I'm kind of surprised that Daphne Du Maurier's "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." didn't make the list, especially given some of the competition.
(It was Kafka's The Trial I was thinking of, not Camus's The Stranger. My bad.)
I don't particularly care for quite a few of their choices. Perhaps the line(s) in question is(are) better if you've read the book(s) it's(their) from. I still think the opening line of To Reign in Hell by Brust is one of the best out there.
What, no "My friend Hergal had killed himself again."?
Also, I must say there's a distinct anglophile slant on the list. Simply adding a Tolstoy, a Cervantes, a Grass and a Kafka does not an international list make, not even a western list.
ya'll should note the odd preponderence of books published by FC2. This is an FC2 affiliated site. i mean, c'mon. Federman and Sukenick? i love them, but who else does? i think they sell a solid 3,000 books per title.
I strongly disagree with the choice of #19 in that list, because my eyes glazed over at the second line.
I also disagree with the inclusion of the opening line of 1984, because as magnificent as that book is, as an opening line that's nothing special. It's almost the exact opposite of special.
And in my rather arrogant opinion, A Tale of Two Cities wins, based on sentence quality. The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The Old Man and the Sea, Fahrenheit 451, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Waiting are all good, based on making me read the rest of the book.
I also disagree with the inclusion of the opening line of 1984, because as magnificent as that book is, as an opening line that's nothing special. It's almost the exact opposite of special.
Ah, but to those uninitiated into the SFnal Brotherhood, that "strikes thirteen" is a powerful narrative hook. It belongs there.
-- Steve's wondering how Bulwer-Lytton ended up on that list, though.
I'm reasonably acquainted with SF, yet that reference flew right over my head?
(And was it a reference that belonged in 1949?)
I guess with Bulwer-Lytton it was a case of "became famous after the fact" or "So bad it's good." (If it was "became famous after the fact" maybe that was what you meant by "strikes thirteen" is a powerful hook---it became so after 1984? But that doesn't make it a particularly good opening for 1984 itself... I confused myself now.)
In the US, at least, clocks don't strike thirteen, they go from 1 to 12 and back to 1 again. Even on the continent, in the 40s, I don't think 24 hour time was very widespread, certainly not on a clock that 'strikes'.
In other words, something happens that just cannot happen, and it immediately, but relatively subtly tells you that you're not in Kansas any more, Toto. An SFnal reader would take that in his stride, because an SF work almost always has lots of not-as-in-the-real-world details, but a regular fiction reader would probably be struck by it, no pun intended.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-31 02:36 pm (UTC)(It was Kafka's The Trial I was thinking of, not Camus's The Stranger. My bad.)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-31 02:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-31 03:08 pm (UTC)Also, I must say there's a distinct anglophile slant on the list. Simply adding a Tolstoy, a Cervantes, a Grass and a Kafka does not an international list make, not even a western list.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-31 03:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-31 03:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-31 03:46 pm (UTC)I also disagree with the inclusion of the opening line of 1984, because as magnificent as that book is, as an opening line that's nothing special. It's almost the exact opposite of special.
And in my rather arrogant opinion, A Tale of Two Cities wins, based on sentence quality. The Napoleon of Notting Hill, The Old Man and the Sea, Fahrenheit 451, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Waiting are all good, based on making me read the rest of the book.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-31 03:47 pm (UTC)Me stupid now.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-31 04:03 pm (UTC)Ah, but to those uninitiated into the SFnal Brotherhood, that "strikes thirteen" is a powerful narrative hook. It belongs there.
-- Steve's wondering how Bulwer-Lytton ended up on that list, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-31 04:21 pm (UTC)(And was it a reference that belonged in 1949?)
I guess with Bulwer-Lytton it was a case of "became famous after the fact" or "So bad it's good." (If it was "became famous after the fact" maybe that was what you meant by "strikes thirteen" is a powerful hook---it became so after 1984? But that doesn't make it a particularly good opening for 1984 itself... I confused myself now.)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-01-31 05:56 pm (UTC)In other words, something happens that just cannot happen, and it immediately, but relatively subtly tells you that you're not in Kansas any more, Toto. An SFnal reader would take that in his stride, because an SF work almost always has lots of not-as-in-the-real-world details, but a regular fiction reader would probably be struck by it, no pun intended.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-01 07:10 am (UTC)