When deciding on what book to read, there are three important elements that I use to judge whether I want to read it or not.
- Cover
- Back Summary/ Blurbs
- First Line
I consider them very similar to pick-up lines. When I'm out and about, if someone approaches my with a pick-up line that is creative and piques my interest, I will likely continue talking to him. But if it is crude and obviously not thought out, I will probably back away slowly before running away.
Although my reaction to bad first lines is not quite as strong and obnoxious, it will cause me to put a book down and not even finish the paragraph. It's rare for me to find a book that has that bad of a first line, but they do happen.
What should a first line of a book do?
It should capture the reader.
Sounds simple, right? Then why do so many people struggle with first lines as though they are battling a mob of rabid anacondas in the middle of a rushing river? (Note to self: research to see if snakes can get rabies.)
It is a struggle because there are so many different ways to capture a reader (legally, not like with a bear trap in the woods).
The first line can depend on so many things, such as intended audience, point of view for the novel/story, length of novel/story, genre, the phase of the moon on the day of publication, and the type of birds that fly passed your window. I may have completely made up those last two, but sometimes what helps form a first line is dependent on random things.
So I am going to make a list of first lines of books currently in my office along with a note of whether I have read the book or not.
- "The hatchling tasted his first air." -- I've read the first half of this book, but was pulled away due to school work in college.
- Late in the winter of my seventeenth year, my mother decided I was depressed, presumably because I rarely left the house, spent quite a lot of time in bed, read the same book over and over, ate infrequently, and devoted quite a bit of my abundant free time thinking about death." -- Finished this book in less than 24 hours.
- "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Private Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." -- I have read this book multiple times and in fact own a collector's edition leather bound version of it. It is beautiful.
- "It wasn't supposed to be this hot and humid on Cape Cod." -- I picked this book up twelve times before finally reading it.
- "The light was almost gone now." -- I read this one for a class and plan to reread it at some point for my own pleasure.
- "In 1902 Father built a house at the crest of the Broadview Avenue hill in New Rochelle, New York." -- I was supposed to read this one for class. I don't believe I finished it.
- "That man was still following her." -- I read this one over a week.
- "The storm had broken." -- I've owned this book for three and a half years now, opened it countless times and not made it passed the first page.
- "Sometimes it seems like all I ever do is lie." -- I read this entire series in under two weeks.
- "The flat afternoon sky spread over the black and gray mountains like a stage backdrop, the color of a dog's pale crazy eye." -- I read the first page of this over eight times before actually moving on. I might not have finished the book if it weren't a school reading book.
- "The children of the embassy all saw the boat land." -- This is a great book and I read it all pretty quickly.
- "Sitting beside the road, watching the wagon mount the hill toward her, Lena thinks, 'I have come from Alabama: a fur piece.'" -- I read this for a class and enjoyed it.
- "Wind howled through the night, carrying a scent that would change the world." -- I enjoyed this a lot more when I was younger, but upon attempting more recent rereads, I just can't get into it.
- "A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the tree, but the young girl seated beneath it did not seem to notice." -- This line used to captivate me much more (back in like intermediate school), but it is a book I reread almost yearly.
- "Lessa woke, cold." -- Short and sweet, another book I consistently reread.
Making this list, I noticed a few things about my own tastes. I am more likely to put down a book that starts with stating the location of the book.
Do you recognize any of the first lines listed? If you do put what it is in the comments! Whoever gets the most right will win.. absolutely nothing but it could impress me ;)
Do you have a favorite first line of a novel? Or even a favorite pick-up line?
