Great first lines
Jan. 26th, 2020 05:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustHis mother gave him a new pair of socks, a puffin to eat on the voyage and a kiss on the cheek.
This is the first line of Where the World Ends by Geraldine McCaughrean, and it's a fair sample of the book: vivid, beautifully written, but an arduous read. Being someone's packed lunch is far from the worst thing that happens to a seabird in it, or to a boy either.
It's based on a true story of St Kilda - no, not the evacuation, something that happened in the eighteenth century, when a party of men and boys visiting one of the sea stacks to gather birds and eggs, were marooned there. I won't say why, or for how long, since that's part of the story - although I knew the outlines of what happened, and I was still gripped and appalled. The book has been my bedtime reading, but I had to finish it this afternoon: I slept badly last night, and whether or not it is to blame, I couldn't face returning to it tonight.
This may, or may not, be regarded as a recommendation.
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Date: 2020-01-26 08:07 pm (UTC)That is a great first line. I will take the rest into consideration. (Is this the story of the nine months on Stac an Armin?)
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Date: 2020-01-27 12:09 pm (UTC)It is, indeed. And it has much in it which I think you would like: much sea water, for starters, and many more great lines. And I am glad to have read it; but I am cautious about recommending ...
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Date: 2020-01-27 02:33 pm (UTC)Eday this year- we're stopping with Anne at Roadside again.
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Date: 2020-01-27 09:39 pm (UTC)