Saturday, October 31, 2009

Five First Lines

I can't resist the fun of taking part in this literary meme that has been spreading around. I got it from Deb on the Run, who got it from Elizabeth at The Garden Window. It works this way:

1. Pick 5 of your favorite books.
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 (in the Comments box).


Here are mine:


1. Dear Mrs. Coney, Are you thinking I am lost, like the Babes in the Wood?

2. "Man is what he eats." With this statement the German materialist philosopher Feuerbach thought he had put an end to all "idealistic" speculations about human nature.

3. Even at the end of March, on the Arctic coast of northern Norway, there is no sign of spring.

4. As I left the railway station at Worchester and set out on the three-mile walk to _____'s cottage, I reflected that no one on the platform could possibly guess the truth about the man I was going to visit.

5. Farmers see things as others do not.                          

12 comments:

Ellen said...

Gretchen, what are they!?!?!!

I haven't a clue to any of them! Thought I knew #4, but nope, don't know it!

I like this though -- sort of a literary sleuthing for those of us who aren't familiar with your favorite reads!

I love your blog...have subscribed and will keep up on it. Thank you!!
XO Ellen

Anita said...

This is a mystery. I can't wait for the answers!

Harmony said...

Wow. I had a guess for two of them but one of those was wrong. I have no idea for the others. But I think 3 may be A Woman in the Polar Night?

GretchenJoanna said...

No, #3 is not from that book. I think I'll let people guess for at least a week before I post the answers.

DebD said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DebD said...

I realized I had written the numbers incorrectly. So let me start over...

LOL- I know #2 because I'm re-reading it right now! And I almost used #4 as one of my quotes. It is my absolute favorite Lewis book. ;) I am completely bamboozled by the others but #3 sounds like a very interesting book.

Angie B. said...

I want to guess Schmemann's For the Life of the World for #2, but I'm not sure that's right. I don't know the others!

GretchenJoanna said...

I think I wasn't clear-if you know the answer, go ahead and tell in a comment. If one of them goes undiscovered, I'll tell later. Angie is right on #2, which Deb also knew. And Deb knows # 4, Perelandra, by C.S. Lewis.

Peter said...

#1 is probably from Letters of a Woman Homesteader.

Still can't figure out who could possibly be in Norway.

GretchenJoanna said...

Peter is correct. This book is by Eleanor Pruitt Stuart. B. and I read it aloud together twice--definitely one of my all-time favorites.

Janet said...

I love Perelandra, but I couldn't place #4 till I read Deb's answer.

I know none of the others!

GretchenJoanna said...

I don't see a reason to wait a week to give the remaining answers, as no more guesses are forthcoming.
The rundown, including those already identified:
1-**Letters of a Woman Homesteader** by Eleanor Pruitt Stewart
2-**For the Life of the World** by Alexander Schmemann
3-**We Die Alone** by David Howarth, a true survival story from WWII
4-**Perelandra** by C.S. Lewis
5-**The Land Was Everything** by Victor Davis Hanson. Hanson spoke for my father and thousands of other farmers like him--and Hanson himself--about the farmer's life in California's Central Valley.

Thanks to everyone who looked in on these puzzles.