Larry the Legend Loc: Not hiding in Milton

Like, a lot harder:

http://www.braincandy.net/?can-you-name-the-book-from-these-first-lines

My usual maximum score was somewhat reduced:

theotts

That was harder?

Larry the Legend Loc: Not hiding in Milton

OK, Mr. Smartypants. Post your score and we'll talk. No (legitimate) score, no parlay.

pafret Loc: Northeast

This thing has so many pop-ups that it locked my system and I had to reboot to get control back. I have no idea what I might have scored because it wasn't responding.

pafret Loc: Northeast

Tied it again:
You got 93% on Can You Name the Book From These First Lines?

Never read Jane Austen

Larry the Legend Loc: Not hiding in Milton

Who remembers the first line of a book? I mean, it's like asking what the 3,296th word is. What difference, at this point, does it really make?

pafret Loc: Northeast

Some few of them stick because they are dramatic such as Dickens "Tale of Two Cities" "It was the best of times it was the worst of times." Similarly Melville's "Moby Dick" opening sentence, "Call me Ismael." is very dramatic. Very few others fall into that category or leave such a lasting impression. I remembered content and deduced the title from the sentence presented in most cases.

I had no idea those words made such a lasting impression until about twenty years ago I was attending a seminar and at the end of the questions and answers session, the presenter asked some questions about literature. Those were the first two asked and I was the only person in a group of about forty that immediately knew the answer. I hadn't thought about the books since reading them many (45) years before and I startled myself when the answers popped into my head as though I had just read the words. Some writings just resonate and subconscious memory is a mysterious thing.

Melville's novels, Billy Budd, and White Jacket are also memorable but I can't tell you the first line. Dickens other works are in the same category, I remember most of what I read but not first lines.

theotts

Diction, syntax and vocabulary are dead giveaways. Melville is very distinctive, as is Austen. Miller brilliantly conveys character by tone and tenor; Holden Caulfield is transparent by the end of the first act. The Dickens was a gimme too, even though I've not read "A Tale of Two Cities."

pafret Loc: Northeast

Excellent story, best thing in it is Sydney Carton's speech “It is a far, far better thing that I do" and I won't tell you the rest, it is worth reading for yourself. One of Dicken's more memorable characters.