Tuesday, May 29, 2012

First Paragraph ~ First Chapter ~ Tuesday Intros


Every Tuesday, I'll be posting the opening paragraph (sometimes maybe a few ) of a book I decided to read based on the opening paragraph (s). Feel free to grab the banner and play along.  This week's selection is from a book that I started over the weekend  -- it's awesome. Have you read it?


"On a February morning, when a weather front is moving in off the Pacific but has nor quite arrived, and the winds are changeable and gusty and clouds drive over and an occasional flurry of fine rain darkens the terrace bricks, this place conforms to none of the cliches about California with which they advertise the Sunshine Cities for the Sunset Years.  No bland sky, no cool morning overcast, no placid afternoons fading into chilly evenings.  This is North Sea weather.  The sky boils with cloud, the sun glares out now and the like the opening eye of a doped patient, and the brief beam of intelligence it shoots forth lights on the hills and turns a distant subdivision into a view of Toledo.

Fat towhees sidle up to one another, pinheaded doves forage in the grass, the field next door is suddenly full of robins who arrive like brown leaves, picnic awhile, and depart all together as if summoned.  From my study I can watch wrens and bush tits in the live oak outside.  The wrens are nesting in a hole for the fifth straight year and are very busy: tilted tails going in, sharp heads with the white eyebrow stripe coming out.  They are surly, aggressive, and I wonder idly, why I, who seem to be as testy as the wrens, much prefer the sociable bush tits.  Maybe because the bush tits are doing what I thought we would be doing out here, just messing around, paying no attention to time or duty, kicking up leaves and playing hide-and-seek up and down the oak trunks and generally enjoying themselves.

It is a meditation of this kind that keeps me, at nearly seventy, so contented and wholesome".

22 comments:

  1. I've found everything I've read by Stegner to be beautiful and brilliant.

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  2. Making a note of this author. New to me.

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  3. So much depth for a morning...and very contemplative. Thanks for sharing.

    Here's MY TUESDAY MEMES POST

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  4. That his is an author I have wanted to read!

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  5. I've read this one and enjoyed it. It seems like his writing is a kind from the past, he takes time to slowly unravel the story. Hope you like it. Here's Mine

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  6. This is a new to me author. Sounds like a book to be savored. Here's Mine

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  7. Wallace Stegner is amazing! Crossing to Safety is probably my all-time favorite book. Haven't read The Spectator Bird, so I'd definitely keep going.

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  8. Oh yes, based on these paragraphs alone, I would continue reading. I sort of have a thing for birds right now, and this paragraph really piqued my interest. Thanks for sharing this particular paragraph with us, and as I am writing this, I am watching the birds gobble up seeds in my backyard before the morning rain.

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  9. I would surely keep reading, sounds good!

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  10. An intriguing opening! I have never visited the Pacific Northwest but have always wanted to.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog last night. The Stand is one of my all-time favorite books! Enjoy it!

    I know you said you typically read shorter books in the summer, but The Stand would be perfect for my challenge, if you want to get to it this summer! You only need 1 big book to participate in the challenge.

    Sue

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  11. A birdwatcher. Yes, I'd read this book!

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  12. I've never heard of this author before, but those paragraphs really drew me in. I love the musing tone and the descriptions. Sounds like a great read!

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  13. I would keep reading as I have been bird involved lately!

    Mine is here.

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  14. Here is my post: http://abigailannreading.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/first-paragraph-first-chapter.html

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  15. I haven't heard of this book, although I am becoming a Stegner fan. I like this kind of writing--the kind you can sink into and read over a long period of time.

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  16. I haven't heard of this particular book, but I am familiar with the author.

    It sounds like a great intro!

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  17. I'd definitely read this one!

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  18. For some reason, the first couple of paragraphs reminded me of East of Eden. Not sure why.

    This week I am finishing up a series that I started way too long ago Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

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  19. I'll put this one on my list. At 72 I'm becoming a bit more contemplative myself. I think this will fit me quite well.

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  20. I think I'd have to be in a certain type of mood to want to read this.

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  21. Interesting! Hope you are enjoying it :_)

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  22. I'm a huge fan of Wallace Stegner and read this book several years ago. I thought it was wonderful. I hope you like it!

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