Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros sharing the first paragraph, maybe two, of a book that I'm reading or plan to read soon.
The Dark Flood Rising; Margaret Drabble
Farrar, Straus and Giroux - 2017
"She often suspected that her last words to herself and in this world will prove to be you bloody old fool or, perhaps, depending on the mood of the day or the time of the night, you fucking idiot. As the speeding car hits the tree, or the unserviced boiler explodes, or the smoke and flames fill the hallway, or the grip on the high guttering gives way, those will be her last words. She isn't to know for sure that it will be so, but she suspects it. In her latter years, she's become deeply interested in the phrase call no man happy until he is dead. Or no woman, come to that. Call no woman happy until she is dead. Fair enough, and the ancient world had known women as well as men who had met unfortunate ends: Clytemnestra, Dido, Hecuba, Antigone. Though of course Antigone, one must remember, had rejoiced to die young, and in a good (if to us pointless) cause, thereby avoiding all the inconveniences of old age."
Would you read more or pass on this one?
Feel free to join in by linking your INTRO Post below.
I really like that opening, Diane! I also really like the cover. I would definitely keep reading!
ReplyDeleteI love it! And it has been too long since I read Margaret Drabble. She is one of my old favorites. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason this is just not grabbing me. I do hope its a good one for you, however.
ReplyDeleteI love the beginning! I would definitely be interested in reading more.
ReplyDeleteI love this. It is so well written. I would describe it as wry. The literary allusions are superb. I would keep reading.
ReplyDeleteShe sounds angry, my exact mood right now, lol. I'd read on.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure--I've never read Margaret Drabble. I liked the stuff about the legendary women. That part hooked me.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great beginning. I love the writing style, and the cover. I'd definitely keep reading!
ReplyDeleteNope, the F word is so not necessary.
ReplyDeleteI've read one of her books before so I think I'd give it a go and check it out.
ReplyDeleteThis author recently came onto my radar screen, so I'd continue reading.
ReplyDeleteYes! I would read on. I read my first Margaret Drabble last year. It was her first novel. She writes the way I like writers to write. A link to that first novel, A Summer Bird Cage: http://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-summer-bird-cage.html
ReplyDeleteOh, my! This beginning, about the end, is certainly intriguing. (I read some of Margaret Drabble's work many years ago . . .)
ReplyDeleteI don't think this one is for me. I hope you enjoy it, though.
ReplyDeletehttps://girlof1000wonders.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/tuesday-teaser-intro-close-to-home/