Tuesday, February 20, 2018

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Census; Jesse Ball



Every Tuesday Vicki @ I'd Rather Be at the Beach now hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where readers share the first paragraph of a book that they are reading or plan to read soon.

 Census; Jesse Ball
Ecco - 3/2018
A

"As I turned to lean my shovel against the rusted gray of the car, I looked in passing down into the grave I had dug, and saw there, along the face or wall, in trembling roots, the path I had traveled these several months taking the census in the farthest districts.  As if by chance, my eye followed the slender red roots down and down into the grave, first left then left, then left then left, then right, then left then left, then right, then left, and always down.  It was as if I could feel my hand upon the wheel, driving those field-wrapping roads and felt almost removed into the person I had been--someone like to myself, someone I myself might have known, someone bound in fact, as an arrow towards me, towards my heart and the place in which I now stand.  Had I known him? Who is it that can claim at any time to know his own appearance, his own ideas?  And yet we come back into ourselves again and again--there must be some recognition, something, even so slight. Must there be?"

What are your thoughts? Read more or pass?

16 comments:

  1. An unusual opening. I'd have to read a bit more before deciding whether to continue on.

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  2. Pass. The writing seems a little to wordy for me. This week I am featuring Heartless by Anne Elisabeth Stengl which has languished on TBR mountain for more than seven years. Happy reading!

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  3. Hmmm, I might continue reading the second paragraph but believe there needs to be a little more action here to keep my (wandering) mind engaged. :) This is a fun prompt! Bookmarking your site to check out more of your posts soon.

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  4. I'm not sure. I do wonder about the grave he's digging.

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  5. Wow, that's deep, very perceptive, somewhat philosophical. I'd keep going.

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  6. I'm trying to decide if I understand what he's saying. Might have to read further to see. LOL

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  7. Wow, now I'm intrigued...and a little spooked. It is surreal, but I do want to know more. Here's mine: “BLOOD SISTERS”

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  8. While reading those long sentences, I kept wondering: did the narrator kill someone? Or hit a dog with his car? I'd read a while longer to find out.
    My Tuesday post features All the Light We Cannot See.

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  9. Not much of a fan of the wordiness of the intro, but I am curious about why he dug a grave.

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  10. I have been curious about this author. This first paragraph has increased my curiosity.

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  11. Why is this person digging a grave? And what is he talking about??? I got lost just getting to the end of the paragraph. Pass for me.

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  12. I think that is way too long as well but it might be good eventually!

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  13. Love the opening and the cover it quite unique. I'd keep reading!

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  14. A little too complicated for me.

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  15. Diane, don't forget to give me your mailing address so that I can send you the book you won. My email address is lloydrrussell@gmail.com.

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  16. This opening intrigues me. I'd read more of this new to me book. Thanks for the intro!

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