Bookworms:What are the best first lines you've read?

[Eric]

Originally Posted by DaveinGermany

This what you're looking for Eric ?

Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.Euripides
Greek tragic dramatist (484 BC - 406 BC)

Actually ... I was looking for a Bomber ... found one hiding behind a bunch of Molson Canadian.

[DaveinGermany]

Originally Posted by Eric

Actually ... I was looking for a Bomber ... found one hiding behind a bunch of Molson Canadian.

My fridge is Bomberless at the moment, but re-sup will be here in a couple of weeks as Pops is venturing over for his annual ship spotting jaunt up at Cuxhaven. In the meantime it's, Gaffel Kolsch/ Spaten Münchner Hell/Draught-flow Guinness (cans) & a wee nippy sweety or several, which quite nicely puts us back on track with the following introduction.

No spirits have stimulated such connoisseurship in recent years as have the Whisk(e)y family.

Michael Jackson, "Whisky the definitive world guide"

[Eric]

Originally Posted by DaveinGermany

My fridge is Bomberless at the moment, but re-sup will be here in a couple of weeks as Pops is venturing over for his annual ship spotting jaunt up at Cuxhaven. In the meantime it's, Gaffel Kolsch/ Spaten Münchner Hell/Draught-flow Guinness (cans) & a wee nippy sweety or several, which quite nicely puts us back on track with the following introduction.

No spirits have stimulated such connoisseurship in recent years as have the Whisk(e)y family.

Michael Jackson, "Whisky the definitive world guide"

Now I'm into the Canadian ... not a bad brew ... and a couple of shots of Forty Creek .... Now I'm ready for Euripides

[kestrelx]

Originally Posted by Eric

Now I'm into the Canadian ... not a bad brew ... and a couple of shots of Forty Creek .... Now I'm ready for Euripides

Have you read Trainspotting? That has a lot of drinking in it... a lot of it's written in Scottish lingo and is hard to read if your not Scottish!

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by kestrelx

Have you read Trainspotting? That has a lot of drinking in it... a lot of it's written in Scottish lingo and is hard to read if your not Scottish!

We have all of the Irvine Welsh books in our house -my eldest son is a big fan and i always buy him the latest one for Xmas or birthday. They are in Italian though -don't know how you translate Scottish to Italian, they must have chosen a dialect - I have never read any of them -not quite my genre.:rolleyes

Now i come to think of it I don't think I've ever watched Trainspotting all the way through either-seen it a bit at a time as my boys have the DVD.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by kestrelx

Have you read Trainspotting? That has a lot of drinking in it... a lot of it's written in Scottish lingo and is hard to read if your not Scottish!

I didn't have too much trouble with: "Hoo be so ceawnted, sure eno," remarked the forester, who had been listening to their discourse, and who now stepped forward, "boh dunna yo think it. Beleemy, lort abbut, Bess Demdike's too yunk an too protty for a witch."

[Eric]

"A gentle knight was pricking on the plain" ... Spenser, "The Faerie Queene". I've had the less than pleasure of introducing undergrads to the joys of Spenser. This always had them giggling.

[Michael1954]

"Lying in bed, I abandoned the facts again and was back in Ambrosia."

The opening sentence of Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse, an excellent book which was filmed with Tom Courtenay playing the title role.

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by Michael1954

"Lying in bed, I abandoned the facts again and was back in Ambrosia."

The opening sentence of Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse, an excellent book which was filmed with Tom Courtenay playing the title role.

Enjoyed the film -never read the book, one to look out for perhaps.

My mum has recently been converted to using the Kindle and keeps telling me I should invest in one! At the moment I'm reading through a lot of DHLawrence and other things for research. When i'm having a moment off I'm reading the companion book to Downton Abbey which is surprisingly interesting and useful!

[kestrelx]

Originally Posted by mobertol

Enjoyed the film -never read the book, one to look out for perhaps.

My mum has recently been converted to using the Kindle and keeps telling me I should invest in one! At the moment I'm reading through a lot of DHLawrence and other things for research. When i'm having a moment off I'm reading the companion book to Downton Abbey which is surprisingly interesting and useful!

"Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy..." The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Read Billy Liar at school - good book. Elderly people like Kindle because they can increase the font size - which makes it good when your eye sight is decreasing!

[mobertol]

Originally Posted by kestrelx

"Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy..." The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Read Billy Liar at school - good book. Elderly people like Kindle because they can increase the font size - which makes it good when your eye sight is decreasing!

Would be good for me then -I have rotten eyesight, have been wearing specs since the age of two!

Call me old fashioned -I still love to have a book in my hand and turn the pages...

[mobertol]

"Roger, aged seven, and no longer the youngest of the family, ran in wide zigzags, to and fro, across the steep field that sloped up from the lake to Holly Howe, the farm where they were staying for part of the summer holidays. He ran until he nearly reached the hedge by the footpath, then turned and ran until he nearly reached the hedge on the other side of the field. Then he turned and crossed the field again. Each crossing of the field brought him nearer to the farm. The wind was against him, and he was tacking up against it to the farm, where at the gate his patient mother was awaiting him. He could not run straight because he was a sailing vessel, a tea-clipper, the Cutty Sark."

Another favourite from childhood -Swallows and Amazons. Bought it to re-read last year!

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by mobertol

Enjoyed the film -never read the book, one to look out for perhaps.

My mum has recently been converted to using the Kindle and keeps telling me I should invest in one! At the moment I'm reading through a lot of DHLawrence and other things for research. When i'm having a moment off I'm reading the companion book to Downton Abbey which is surprisingly interesting and useful!

I have had my kindle for almost a year now...and I wasn't sure I would like it, but I do.
I still read conventional books though.
It is a boon for those thick tomes......those that make your arm go to sleep.
I think if you got one Dianne, many of the classics are free...or very low cost and there is also the daily deal for the kindle (99p for a download)

[annesingleton]

I love my Kindle which has really surprised me because having been an avid reader all my life I was unsure whether I would cope with not having the feel and smell of an actual book. It's a slightly different experience but equally enjoyable.
And as for the deteriorating eyesight, it was a real boon to me earlier this year when I was off work for a while with an eye condition which caused my sight to deteriorate, being able to increase the font size was really helpful. I would recommend the Kindle to anyone.

[kestrelx]

Originally Posted by annesingleton

I love my Kindle which has really surprised me because having been an avid reader all my life I was unsure whether I would cope with not having the feel and smell of an actual book. It's a slightly different experience but equally enjoyable.
And as for the deteriorating eyesight, it was a real boon to me earlier this year when I was off work for a while with an eye condition which caused my sight to deteriorate, being able to increase the font size was really helpful. I would recommend the Kindle to anyone.

Except for writers who's royalty payments for book sales will take a massive dive as a result or electronic books. It will be much harder for new writers as is the case with music.