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.
EARLY BIRDS: I am experimenting with getting this post up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. We'll try it this way for a couple of months to see if people like the option of early posting. If you have feelings one way or the other, please comment.
TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I am trying to follow all Book Beginning participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.
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
Subsidizing public transport had long been associated in the minds of both government and the majority of its public with the denial of individual liberty. The various services collapsed twice a day at rush hour and was quicker, Stephen found, to walk from his flat to Whitehall and then to take a taxi.
-- The Child in Time by Ian McEwan. That is not the kind of beginning you would expect for a book about a couple whose life is shattered when their toddler is snatched from them.
The Child in Time won the 1987 Costa Book of the Year Award. The subject is horrifying, but McEwan is such a master storyteller that reading it is bearable. It is really a beautiful story.