First Lines of Richard Powers "Bewilderment"

"But we might never find them? We'd set up the scope on the deck, on a clear autumn night, on the edge of one of the last patches of darkness in the eastern U.S. Darkness this good was hard to come by, and so much darkness in one place lit up the sky. We pointed the tube through a gap in the trees above our rented cabin. Robin pulled his eye from the eyepiece--my sad, singular, new turning nine-year-old, in trouble with this world." 

- Richard Powers, Bewilderment.

This book both inspired and scared me. It also broke my heart. Beautiful writing. 

Related: First Lines of Richard Powers "The Overstory"

First Lines of Annalee Newitz's "The Future of Another Timeline"

"Drums beat in the distance like an amplified pulse. People streamed over the dirt road, leather boots laced to their knees, eyes ringed in kohl, ears and lips studded with precious metals. Some gathered in an open square below the steep path to the amphitheater, making a bonfire out of objects stolen from their enemies. The smoke reeked of something ancient and horrific; materials far older than humanity were burning. A rusty sunset painted everyone in blood, and shrieks around the flames mixed with faraway chanting."

- The Future of Another Timeline, Annalee Newitz

Love the idea that time travel is an accepted and regular part of life. Also accept the premise that people are inevitably going to want to change it, and that some people will always want to take away the rights of others. Interested to see where this one goes!

First Lines of Leo Tolystoi's "War & Peace"

 "Well, Prince, so Genoa and Lucca are now just family estates of the Buonapartes. But I warn you, if you don't tell me that this means war, if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist--I really believe he is Antichrist--I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend, no longer my 'faithful slave,' as you call yourself! But how do you do? I see I have frightened you--sit down and tell me all the news." 

It was in July 1805, and the speaker was the well-known Anna Pávlovna Schérer, maid of honor and favorite of the Empress Márya Fëdrovna. With these words she greeted Prince Vasili, a man of high rank and importance, who was the first to arrive at her reception." 

War and Peace is famous for many things, probably mostly for its bloated length. So why did I read it again? It's a good question, given that (especially at the beginning), so much of the book details mind-numbing details of high Russian society. But Tolystoi's prose has an incredible power, his scenes - especially the battle scenes - are powerfully cinematic, and his dense plot is highly captivating. (I should mention that I skipped over the sections where he pontificates about military strategy.)

And you just don't see powerful extended analogies anymore, like the one about bees that Tolystoi used to explain Moscow after the Tsar has left it:

In a queenless hive no life is left though to a superficial glance it seems as much alive as other hives.

The bees circle round a queenless hive in the hot beams of the midday sun as gaily as around the living hives; from a distance is smells of honey like the others, and bees fly in and out in the same way.  But one has only to observe that hive to realize that there is no longer any life in it.  The bees do not fly in the same way, the smell and the sound that meet the bee-keeper are not the same.  To the bee-keeper’s tap on the wall of the sick hive, instead of the former instant unanimous humming of tens of thousands of bees with their abdomens threateningly compressed, and producing by the rapid vibration of their wings an aerial living sound, the only reply is a disconnected buzzing from different parts of the deserted hive.  From the alighting-board, instead of the former spirituous fragrant smell of honey and venom, and the warm whiffs of crowded life, comes an odor of emptiness and decay mingling with the smell of honey.  There are no longer sentinels there sounding the alarm with their abdomens raised, and ready to die in defense of the hive.  There is no longer the measured quiet sound of throbbing activity, like the sound of boiling water, but diverse discordant sounds of disorder.

Tolystoi goes on but you get the point: without the queen/Tsar, the vitality is gone from the hive/Moscow, and thus Napoleon's victory is a hollow one. And these scenes are some of the most moving of the entire book; the chaos of the retreat, the disorder of those who are left behind, and the lethargy of the French army as they try to take pleasure in sacking a city whose life force has fled beyond their reach.

First Lines of Jeffrey Kripal's "The Flip"

 "Two impossible true tales.

Scene 1. Twain's Mental Telegraphy. Dressed in his famous white "dontaredam suit," Mark Twain was famous for mocking every orthodoxy and convention, including, it turns out, the conventions of space and time. As he related the events in his diaries, Twain and his brother Henry were working on the riverboat Pennsylvania in June 1858. While they were lying in port in St. Louis, the writer had a most remarkable dream."

Jeffrey J. Kripal, The Flip.

Kripal's book shines a light on a fascinating pattern that doesn't get much attention: individuals who explore inexplicable phenomena (such as the origins of the Big Bang and the implications of quantum theory) often experience sudden and profound shifts in perception. These "flips" lead them to expand their understanding of reality and consciousness, integrating elements of spirituality into their previously scientific worldview.

Kripal argues that this isn't just about materialists turning into spiritualists or scientists finding faith. Instead, he suggests a third way that combines the best of both approaches. His book, supported by deep readings of leading thinkers, philosophers, and scientists, shows how this integration creates a richer, more comprehensive understanding of the universe. Really interesting read!

First lines of Hugh Eakin's "Picasso's War"

 "One afternoon shortly after his forty-first birthday, John Quinn ascended to the top of an undistinguished five-story building on Fifth Avenue. He had come to see the work of an artist who had never been shown in the United States before."

- Hugh Eakin, Picasso's War 

Compelling story of the planning and energy that went into breaking modern art into America. Insightful stories about modern artists, their dealers, and the collectors (well, really just one: John Quinn) that strove to bring the art of Picasso, Braque, et al to the United States. Or, to be more precise, to have this modern art understood by the American public rather than denounced as degenerate. It's hard to imagine pictures arising such passions these days - until you reflect upon the recent trend towards book banning and other censorship and realize that this conservative, puritanical streak has always been part of American society. And, as such, the efforts of Quinn and others are sorely needed to help bring modern ideas and forms into the discussion.

First lines of Jeff Vandermeer's "Bourne"

 "I found Borne on a sunny gunmetal day when the giant bear Mord came roving near our home. To me, Borne was just salvage at first. I didn't know what Borne would mean to us. I couldn't know that we would change everything."

- Borne, by Jeff Vandermeer

I should have loved this book. It's right up my alley: it's set in this harsh, post apocalyptic world where a few plucky survivors eek out a living rummaging through scraps of old technology and evading the dangerous results of genetic experiments gone awry - like Mord, an almost God-like flying bear. Rachel, our protagonist, stumbles upon a mysterious object during a foraging trip, and this is where the book really hits its stride. The object is Bourne, and it's fascinating to see his/her/its transfomration from an object to a pet, then to a strangely human-like cephalopod, and eventually to a childlike weapon. 

And yet. Despite all of these fascinating details, the book left me cold. Rather than marveling at the ineffable mystery of creation like in the Southern Reach books, Bourne tells a tale of people trying to survive in a brutalized world. It was interesting but I felt that the plot's ultimate quest to be a bit trite, his descriptions fascinating but meandering, and the whole thing just too long. 

Don’t get me wrong, VanderMeer is an incredibly talented writer, and I’ll definitely keep exploring his works. But in the end I found Bourne just didn't resonate with me the way his other books have.

First Lines of Kurt Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions"

 "This is a tale of a meeting of two lonesome, skinny, fairly old white men on a planet which was dying fast.

One of them was a science-fiction write named Kilgore Trout. He was a nobody at the time, and he supposed his life was over. He was mistaken. As a consequence of the meeting, he became one of the most beloved and respected human beings in history.

The man he met was an automobile dealer, a Pontiac dealer named Dwayne Hoover. Dwayne Hoover was on the brink of going insane."

- Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

This odd book one stands out from the rest of Vonnegut's oeuvre for a few reasons:

• Depressing. Not that Vonnegut's writing contains a lot of positive feelings, but BoC feels particularly grim. Part of it is his meta-commentary about the state of his own life, including his pessimism about writing: "Once I understood what was making America such a dangerous, unhappy nation of people who had nothing to do with real life, I resolved to shun storytelling. ... I would bring chaos to order, instead, which I think I have done. ... It is hard to adapt to chaos, but it can be done. I am living proof of that: it can be done. "
• Drawings. There are a LOT of Vonnegut's drawings in this novel. Too many, in fact. A few make sense but I found so many of them distracting. 
  
• Racism. I don't think Vonnegut is a racist; quite the opposite in fact. Regardless, it's extremely difficult to read his continued use of the N-word - every time it appears it completely took me out of the story.

See Also:  

• Book Review: Kurt Vonnegut's "Bluebeard"
• First Lines of Kurt Vonnegut's "Bluebeard"
  

First Lines of Teju Cole's "Tremors"

"The leaves are glossy and dark and from the dying blooms rises a fragrance that might be jasmine. He sets up the tripod and begins to focus the camera. He has pressed the shutter twice when an aggressive voice calls out from the house on the right. This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened to him but he is still startled. He takes on a friendly tone and says he is an artist, just photographing a hedge. You can't do that here, the voice says, this is private property. The muscles of his back are tense. He folds the tripod, stows the camera in its bag, and walks away."

- Teju Cole, Tremor. 

The best novels teach you how to read them. It's part of the beauty of the form. Thus, reading a Margaret Atwood is different than readying a Ursula K. LeGuin who is different than reading a Don Delillo or David Mitchell. Each of those authors creates a new reality through their structure and dialog, leading perceptive readers to learn what to pay attention to. This is why good novels are so interesting and powerful; it's like learning how to see through different eyes.

So when I started Tremor, I was patient with the absence of a traditional plot. And as the book continued, I learned that the book is an abstract examination of many things - it's wandering narrative takes in African music, Art bias, relationships, disease, and much more. Narrators change and subjects shift, fiction is blended with non-fiction, and topics that were covered early in the book spiral back to be discussed again. I appreciated how Cole brought these different perceived realities to life, and liked how he helps the reader to see the humanity behind all perceptions. I'll be picking up more of his books soon. 

First Lines of Samuel R. Delany's "Nova"

 "'Hey, Mouse! Play us something,' one of the mechanics called from the bar.

'Didn't get signed on no ship yet?' chided the other. 'Your spinal rocket'll rust up. Come on, give us a number." 

The Mouse stopped running his finger around the rim of his glass. Wanting to say "no" he began a "yes." Then he frowned."

- Samuel R. Delany, Nova

Delany's work has always impressed me, but i've only really known his famous works: Dalghren,  Trouble on Triton, the always stunning "Aye, and Gomorrah" from Dangerous Visions. Nova is one of his earlier novels, appealing to me for having more plot than the sprawling Dalghren and for his elements of Tarot, Moby Dick, and classical mythology. Overall, it's a vibrant book - filled with color and invention with very little of the obsolescence that 50 years of scientific progress can often bring to older speculative fiction. Like many of his books I felt like I didn't catch all of the thematic references, but then again I didn't feel like I needed to because there were so many fascinating aspects to the story. My favorite parts were the univeral acceptance of the Tarot, the power structure of the galactic governments and how Von Ray - the Ahab-like obsessed captain - wanted revolution, and the different species and how they spoke and related to each other. An excellent example of New Wave scifi.

 Good summary of the book here.

First Lines of Samit Basu's "The City Inside"

 "Sometimes Joey feels like her whole life is a montage of randomly selected, algorithm-controlled surveillance cam clips, mostly of her looking at screens or sitting glazed-eyed at meetings. As a professional image builder and storyteller, she finds the lack of structure even more offensive than the banality of the material. She's always taken pride in her instinct for cuts and angles and rhythms in the wildly successful stories that she produces--one day, one perfect day, her life will be just as award-worthy."

- Samit Basu, The City Inside

This wonderful novel is a frenetic ball of energy, depicting the world of New Delhi in a plausible near-future where social media, algorithms, and authoritative governments rule the day. Basu's prose, filled with ideas and sprawling vitality, covers a lot of ground very quickly - you're immersed in Joey's world, finding yourself looking for societal insights and warnings. A smart, entertaining read. Abigail Nussbaum's review (under it's original title Chosen Spirits), inspired me to pick it up.   

First Lines of Margaret Atwood's "Old Babes in the Wood"

 "Nell came home one day just before dinnertime and found the front door open. The car was gone. There was a trail of blood splotches on the steps, and once she was inside the house, she followed it along the hall carpet and into the kitchen. There was a knife on the cutting board, one of Tig's favorites, Japanese steel, very sharp--and beside it, a blood-stained carrot, one end severed. Their daughter, nine at the time, was nowhere to be found." 

- Margaret Atwood, "First Aid" from the Old Babes in the Wood collection.

Another collection of sharp Atwood short stories. Like all such books some stories hit and others don't, but most of these are quite good - filled with smart descriptions and insightful observations. Atwood's always been conscious of mortality but her age and her husband's recent demise have inevitably caused death's shadow to loom larger over many of these stories, giving them a melancholy air.

First Lines of Richard Powers "The Overstory"

 "First, there was nothing. Then there was everything.

Then, in a park above a western city after dark, the air is training messages. A woman sits on the ground, leaning against a pine. Its bark presses hard against her back, as hard as life. its needles scent the air and a force hums in the heart of the wood. Her ears tune down to the lowest frequencies. The tree is saying things, in words before words."

- Richard Powers, The Overstory.

The beginning section (Roots) of this Pulitzer Prize winning novel is so entertaining, powerful, and full of universal truths that it might just be the best thing I've ever read. Powers introduces eight different narratives, each one in its own short story and it's one hell of a ride - filled with love and disillusionment and betrayal and random acts of cruel fate. It feels real. The later sections of the book weave the characters together in different ways and so far (I've been reading the rest of the book in slow sips, saving and savoring its taste like a rare scotch) it's still excellent but does pale, just a bit, in comparison with that tour de force of an overture. Pick it up - you wont be disappointed.

First Lines of Stephen King's "Holly"

 "It's an old city, and no longer in very good shape, nor is the lake beside which it has been built, but there are parts of it that are still pretty nice. Longtime residents would probably agree that the nicest section is Sugar Heights, and the nicest street running though it is Ridge Road, which makes a gentle downhill curve from Bell College of Arts and Sciences to Deerfield Park, two miles below. On its way, Ridge Road passes many find houses, some of which belong to college faculty and some to the city's more successful businesspeople--doctors, lawyers, bankers, and top-of-the-pyramid business executives. Most of these homes are Victorians, with impeccable paintjobs, bow windows, and lots of gingerbread trim."

- Stephen King, Holly

Another speedy read by the prolific King. This one contains some nasty scenes, but also has a lot of that folksy King observational prose which can be so addicting. Not the best of his novels I've ever read - I found the choice to reveal the who behind the whodunit to take the edge off of the suspense - but still a fun read to start off the new year.

Also: was surprised to wake up in the middle of the night to find that the writing and windows on the cover are glow-in-the-dark! Surprisingly creepy.

First Lines of Max Brooks "World War Z"

 "It goes by many names: 'The Crisis,' 'The Dark Years,' 'The Walking Plague,' as well as newer and more 'hip' titles such as 'World War Z' or 'Z War One.' I personally dislike this last moniker as it implies an inevitable 'Z War Two.' For me, it will always be 'The Zombie War,' and while many may protest the scientific accuracy of the word zombie, they will be hard-pressed to discover a more globally accepted term for the creatures that almost caused our extinction. Zombie remains a devastating word, unrivaled in its power to conjure up so many memories or emotions, and it is these memories, and emotions, that are the subject of this book." 

- Max Brooks, World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

Nothing like the Brad Pitt movie, Brooks' excellent novel is essentially a collection of short stories detailing the contours of a zombie outbreak. Relentlessly inventive and covering all sorts of details, I particularly appreciated its global approach - while there is a huge focus on the US, large chunks of the book take place in all areas of the globe, each contributing to the narrative with their unique local color. My only quibble is that the nature of the book - each "short story" is told via an interview - sometimes can feel static: you experience the action at a remove, though a story, rather than by being immersed in it. Regardless I finished the book in a matter of days and would recommend it to anyone who appreciates a good adventure story.

First Lines of Arthur Brooks "Strength to Strength"

 "Who are the five greatest scientists who have ever lived? This is the kind of question people like to debate in nerdy corners of the internet that you probably don't visit, and I don't intend to take you there. But no matter how much or little you know about science, your list is sure to include Charles Darwin. He is remembered today as a man who changed our understanding of biology completely and permanently. So profound was his influence that his celebrity has never wavered since his death in 1882.

And yet Darwin died considering his career to be a disappointment."

- Arthur Brooks, Strength to Strength  

As I get older, I have an obvious interest in what success looks like as as an aging person in a society obsessed with youth. Brooks examines middle-aged and elderly satisfaction though many different lenses, and perhaps the most interesting to me was the idea of Fluid vs. Crystalized Intelligence. Put simply, Fluid Intelligence is reasoning and problem solving while Crystallized Intelligence is the combined use of past knowledge. Or as Brooks puts it: "When you are young, you have raw smarts; when you are old, you have wisdom."

Strength to Strength is essentially a survey of ideas. While not all of them resonated with me, I enjoyed the journey. The book certainly helped me (as someone who just turned 50) reframe my tendencies towards synthesis and common sense as a benefit, not a bug. 

First Lines of Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game"

 "I've watched though his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one. Or at least as close as we're going to get."

"That's what you said about the brother."

- Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game

First Lines of Richard Powers "The Overstory"

 "First there was nothing. Then there was everything.

Then, in a park above a western city after dusk, the air is raining messages. A woman sits on the ground, leaning against a pine. Its bark presses hard against her back, as hard as life. Its needles scent the air and a force hums in the heart of the wood. Her ears tune down to the lowest frequencies. The tree is saying things, in words before words."

- Richard Powers, "The Overstory"

First Lines of Merlin Sheldrake's "Entangled Life"

 "Fungi are everywhere but they are easy to miss. They are inside you and around you. They sustain you and all that you depend on. As you read these words, fungi are changing the way that life happens, s they have done for more than a billion years. They are eating rock, making soil, digesting pollutants, nourishing and killing plants, surviving in space, inducing visions, producing food, making medicines, manipulating animal behavior, and influencing the composition of the Earth's atmosphere."

- Merlin Sheldrake, Entangled Life, How fungi make our worlds, change our minds & shape our futures

Sheldrake shares some absolutely fascinating details about fungi - not just mushrooms (which are the fungi's fruit) but also their mycorrhizal networks - in this amazing book. Take two details: The details what (little) we know about how fungi facilitate communication and information sharing between trees (the infamous "wood wide web") or how the symbiotic properties of lichens leads to a breakdown of component parts: "The biological identity of most organisms can't be pried apart from the life of their microbial symbionts." (p 91) I knew mushrooms were having a moment, but learning just how strange their behaviors are, and how little we actually know about how they function, it's hard not to dream about the amazing capabilities this new knowledge unlocks. Highly recommend!

First Lines of David Browne's "Goodbye 20th Century"

 "On the night they met, the summer evening when it all began, the first thing he noticed about her was her height. Since she was a good foot shorter than he was, he had to bend down to say hello. Even when he did, it was hard to see here petite, lean face. She was wearing a cap and sunglasses, the latter with the shades flipped up, and only her long, slender nose poked through."

David Browne, Goodbye 20th Century: A biography of Sonic Youth

First lines of Zadie Smith's "Fences: A Brexit Diary"

 "Back in the old neighborhood in northwest London after a long absence, I went past the local primary school and noticed a change."

- Zadie Smith, from "Fences: A Brexit Diary" from her Feel Free: Essays collection.

Smith's analysis of Brexit, combined with astute and relevant antidotes from her life and those around her, all combined with her usual powerful writing, is one of the best things that I've read in some time. I highly recommend it. One thought-provoking sentence:

"While we loudly and rightly condemn the misguided racial attitudes that led to millions asking "them" to leave "us," to get out of our jobs and public housing and hospitals and schools and country, we might also take a look at the last thirty years and ask ourselves what kind of attitudes have allowed a different class of people to discreetly maneuver, behind the scenes, to ensure that "them" and "us" never actually meet anywhere but in symbol. ... In this atmosphere of hypocrisy and deceit, should the working-class poor have shown themselves to be the "better man" when all around them is corruption and venality? When everyone's building a fence, isn't it a true fool who lives out in the open?" 

Powerful stuff, and relevant not only to her native England but what's occurring in the US as well.