(no subject)

[idiosyncreant]

Crafty Update:  The latest JS&MN yarn, which was tentatively called Childremass...has become a Mirkwood.
These things happen.

Scribbly Update: I think I almost have it, this cadence of the Island, this way of their talking.
Malachi's POV was hazy to me until I stopped to find it, and unknown voice is never good in a book of mine.



The FAVORITE BOOK 1ST LINE meme

1. Pick 10 of your favorite books or series'.
2. Post the first sentence of each book. (If one sentence seems too short, post two or three!)
3. Let everyone try to guess the titles and authors of your books

My own notes: some of these will be shamefully easy (at least, in light of who reads this blog). I've paired these so if you want an extra challenge, you can tell me what correlation they have. Some of them are more amorphous correlations, containing various links, and all are acceptable. The first one, though, I have something very specific in mind, and it may be a bit tough if you don't know one or the other... ;) Good luck!

 

1. Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians. They met upon the third Wednesday of every month and read each other long, dull papers upon the history of English magic.

2. The temperature of the room dropped fast. Ice formed on the curtains and crusted thickly around the lights in the ceiling. The glowing filaments in each bulb shrank and dimmed, while the candles that sprang from every available surface like toadstools had their wicks snuffed out.

3. On Dreamer's Plain, the gathering of delegations from the Twelve Crowns of Raine for the coronation of the Queen of Raine looked like an invading army. So the young transcriptor thought, gazing out a window as she awaited a visiting scholar.

4. In a hole in a ground there lived a hobbit.

 

5. I didn't know how long I had been in the king's prison.

6. “She won't be angry with me,” said Alicia. “Why should she, Kate? Every word I wrote her was true. This is the most horrible place in the world. You know it is.”

 

7. Linderwall was a large kingdom, just east of the Mountains of Morning, where philosophers were highly respected and the number five was fashionable. The climate was unremarkable. The knights kept their armor brightly polished mainly for show—it had been centuries since a dragon had come east.

8. In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three.

 

9. Miss Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress.

10. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Comments

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

1. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
2. The Amulet of Smarkand (or however thats spelled) Bartimaeus Trilogy
3. Um, can't say I'm familiar.
4. Um, the hobbit?
5. The Thief
6. The Perilous Gard
7. Ok, I swear I've read this one. Maybe. Is it... a DWJ?
8. Howl's Moving Castle
9. Um, don't know this one either.
10. Pride and Prejudice


How did I do?

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Pretty good!

The ones you knew for sure are right. I'll write about the others in a bit...

Aaaaand, the other answers are...

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

3) Alphabet of Thorn, by Patricia A. McKillip

7) Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

9) Middlemarch by George Eliot

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

7. is Dealing with Dragons, and 8. is Howl, and they're connected because both Sophie and Cimorene are the oldest? /not your typical female heroine.

3. I WANNA KNOW.
4. the Hobbit.

9. I should know.

and Rosalee got most of the others. Xd

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

I'll share in a while the ones you're curious about.

You could have not looked at her answer sheet, you know, Jade. >,<


That's the technical difficulty of this...unless you click on "post a comment" other peoples' answers come up to tempt you. Ach, weel.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

I HAVE HAD THE SAME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES OF THIS SORT OF VENTURE.

and this time I copped out and just did the ones she didn't get. also I stole your correlation idea. Now, if I could only find three more books/not get caught up in reading the ones I have picked...

The ANSWERS

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

1)Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke)
2)The Amulet of Samarkand, The Bartimaeus Trilogy (Jonathan Stroud)

{Footnotes! But strangely they feel similar to me...}

3)Alphabet of Thorn (Patricia A. McKillip)
4)The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)

{Both main characters are chroniclers, and both have adventures they are not looking for.}

5)The Thief (Megan Whalen Turner)
6)The Perilous Gard (Elizabeth Pope)

{Both protagonists are under arrest, which leads them into danger and unexpected encounters...}

7)Dealing with Dragons (Patricia C. Wrede)
8)Howl's Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones)

{The protagonists go off to seek their fortunes, despite the storyland conventions which encourage otherwise, making their way by keeping house with efficiency and humor.} (See what I mean about abstract?)

9)Middlemarch (George Eliot)
10) Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

{The two books are themed on family connections and the matrimonial fates of small-town girls. The politics of class are, to varying degrees, very important to both.}

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

DEALING WITH DRAGONS. *facepalm* I KNEW that I knew it...

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

I say, you were *very* close. There is a very similar tone there, that's for sure.

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

(Actually, on yours, the Gen-short line made me think of DWJ, but I couldn't think of which one I had read it would be, so I just...didn't expose myself to ridicule. Again.)

[pigrescuer.livejournal.com]

2. Amulet of Samarkand
4. The Hobbit
5. The Thief
8. Howl's Moving Castle
10. Pride and Predjudice.

One from each pair! :D

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Good work!

The MWT fandom is scarily similar in reading histories...

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Here's the complete Answer Key:

1)Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (Susanna Clarke)
2)The Amulet of Samarkand, The Bartimaeus Trilogy (Jonathan Stroud)

{Footnotes! But strangely they feel similar to me...}

3)Alphabet of Thorn (Patricia A. McKillip)
4)The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)

{Both main characters are chroniclers, and both have adventures they are not looking for.}

5)The Thief (Megan Whalen Turner)
6)The Perilous Gard (Elizabeth Pope)

{Both protagonists are under arrest, which leads them into danger and unexpected encounters...}

7)Dealing with Dragons (Patricia C. Wrede)
8)Howl's Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones)

{The protagonists go off to seek their fortunes, despite the storyland conventions which encourage otherwise, making their way by keeping house with efficiency and humor.}

9)Middlemarch (George Eliot)
10) Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)

{The two books are themed on family connections and the matrimonial fates of small-town girls. The politics of class are, to varying degrees, very important to both.}

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

4. The Hobbit, of course :)
5. The Thief, of course
6 and 8 both sound really familiar, but I can't place them!
10. Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice - and probably the most famous first line ever, which is why I didn't use it in my book meme :)

Yay fun!

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Heh. I decided to go with favorite books I had right there, to write the lines from, instead of a challenge.

That's why I thought people could try correlations if they wanted. *shrug*

Anyway, 6+8 will make sense once I reveal them...

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

6) is Elizabeth Pope's The Perilous Gard

8) is Patricia Wrede's Dealing with Dragons

[tearoha.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks!

[jdragich.livejournal.com]

Very cool about the writing. It sounds neat.

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

(You may note few people are interested in those writing posts. ^_^ But I sneak stuff in there...)