First Lines
January 31, 2009
Books Bought:
- Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier*
- David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
- Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell*
- Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
- Microtrends by Mark Penn
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
*bought, but I already own a copy at home.
Books Read:
- Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
- The Complete Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby
- Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
So I’m back from traipsing around beautiful Southeast Asia. Singapore has many charms including a stunning national orchid garden and a Borders bookstore. I wish I could have bought out Borders, but unfortunately the exchange rate + GST=no go. But I’m rather glad to be back here in my home away from home. It’s pretty chilly still so I’ve taken to grabbing books in the morning and heading over to a warm cafe to read for the afternoons. The less I turn on my heater (that doesn’t really do the job anyway), the smaller our monthly electric/gas bill, and the happier everyone is.
But I’m writing this post because I just reread Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier today. What a great book. It’s so underhanded but a page-turner. But I think one of the best parts is the opening line because it captures so much of how the plot will resolve itself, “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” And then because I read that opening line, I thought about another famous opening line, “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.”
And that got me thinking, what makes a great first line? Why are those two so memorable? And I was going to some literary criticism search on it, but I don’t feel like asking the experts tonight. I think in the case of Mrs. Dalloway, it must have to do with how carefully chosen each word must be–because the story is such a short one. I can’t, at the moment, think of any other first lines that have always stuck with me.
The other great thing about Rebecca is the anonymous narrator. I feel like the Anonymous Narrator should get more appreciation as a character. I haven’t sat down to think about it systematically, but I wonder if the anonymous narrator is a period thing or geographic or universal. But there’s so much character building by choosing to leave out names–a sharp contrast to Jhumpa Lahiri’s point about names.
So yeah, I’m planning to read a lot more this year. I’m not quite sure why I rebought Gone With The Wind. I have the exact same copy/edition sitting on my bookshelf at home, and I have plenty of other things to read here. But I was feeling a little homesick, and I saw the red cover in the bookstore, and I had a strange craving to relive Scarlett O’Hara. Never thought I would identify myself so much with Atlanta, Georgia.
