Page 17 | Guess the opening lines...

kinkytoes · 2026-05-14T14:02:19+00:00

Hi all, hope it's ok to start this here. Thought it might be fun and stretch the old grey matter a bit. I'll attach a shot of some opening lines and whoever guesses correctly post their own? We could all just post pics but then we might lose track. I don't mind. Let me know what you think (of the idea, and the opening lines here - hopefully started off with an easyish one but let me know if any clues are needed!) If it's being done elsewhere please someone direct me 😊

ShelfObsessed · 14/05/2026 18:07

EveryKneeShallBow · 14/05/2026 16:44

Another go at attaching a picture

That’s Lonesome Dove.

“It was the evening on which MM. Debienne and Poligny, the managers of the Opera, were giving a last gala performance to mark their retirement. Suddenly the dressing-room of La Sorelli, one of the principal dancers, was invaded by half-a-dozen young ladies of the ballet, who had come up from the stage after "dancing" Polyeucte. They rushed in amid great confusion, some giving vent to forced and unnatural laughter, others to cries of terror. Sorelli, who wished to be alone for a moment to "run through" the speech which she was to make to the resigning managers, looked around angrily at the mad and tumultuous crowd. It was little Jammes—the girl with the tip-tilted nose, the forget-me-not eyes, the rose-red cheeks and the lily-white neck and shoulders—who gave the explanation in a trembling voice:”

Timeforatincture · 14/05/2026 18:07

EveryKneeShallBow · 14/05/2026 16:44

Another go at attaching a picture

Lonesome Dove?

BarbaraVineFan · 14/05/2026 18:03

CrossPurposes · 14/05/2026 17:56

Bump

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Sorry, I don’t know this one. Is it ‘In a German Pension’?

BarbaraVineFan · 14/05/2026 18:02

SydneyCarton · 14/05/2026 17:56

“It was Mrs May who first told me about them. No, not me. How could it have been me- a wild, untidy self-willed little girl who stared with angry eyes and was said to crunch her teeth. Kate, she should have been called. Yes, that was it - Kate.”

That’s The Borrowers

CrossPurposes · 14/05/2026 17:56

CrossPurposes · 14/05/2026 15:59

I knew Vanity Fair and here's mine:

A fug of tobacco smoke and damp clammy air hit her as she entered the café. She had
come in from the rain and drops of water still trembled like delicate dew on the fur coats
of some of the women inside. A regiment of white-aproned waiters rushed around at
tempo, serving the needs of the Münchner at leisure – coffee, cake and gossip.

Bump

SydneyCarton · 14/05/2026 17:56

“It was Mrs May who first told me about them. No, not me. How could it have been me- a wild, untidy self-willed little girl who stared with angry eyes and was said to crunch her teeth. Kate, she should have been called. Yes, that was it - Kate.”

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 14/05/2026 17:39

Thelessdeceived · 14/05/2026 17:30

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”

Great Gatsby?

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/05/2026 17:34

Thelessdeceived · 14/05/2026 17:30

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”

This rings a bell, but I can't think what it is.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/05/2026 17:34

FeliciaFancybottom · 14/05/2026 17:31

Diary of a Nobody.

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Beat me to it! Both of you. I love that book.

Original poster

kinkytoes · 14/05/2026 17:33

FeliciaFancybottom · 14/05/2026 17:19

Can people please quote what they're responding to?

Agree!

I love that this took off but I'm completely lost, and I don't know which ones have been answered from earlier in the thread!

I guess, if yours hasn't been answered yet, you could quote yourself to give it a bump?

OP posts:

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/05/2026 17:32

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/05/2026 17:26

No! Not Kingsley Amis.

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This is the whole of the opening paragraph:

The truth is, if old Major Dover hadn’t dropped dead at Taunton races Jim would never have come to Thursgood’s at all. He came in mid-term without an interview, late May it was though no one would have thought it from the weather, employed through one of the shiftier agencies specialising in supply teachers for prep schools, to hold down old Dover’s teaching till someone suitable could be found. ‘A linguist,’ Thursgood told the common room, ‘a temporary measure,’ and brushed away his forelock in self- defence. ‘Priddo.’ He gave the spelling ‘ P- R- I- D’ – French was not Thursgood’s subject so he consulted the slip of paper – ‘ E- A- U- X, rst name James. I think he’ll do us very well till July.’ The sta had no difculty in reading the signals. Jim Prideaux was a poor white of the teaching community. He belonged to the same sad bunch as the late Mrs Loveday who had a Persian lamb coat and stood in for junior divinity until her cheques bounced, or the late Mr Maltby, the pianist who had been called from choir practice to help the police with their enquiries, and for all anyone knew was helping them to this day, for Maltby’s trunk still lay in the cellar awaiting instructions. Several of the staff , but chiefly Marjoribanks, were in favour of opening that trunk. They said it contained notorious missing treasures: Aprahamian’s silver-framed picture of his Lebanese mother, for instance; Best- Ingram’s Swiss army penknife and Matron’s watch. But Thursgood set his creaseless face resolutely against their entreaties. Only five years had passed since he had inherited the school from his father, but they had taught him already that some things are best locked away.

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 14/05/2026 17:32

FeliciaFancybottom · 14/05/2026 17:31

Diary of a Nobody.

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Top marks 😁

Original poster

kinkytoes · 14/05/2026 17:31

Thelessdeceived · 14/05/2026 17:28

:"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow".

To Kill A Mockingbird.

OP posts:

FeliciaFancybottom · 14/05/2026 17:31

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 14/05/2026 17:29

Spotted A Tale of Two Cities above.

This is from a short story.
It was a chill, rain-washed afternoon of a late August day, that indefinite season when partridges are still in security or cold storage, and there is nothing to hunt, unless one is bounded on the North by the Bristol Channel, in which case one may lawfully gallop after fat red stags.

And the photo is from a novel.

Edited

Diary of a Nobody.

Thelessdeceived · 14/05/2026 17:30

"In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.”

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 14/05/2026 17:29

Spotted A Tale of Two Cities above.

This is from a short story.
It was a chill, rain-washed afternoon of a late August day, that indefinite season when partridges are still in security or cold storage, and there is nothing to hunt, unless one is bounded on the North by the Bristol Channel, in which case one may lawfully gallop after fat red stags.

And the photo is from a novel.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/05/2026 17:28

Thelessdeceived · 14/05/2026 17:26

‘A Tale of Two Cities’.

’It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.’

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1984

Thelessdeceived · 14/05/2026 17:28

:"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow".

Thelessdeceived · 14/05/2026 17:26

Threeslothsontheshirt · 14/05/2026 17:03

Classic here: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”

‘A Tale of Two Cities’.

’It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.’

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/05/2026 17:26

facepalmcustard · 14/05/2026 17:25

Lucky Jim! One of my absolute favourites

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No! Not Kingsley Amis.

DreamingOfGeneHunt · 14/05/2026 17:26

"It was a wet Sunday afternoon in North Oxford at the beginning of October. The laurel bushes which bordered the path leading to Leamington Lodge, Banbury Road, were dripping with rain. A few sodden chrysanthemums, dahlias and zinnias drooped in the flower-beds on the lawn."

facepalmcustard · 14/05/2026 17:25

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/05/2026 16:58

^The truth is, if old Major Dover hadn’t dropped dead at Taunton races Jim would never have come to Thursgood’s at all.^

Lucky Jim! One of my absolute favourites

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/05/2026 17:23

Cyclistmumgrandma · 14/05/2026 17:13

Rebecca

The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.

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The Go-Between, L. P. Hartley.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/05/2026 17:21

CrossPurposes · 14/05/2026 17:04

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

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Yes.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/05/2026 17:20

Threeslothsontheshirt · 14/05/2026 17:15

There was no possibility of taking a walk that day

Jane Eyre, I think.