Re:Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87
by lemma on Thursday April 17, 2014 @07:08PM
(#7607091)
To expand on #3: the "present" in the sentence isn't even taking place before the firing squad, that's "many years later". It places the reader in a timeless moment.
Re:Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87
by pizza on Thursday April 17, 2014 @06:41PM
(#7606975)
I think another opener that's at least as good is "Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know" (even though this is misleading w/o the whole context..)
Re:Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87
by 205guy on Thursday April 17, 2014 @07:34PM
(#7607198)
As much as I like Camus's The Stranger, and am not familiar with Marquez, I still agree with coldtea. In a single opening line (when you know nothing of the rest of the book), Marquez places a beginning (seeing ice) an ending (the firing squad), and makes you want to read more to see what happens in between.
Re:Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87
by igravious on Thursday April 17, 2014 @07:13PM
(#7607109)
Camus? The Outsider?
Re:Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87
by igravious on Thursday April 17, 2014 @07:11PM
(#7607102)
I was being provocative. I agree with you :) I wonder is there an anthology of first-lines?
Re:Gabriel García Márquez, Literary Pioneer, Dies at 87
by coldtea on Thursday April 17, 2014 @08:19PM
(#7607326)
There's a nice (not very literature heavy) first line I remember from the great late science fiction writer Frederic Brown.
"The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door...".
Merely goes for the surprise element.
The other quote also:
1) gives more plot information (the hero is an older man, sentenced to death),
2) beautifully evokes his nostalgia before death (remembering an event from his childhood)
3) AND builds suspense: He is at the moment in front of the firing squad. Will he die? Get a pardon? Somehow be resqued?