tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post8738610748088551708..comments2023-06-30T14:33:11.914+01:00Comments on Carrie Etter: A hundred great opening sentencesCarrie Etterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09617695047663413425noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9857818.post-27824606913094921742010-04-27T16:12:19.825+01:002010-04-27T16:12:19.825+01:00I suppose most of the obvious classics are there, ...I suppose most of the obvious classics are there, but also a lot of turgid stuff that might put me off reading further.<br />A few favourites of mine that are missing:<br /><br />"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun." - Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy<br /><br />"When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere." - John Wyndham, Day of the Triffids<br /><br />"Imo set out one day to catch some fish but there was no sea." - Terry Pratchett, Nation<br /><br />"Not everybody knows how I killed old Phillip Mathers, smashing his jaw in with my spade." - Flann O'Brien, The Third Policeman<br /><br />" 'Where is he?' " - Susan Cooper, Over Sea Under Stone<br /><br />I'm also startled, especially in a list so dominated by American writers, to see no Steinbeck. And what does the absence of Chandler or that master of the opening line Elmore Leonard tell us?Aidan Semmenshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06557740419796502719noreply@blogger.com