, on both sides of the Atlantic will be the substance of the story. In the new world they gave it birth, this seed was so valuable as foodstuff, as currency, and as a religious symbol that the literature about is unrivalled in quantity and diversity by writings about any other american plant which made the journey to the old world.
Our story opens in Mexico and Central America, thousands of years before the Spanish conquest....ehm..sorry I got carried away I don't get to cut and paste I have to type it out of the book :twisted:
"The history begins with a tree, a spindly understory tree, content to grow in the shade of buttress rooted giants. How the seeds of this tree acquired immense importance socially, religiously, medically, economically, and course gastronomically, on both sides of the Atlantic will be the substance of the story. In the new world they gave it birth, this seed was so valuable as foodstuff, as currency, and as a religious symbol that the literature about is unrivalled in quantity and diversity by writings about any other american plant which made the journey to the old world.
Our story opens in Mexico and Central America, thousands of years before the Spanish conquest....ehm..sorry I got carried away
I don't get to cut and paste I have to type it out of the book :twisted:
"I had this story from one who had no business to tell it to me, or to any other. I may credit the seductive influence of an old vintage upon the narrator for the beginning of it, and my own skeptical incredulity during the days that followed for the balance of the strange tale."
I think we should switch it now to ending lines...more difficult to google... :wink:
I think we should switch it now to ending lines...more difficult to google... :wink:
grgrgr I had to google that...I should have known that.
These are the fishermen who stand sentry over the cod stocks off the headlands of north america, the fishermen who went to sea but forgot their pencil.
I will even throw in the quote that is above this first paragraph.
The herring are not in the tides as they were of old;
My sorrow for the many a creak gave the creel in the cart
That carried the take to sligo town to be sold,
When I was a boy with never a crack in my heart.
William butler Yeats " mediation of the old fishermen"
These are the fishermen who stand sentry over the cod stocks off the headlands of north america, the fishermen who went to sea but forgot their pencil.
I will even throw in the quote that is above this first paragraph.
The herring are not in the tides as they were of old;
My sorrow for the many a creak gave the creel in the cart
That carried the take to sligo town to be sold,
When I was a boy with never a crack in my heart.
William butler Yeats " mediation of the old fishermen"
Cod -- Mark Kurlansky
I've also read his "Basque History of the World" - yet another people who probably "discovered" America first, apparently.
My lines (easy one):
"Apart from life, a strong constitution, and an abiding connection to the Thembu royal house, the only thing my father bestowed on me at birth was a name, Rolihlahla." In Xhosa, Rohillahla literally means "pulling the branch of a tree," but it's colloquial meaning more accurately would be "troublemaker."
I've also read his "Basque History of the World" - yet another people who probably "discovered" America first, apparently.
My lines (easy one):
"Apart from life, a strong constitution, and an abiding connection to the Thembu royal house, the only thing my father bestowed on me at birth was a name, Rolihlahla." In Xhosa, Rohillahla literally means "pulling the branch of a tree," but it's colloquial meaning more accurately would be "troublemaker."
Long Walk to Freedom - Nelson Mandela
"It must have been late autumn that year, and probably it was towards dusk for the sake of being less conspicuous. And yet a meeting between two professional gentlemen representing the chief branches of the law should surely not need to be concealed."
I imagine a common mistake peapod, after all one writes gay books about serious people whilst the other writes serious books...
"It must have been late autumn that year, and probably it was towards dusk for the sake of being less conspicuous. And yet a meeting between two professional gentlemen representing the chief branches of the law should surely not need to be concealed."
I imagine a common mistake peapod, after all one writes gay books about serious people whilst the other writes serious books...
The Quincunx -- Charles Palliser
Hmmm...I wonder what treasures I have in my bookshelf here...
"Ages ago, when the world was different, the South Pacific contained many islands that we have never known. Then as now the floor of the ocean rose and fell when volcanic pressures fluctuated. A violent up-thrusting that created new islands would be followed by and imperceptible subsidence which slowly dragged the newborn lands back below the surface of the sea"
Hmmm...I wonder what treasures I have in my bookshelf here...
"Ages ago, when the world was different, the South Pacific contained many islands that we have never known. Then as now the floor of the ocean rose and fell when volcanic pressures fluctuated. A violent up-thrusting that created new islands would be followed by and imperceptible subsidence which slowly dragged the newborn lands back below the surface of the sea"
You are just trying to get me back for that chocolate one :twisted: So now it gets nasty okay, okay what is it??? It does sound good :lol:
okay, okay what is it??? It does sound good :lol:
Return to Paradise -- James A. Michener
I knew you'd have a bit of trouble with that one, because when I googled it, I got no viable results...this is so much fun... :wink:
Your turn...
I knew you'd have a bit of trouble with that one, because when I googled it, I got no viable results...this is so much fun...
:wink:Your turn...
getting cagey are you
The most interesting things happen in life often happen by accident. That is how I found myself one may sitting outside a taverna at Alikampos in the western half of crete, with no guide book, no decent map, but an excellent collection of wild flower books. I spoke a little greek and the village elders solemnly ranged around the table- high leather boots, thorn walking sticks, moustaches luxuriant enough to hide a family of mice-spoke even less english. Small cups of coffee, tots of lethal, white homemade brandy and dishes of salted marrow seeds piled up around us as the books we passed around from hand to hand all open at the picture of the same flower. It was Tulipa bakeri, named after the man George Percival Baker, who first exhibited it at a royal horticultural society show in 1895.
side note This flower was a world wide phenomenon and still is today. No other flower has ever carried so much cultural baggage.
It charts political upheavals, illuminates social behavior, mirrors economic booms and busts, and plots the ebb and flow of religious persecution.
The most interesting things happen in life often happen by accident. That is how I found myself one may sitting outside a taverna at Alikampos in the western half of crete, with no guide book, no decent map, but an excellent collection of wild flower books. I spoke a little greek and the village elders solemnly ranged around the table- high leather boots, thorn walking sticks, moustaches luxuriant enough to hide a family of mice-spoke even less english. Small cups of coffee, tots of lethal, white homemade brandy and dishes of salted marrow seeds piled up around us as the books we passed around from hand to hand all open at the picture of the same flower. It was Tulipa bakeri, named after the man George Percival Baker, who first exhibited it at a royal horticultural society show in 1895.
side note
This flower was a world wide phenomenon and still is today. No other flower has ever carried so much cultural baggage.It charts political upheavals, illuminates social behavior, mirrors economic booms and busts, and plots the ebb and flow of religious persecution.