All this happened, more or less

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. —Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita

I have read a lot of wonderful books that don’t necessarily enthrall me from the first sentence. Their gems are tucked away, requiring some time and patience to find. But it would seem that the most esteemed writers, past and present, know how to craft that ever-important first sentence.

The editors of American Book Review compiled a list of what they consider the most memorable first lines of novels.

My favorites from the list range from Charles Dickens to Vladimir Nabokov:

It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York. —Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. —F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

I was the shadow of the waxwing slain / By the false azure in the windowpane; —Vladimir Nabokov, The Pale Fire

Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself. —Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show. —Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. —Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Do you have any favorites?

 

We need stories to live

“If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent, whatever that is. Who am I? What right have I to speak? Who will listen to me if I do? You’re a human being, with a unique story to tell, and you have every right. If you speak with passion, many of us will listen. We need stories to live, all of us. We live by story. Yours enlarges the circle.” —Richard Rhodes

Try to be alive

“The most solid advice . . . for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell, and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.”  —William Saroyan

Overheard in bookstores

“Are they going to turn those Lord of the Rings movies into books?”

“How can you sell these (sex) books? Kids can just read them and learn how to do everything!” —Little old lady

“What’s the reason for your return?” “It didn’t work.” —Customer looking down at sex book, gift receipt in hand

“Does it have vampires?” —Customer holding Crime and Punishment

“Do you have any Shakespeare translated into English?”

“I’m looking for Mockingjay. You know it…it’s the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird.”

“Do you have an audio book to learn sign language?”

“Where’s the 17 Day Diet at? I need to lose some weight fast.” —Customer slurping McDonald’s shake

“It’s a shame you’re closing but, hey, it’s not like we use a horse and buggy anymore, either.”

“I don’t know the author, but it’s called Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.”

I guess it must take a lot of patience to work in a bookstore. Have you ever asked a really dumb question in a bookstore? Fun fact: When the TV show Grey’s Anatomy premiered, I walked into my local library and asked for the name of the author who wrote Grey’s Anatomy. I have this compulsion to first read the book of anything made into a movie or TV show. The librarian looked at me as though I were a complete idiot, walked away, and came back and plopped down the giant Grey’s Anatomy medical book in front of me.

Wanderlust, wordlust and Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald's gravestone at Saint Mary's Catholic Church, Rockville, Maryland

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda, and a few other family members, were buried in the churchyard of the first and oldest church in Montgomery County, Maryland. Wouldn’t it be cool to live nearby, wander into the church and learn that one of the greatest American authors is buried there?

Photo via Flickr.

Symmetrical chaos

I am going to love on another bookshelf idea for a second:

The symmetry and grid-look of this bookshelf looks overwhelmed by the haphazardly strewn books inside it. It’s so cute. I also love how big it is. And it would be so easy to make yourself, too. It’s other appeal is that you can throw all of your Kurt Vonneguts in one square shelf and your old English authors in another (or four or five). In my opinion, every house should be built with automatic size adjustments for wall-to-wall bookshelves.