Friday, 29 July 2011

Book Beginnings On Friday

This week has seen loads of new things added to my pile of books to be read, so I thought I'd share the opening of one of them for this week's Book Beginnings On Friday post. This is a weekly meme hosted at A Few More Pages. To participate, share the opening line or two of the book you're reading and give your impression of that opening.

Time to decide which one of my new additions to my TBR pile to share with you... This week, I think I'll go for 'Die Laughing', by Louis K. Lowy.

" "I couldn't trust my wife, that's why we got a divorce." Sam E. took a drag of his Pall Mall. He blew a heavy smoke cloud into the dark room."

I know that this is a little longer than the openings I usually give you, but I thought it was important as it really sets the tone nicely. The first sentence alone wouldn't have really grabbed me or told me a lot, but what with the dark room and smokey atmosphere, it has really created an air of mystery and intrigue and captured my interest. I can't jump to any great conclusions about the book as a whole just yet, so will reserve judgement until I've read a bit more of it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts!


Posted by Nic at 10:45

7 comments:

  1. Confuzzled Shannon29 July 2011 at 11:14

    The title has me interested but the sentence ...yeah it is hard to say what the book would be like from that. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Laurel-Rain Snow29 July 2011 at 13:34

    Yes, the opener suggests mysterious events...and, because of the "Pall Malls" and the smoky room, it is seemingly set in an earlier time. A bit "film noirish."

    Thanks for sharing.

    Here's MY FRIDAY MEMES POST

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  3. Bev Hankins29 July 2011 at 14:30

    This would seem to indicate that trust (or lack of it) will be very important.

    Here are my Friday memes: http://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2011/07/friday-memes_29.html

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  4. Ann29 July 2011 at 17:25

    Great beginning. For some reason, having a beginning by a male character always draws me in. Perhaps because I usually expect it to be a female lead - not sure quite why?!

    http://thebookgatherer.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-beginningson-friday_29.html

    New follower :)

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  5. Elisa DeLany29 July 2011 at 18:21

    I don't know...To me, it seemed a bit choppy, but I will definitely agree with you that the atmosphere is dark and mysterious and quite possibly foreboding. I hope you enjoy it!

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  6. Laurie @ What She Read30 July 2011 at 16:06

    I'm not familiar with this writer: what's the genre? Ironic old-school noir-ish mystery?

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  7. Nic5 August 2011 at 14:08

    It's interesting to see how you've all taken this opener in different ways. Even a whole week later, it's still giving me food for thought!

    To answer a few things:
    1) It is indeed set in an earlier time, the 1950s to be exact :)
    2) In the author's words, it's a 'humourously dark sci-fi adventure'...a little bit of everything it seems! I find it quite difficult to categorise it into any one genre, but it's certainly like nothing I've ever read before!
    3) This opening is actually also the opener to a joke - the punch line came a short while later. I bet you never saw that one coming!

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