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Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

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Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

#91

Post by ggg9990 »

irrational wrote: post #46

I kept hearing raving reviews of "The Name of the Wind". I started reading it and got a couple of chapters in and had no interest in continuing. I mentioned this to my brother and he told me that I had to keep going. So I figured I'd read a bit more and see if there was anything to the book. I just finished it on Saturday and I have to say it is easily one of the best books I have ever read. But, if I had just read t…

Interesting. I heard the same so I kept reading and reading and waiting for it to get good, and for me, it never did.

Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

#92

Post by jen729w »

mirimir wrote: post #89
NickM wrote: post #8

It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.

Right. First few sentences: Morgan's Steel Remains : "When a man you know to be of sound mind tells you his recently deceased mother has just tried to climb in his bedroom window and eat him, you only have two basic questions." Stephenson's Seveneves : "The Moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason." Lawrence's Prince of Thorns : "Ravens! Always the ravens. They settled on the gables of the church even…

Well, that worked! Just reserved The Quantum Thief at the library.

Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

#93

Post by majormajor »

glandium wrote: post #86
alleyshack wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In pretty much any writing medium (novels, screenplays, short stories, etc), standard advice involves hooking the reader within the first paragraph or so. This is partly why "in medias res" tends to be such a popular opening technique - it drops the reader straight into the action, which is theoretically more interesting than "She woke up, got dressed, and went downstairs for her daily breakfast of toast and juice...…

> "She woke up, got dressed, and went downstairs for her daily breakfast of toast and juice..." It's been a long time since last time I read it, but isn't this essentially the opening of the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy?

I think you get the opening with the bit about the world being destroyed and losing the great idea for peace and whatnot, first.

edit: yep, there's a prologue which gives you the broader scope https://www.amazon.com/Hitchhikers-Guide-Galaxy-Douglas-Adam...

Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

#94

Post by taneq »

ahartmetz wrote: post #51
isolli wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An interesting example, one of the best-known book openings in French literature ("Aujourd'hui, maman est morte."), and the difficulties translating the sentence in English: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lost-in-translat...

Interesting article, and I believe I have a better translation: "Today, my mom died." It sounds better than just "mom" and seems to express the right level of closeness. OTOH I think it's often appropriate to keep "mamma" in Italian movies and texts because it carries a huge amount of connotations, which "maman" doesn't.

Or if you use "mother" it changes the tone to be more preppy.

Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

#95

Post by PhasmaFelis »

mirimir wrote: post #89
NickM wrote: post #8

It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.

Right. First few sentences: Morgan's Steel Remains : "When a man you know to be of sound mind tells you his recently deceased mother has just tried to climb in his bedroom window and eat him, you only have two basic questions." Stephenson's Seveneves : "The Moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason." Lawrence's Prince of Thorns : "Ravens! Always the ravens. They settled on the gables of the church even…

My all-time favorite opening line is from Spider Robinson's Lady Slings the Booze: "It was noon before they finished scraping Uncle Ernie off the dining room table."

Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

#96

Post by taneq »

jrumbut wrote: post #13
NickM wrote: post #8

It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.

I think this might already happen. This is just anecdata but I often get turned off from books by overwrought first page(s). Eventually someone convines me to go back and the rest of the novel is good. I'd love to hear an author's perspective on this, if any of them notice it. My guess is that they stew on opening passages for years before writing, causing them to get a little neurotic about them, then eventually the…

> then eventually they settle down and write in a way that comes more naturally to them for the rest of the book.

In game development, often you'll start with a random level from early-mid game, since that lets you playtest all of the gameplay. You then work forwards and return to the opening levels once the gameplay, art style etc. are all locked in and polished.

I wonder if some writers would benefit from a similar approach?

Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

#97

Post by mirimir »

jen729w wrote: post #92
mirimir wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right. First few sentences: Morgan's Steel Remains : "When a man you know to be of sound mind tells you his recently deceased mother has just tried to climb in his bedroom window and eat him, you only have two basic questions." Stephenson's Seveneves : "The Moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason." Lawrence's Prince of Thorns : "Ravens! Always the ravens. They settled on the gables of the church even…

Well, that worked! Just reserved The Quantum Thief at the library.

I love his stuff. He creates an amazing world. Similar to Sterling and early Stross, but a very different path.

Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

#98

Post by jlarocco »

NickM wrote: post #8

It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.

Haven't people always read the first few pages when picking out books? It's even built into Amazon's "Look Inside This Book".

Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

#99

Post by Bedon292 »

DavideNL wrote: post #85
Bedon292 wrote: post #82

Pretty nifty, but I would like it to actually recommend based on my tastes. Like combine this and Goodreads.

But that would also be a limitation, since you'd never explore new things ;)

You can still find new things that way. I get all kinds of recommendations on Netflix that I wouldn't have found on my own, but they still have high odds I will like them. And then not have to read through a dozen that are of no interest before you finally find a good one.

Re: Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

#100

Post by tristanho »

NickM wrote: post #8

It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.

This is actually largely already true for ebooks! The "Send a Free Sample" button on amazon.com for Kindle simulates this behavior (although you get a bit more than a page, and you obviously know which book you're reading).
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