Tuesday, February 19, 2013

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros


Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros, where I share the first paragraph or (2) of a book I am reading or thinking about reading soon.  Care to join us? Feel free to grab the image and link your post below.

This week I'm featuring an intro from: Ten White Geese; Gerbrand Bakker - translated from the Dutch by David Colmer.


Penguin Books -February 26th, 2013

(quotes taken from eGalley - finished copy may be different)

Ample make this bed. Make this bed with awe; In it wait till judgment break Excellent and fair.

Be its mattress straight, Be its pillow round; Let no sunrise' yellow noise Interrupt this ground.

Emily Dickinson  

NOVEMBER 

"Early one morning she saw the badgers.  They were near the stone circle she had discovered a few days earlier and wanted to see it at dawn.  She had always thought of them as peaceful, shy and somehow lumbering animals, but they were fighting and hissing.  When they noticed her they ambled off into the flowering gorse.  There was a smell of coconut in the air.  She walked back along the path you could find only by looking into the distance, a path whose existence she had surmised from rusty kissing gates, rotten stiles and the odd post with a symbol presumably meant to represent a hiker. The grass was untrodden."

What do you think ? -- Would you keep reading?  (I have not started this one yet - but plan to - eGalley available on NetGalley)

Please feel free to link below:


26 comments:

  1. Now that is a book I would enjoy reading. Thanks Diane.

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  2. I like the writing - the description of the geese and setting.

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  3. Beautiful! This sounds like one of those quiet novels that I love... when I'm in the right mood.

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  4. Now I'm curious...I especially liked the poem at the beginning...it sets a lyrical tone. So yes, I'd keep reading!

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  5. The writing does sound nice. Hope you enjoy it.

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  6. Good choice, Diane. The opening paragraph is beautifully written. Today is my first time participating in First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros...what fun!

    http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2013/02/first-chapter-first-paragraph-tuesday.html

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  7. this one sounds good, I'd keep reading.

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  8. I'm interested to see where this book goes. I love the Emily Dickinson poem and the prose is beautiful, quiet and calm but with an air of expectation lurking in th background.

    I hope you enjoy this one, Diane. You come up with some fascinating books!

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  9. This gives me enough that I'd have to keep reading more. I like the cover on this one too.

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  10. I love the way this one starts out, and would love to read this one. I can't wait to see what you think of it, and if it stands on its own two feet as a read. Great first paragraph today!

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  11. I'd read more. I want to know about the badgers and the coconut-scented air. Where is she?

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  12. Just last night I pulled out my copy of Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson so I love the beginning quote. I like the language of the first paragraph too. "Rusty kissing gates" makes me want to see what other beautiful words are put together in this book. I'd keep going.

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  13. The Dickinson lines are lovely and like Margot, the 'rusty kissing gates' make me at least want to read a few more pages.

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  14. I might just have to turn a page or two!

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  15. This sounds intriguing, and poetic. Doesn't read like translation, which is good.

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  16. Love the opening. Will wait for your review.

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  17. Birds and critters. Ok, you got my attention.

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  18. I would continue reading. I like the descriptive language the author uses here.

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  19. A promising opening, I hope it lives up to it.

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