Discover: First Lines #2
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#2: V | U | T
Last week I pulled four books off my shelves whose titles began with Z/Y/X/W and shared their first lines. This week I have the first lines from four books whose titles begin with V/U/T.
There were a few surprises this week, one being that I don’t have any books starting with U; and yes, for the V, I did go with an author, but as you can see it is the first word on the book…
Four First Lines
1. Candide by Voltaire; translated by John Butt:
“There lived in Westphalia, at the county seat of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh, a young lad blessed by nature with the most agreeable manners.”
Candide by Voltaire | © 1960 Penguin Books
I recently found this at a thrift store and had to get it simply because it’s a classic Penguin Book. Haven’t yet read Voltaire; and though that Baron’s last name is pretty great (Thunder-ten-tronckh!), the first line doesn’t entice me to bump this book up my to-read list. Love that green cover, though. (If anyone has any thoughts on this book, feel free to comment!)
2. The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien:
“Aragorn sped on up the hill.”
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien | © 1968 Ballantine Books
I have two sets of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but four different copies of Two Towers. This is my most recent, also found at a thrift store. I just couldn’t pass up the cover, or the beautiful C.S. Lewis comment on the back:
Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron;
here is a book that will break your heart…good beyond hope.
Wow.
3. Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis:
“I am old now and have not much to fear from the anger of gods.”
Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis | © 1966 Time Inc.
This is one of my all-time favourite books and I couldn’t believe my luck when I found this lovely copy at an estate sale for fifty cents. CliveJane (my cat) is appreciating one of her namesakes’ works.
4. Telling the Truth by Frederick Buechner:
“On January 31, 1872, Henry Ward Beecher traveled to Yale to deliver the first of the Beecher Lectures on preaching, which had been established in memory of his father.”
Telling the Truth by Frederick Buechner | © 1977 HarperCollins
This first line was the biggest surprise to me. This book blew me away the first time I read it, more than ten years ago. It’s the first Buechner I read, and I loved the way he paired story with deep concepts, rattling truth out of its traditional stays. But you can’t see that from this first line; it actually reads like a fairly dry essay.
Don’t be fooled. This is definitely worth reading. Multiple times.
My Favourite
The Lord of the Rings trilogy are my favourite books. But though the first line of The Fellowship of the Ring is delightfully winding and compelling, the beginning to Two Towers is surprisingly brief. And yet, its active simplicity is intriguing — Aragorn sped on up the hill…to what? why? from where? As this is the second book in a trilogy, I think this would be adequately compelling to any reader who liked the first book.
But, just looking at these four first lines, I’d have to choose #3 as my favourite. I think it’s the “not much to fear” bit that hooks me.
So, Lewis wins two weeks in a row. CliveJane is well pleased.
Page One of Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis
“I am old now and have not much to fear from the anger of gods. I have no husband nor child, nor hardly a friend, through whom they can hurt me. My body, this lean carrion that still has to be washed and fed and have clothes hung about it daily with so many changes, they may kill as soon as they please. The succession is provided for. My crown passes to my nephew.
“Being, for all these reasons, free from fear, I will write in this book what no one who has happiness would dare to write.”
Inspired by the Psyche myth, this book has the magnificence of good poetry — it twists you up, spins you around, and spits you out…and somehow leaves you thankful for the ride.
» Next week: four books whose titles begin with S.
» Don’t miss last week’s: four books whose titles began with Z/Y/X/W.
What’s your favourite first line
among your own four V/U/T books.
→Kindle-editions available here: Candide, The Two Towers, and Till We Have Faces.
I like this new weekly series, great idea!
Thanks, Maux. I enjoy the random discovery of it. :)
Oh, gosh. I went digging…and got lost in distraction as I sifted through shelves. Now I have to re-focus and get caught up!
I love C. S. Lewis – great choices.
Ah the inevitable distraction of a bookshelf. ;) And yes, C.S. Lewis is one of my all-time favourites…per naming my cat, CliveJane (the Jane is in reference to Austen…and to make it clearer that she’s a girl).
In T U V I did better w/lots of T’s, especially if you count The in a title. I ignored that in my U and V to get those letters in!
For V I found Frank Peretti’s The Visitation:
“Sally Fordyce left the house as soon as the breakfast dishes were done, walking a little, jogging a little along Highway 9–a narrow, straight-as-a-string two-lane with a fading white line and an evenly spaced parade of utility poles.”
For U, Calvin Miller’s The Unchained Soul:
“In the never-ending interchanges that compose our lives we are constantly being asked for our names and two or three pieces of identification.”
For T, I chose a friend’s biography of her husband’s flight from Germany during WWII:
“In November 1976, while the country was astir with celebrations of America’s bicentennial, Richard Doering prepared to celebrate a personal anniversary.”
None of these are riveting, but I am drawn more to my friend’s book out of the 3 as they all seem to be on the same level. I know the others had several books published previously and hers intrigues me, makes me want to know what this anniversary is. Good job, Dina!