Thursday, July 20, 2017

Ten top opening scenes in books

Catherine Lacey's most recent novel is The Answers.

One of her top ten opening scenes in books, as shared at The Guardian:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

“You don’t know about me, without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain’t no matter. That book was made by Mr Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing.”

It’s all about the voice and playfulness and warmth here. It’s another example of how Twain could transfer the sound of a story well-told to the page, giving it nuance and depth without losing any colloquial heat.
Read about another entry on the list.

Huckleberry Finn is among Saci Lloyd's ten top political books for teenagers, Dan Ariely's six top books about, or by, liars, Josh Lacey's top ten pseudonymous books, Katie Couric's favorite books, James Gray's six best books, and John Mullan's lists of ten of the best literary men dressed as women, ten of the best vendettas in literature and ten of the best child narrators in literature. It is one of Stephen King's top ten works of literature. Director Spike Jonze and the Where the Wild Things Are film team tagged Huckleberry Finn on their list of the top 10 rascals in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue