We are beginning a new week on this beautiful Carolina-blue Monday morning. After a weekend of cool, rainy weather, I am ready to clear the slate and start over, all the while wishing for a dryer, sunnier week. These thoughts led me to think about the beginning lines of works of literature that I can easily recall, and I thought of several. These lines are easily recognized by students of great literature because they are at times poetic, meaningful, and easy to recite.
The first famous beginning quote that came to my mind was the opening line of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. This lengthy novel begins with the famous words, "Call me Ishmael." Whenever I hear this line, I immediately know that it is a reference to the great novel about a fierce whale and Captain Ahab's quest to capture it. Interestingly, during Melville's lifetime, Moby-Dick was not well-known, but today it is considered to be a great work. I think this beginning line is well-known because it's so short and easy to remember - sometimes less is more. Another memorable beginning in literature is the first sentence of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,..."Whereas the opening line of Moby-Dick is very brief, the opening line of Dickens' novel is very, very lengthy, so lengthy that I don't want to copy it all here. As I examine the line, however, I see what Dickens is trying to achieve in his great work. He seems to be setting the atmosphere for his 1859 novel about the French Revolution by using poetic phrases that are opposites. For example, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times," "...the age of wisdom, the age of foolishness,..." it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness." When I read these poetic phrases it causes me to wonder how any society can be so wonderful and yet so terrible at the same time. And when I wonder about such things, I may just want to keep reading to find out how this can be. Clearly, in the novel we find out that yes, societies have very good people AND very bad people, and people who are a mixture of both. The final great beginning that I'd like to discuss isn't really the beginning of a book, but it's the beginning of a great statement of faith and a prayer, the Shema of the Jewish faith. These beginning words of the Shema came to my mind immediately this morning when I began to think of famous beginnings: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One," Deuteronomy 6:4. These words begin a great affirmation of faith for the Jews and a declaration of their belief in only one God ("Adonai eloheinu Adonai ehad"). This declaration may be obvious to some of us, yet in Old Testament times the Hebrew people lived among people who worshiped idols and multiple gods. The Hebrew people felt the need to distinguish themselves from all of the other religions. As an editorial note, this isn't any different than the religious atmosphere of our world today. There are still many people who worship idols, the dead, nature, and religious leaders. Of course, there are also many who do not belong to any faith. I, myself, strongly uphold the belief in the one true God, the God of Israel, the One who made Himself known through the gifts of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. There are many, many other great beginnings in literature that are memorable for various reasons, many which capture our attention and "hook the reader," but these are the beginnings that came to my mind today.
I'm still working my way through One Hundred Years of Solitude so I'll keep you posted on my progress through my reading. Meanwhile, here are the next ten books in my card catalog:
1. The Lord is My Shepherd by Harold Kushner (I heard him speak in 2003 and got autographs)
2. When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Kushner
3. I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
4. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
5. Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott
6. Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
7. Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster
8. Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
9. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
10. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
What great beginnings in literature are you thinking about today? Can you quote some that immediately come to mind? I would love to get your comments below.
Happy reading,
Melissa
Your posting brought to my mind a couple more memorable openings: Anna Karenina ('All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.') and The Metamorphosis ('As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.')
ReplyDeleteHope you are enjoying 100 Years of Solitude -- a really good read. I've just read my first book by Haruki Murakami: Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. I read in an OpenCulture posting that he was the best-selling author in the world, or something like that, which was intriguing. So I checked him out of the library. Totally absorbing. It has been a while since a book has nailed my butt to a chair like this.