Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.
TWITTER: If you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. My Twitter handle is @GilionDumas.
MR. LINKY: Please leave a link to your post below. If you don't have a blog, but want to participate, please leave a comment with your Book Beginning.
MY BOOK BEGINNING
Shortly after dawn, or what would have been dawn in a normal sky, Mr. Artur Sammler with his bushy eye took in the books and papers of his West Side bedroom and suspected strongly that they were the wrong books, the wrong papers.
-- Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow. This won the National Book Award in 1971. It counts as my second National winner for the 2012 Battle of the Prizes, American Version.
I really love Saul Bellow's books (Henderson the Rain King being the notable exception), but I only read one every couple of years because they are really rich. I have to be in the mood to work a little. The payoff is huge -- they are very entertaining, charming, funny, and just plain wonderful -- but they take some attention and thought.
It sounds great and I love the idea of knowing whether a book is right or wrong! Thanks for hosting! :)
ReplyDeleteJuli @ Universe in Words
Sounds interesting. Not sure it'd be my cup of tea though from reading that.
ReplyDeleteI like it! I can do that, too; enter a room and know what is amiss.
ReplyDelete"...dawn in a normal sky".
ReplyDeleteVery interesting.
That is an absolutely engrossing beginning.
ReplyDeleteSaul Bellow really does make you work. I enjoyed his Seize the Day, but haven't read much else. I'll keep this one in mind.
ReplyDeleteI like the mysterious nature of that sentence.
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by his "bushy" eye. And the idea that the books & papers might be "wrong."
ReplyDeleteHis "bushy eye"? I hate to admit it but I've never read Saul Bellow. Must try one of his books soon, maybe in the fall when my mind is sharper because the weather is cooler.
ReplyDeleteI like the beginning. I've never read anything by Saul Below.
ReplyDeleteHi Gilion,
ReplyDeleteThose are great opening lines, however, if I had already read the synopsis, I doubt if I would have got as far as reading those lines, so they probably wouldn't make me want to read on.
I really would have to be in the right frame of mind to tackle something quite so 'heavy' and when I checked out the author and his books, I can tell that this heavy style, is obviously a trait which he applies to all his books.
I can see why you might only dip into his work occasionally, but thanks for sharing and hosting anyway.
Yvonne
I have never read anything by this author although judging from those first lines it seems like something I would enjoy.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I love this!
ReplyDeletethe wrong books?
ReplyDeleteI so love "rich" books! This sounds engrossing! But, as you say, I need the time to give them attention! Often I choose school holidays for these!
ReplyDeleteI read Augie March a long time back and enjoyed it. Great beginning!
ReplyDeleteUh-oh. I am supposed to be reading Henderson the Rain King for the BYRC. Having second thoughts now . . . But what an interesting first sentence here! "Bushy" has me intrigued, plus I'm thinking, what, did someone replace the contents while he was asleep?
ReplyDelete