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Discussion: Read any great sentences lately?
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KHarrington |
Read any great sentences lately?
Jan 16 2008, 10:50 AM EST
Following are five sentences that forced me to dog-ear book pages and pause to consider the author – not for pulling me out of the story, but for giving me writer envy. Yes, when I read the following, I couldn't help but say, "I wish I'd written that!" "An incidental discovery was that even legendary success brought little happiness, only redoubled restlessness, gnawing ambition." Ian McEwan, On Chesil Beach ".....Claire says, turning to the counter to order what sounds like six drinks but turns out to just be a coffee." Jonathan Tropper, How To Talk To A Widower "Until now, Tom and Paula had all their wounds in common. Every hurt was diluted immediately, reduced by half for being shared, reduced again, almost redeemed by the attention that it earned." Lynn Hoffman, bang, Bang "But I was also free, invisible, as if the only evidence of my existence were in the tasks I performed, the services I rendered to others. When I stopped work, I disappeared." Rosemary Poole-Carter, The Women of Magdalene "Now, fifteen years and one mildly gifted son later, they had little to talk about. They were prone to epic silences and kept up their little hostilities like rubbed bronze." Dominic Smith, The Beautiful Miscellaneous What great sentences have you read recently? 8 out of 12 found this valuable. Do you?
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janehyde |
1. RE: Read any great sentences lately?
Jan 23 2008, 8:32 PM EST
This is a question that I love! But I'nm not at home just now, so I hope to get back! I love sentences. (I also really love Henry James but find occasional sentences of his very annoying, unneedfully interrupted with short phrases and such.)
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KHarrington |
2. RE: Read any great sentences lately?
Jan 24 2008, 10:49 AM EST
Thanks! I look forward to your reply. Best, Karen 2 out of 5 found this valuable. Do you? |
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janehyde |
3. RE: Read any great sentences lately?
Jan 24 2008, 8:52 PM EST
Ah, I got thinking about this and got carried away. This could lead to an ongoing essay. Shall we discount, at the start, those great but famous first sentences: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..., or "It is a truth universally acknowledged...'" or "All happy families are alike...."? Those are certainly seminal. And the somewhat lesser-known but equally powerful "On my naming day when I come 12 I gone front spear and kilt a wild boar he parbly ben the las wyld pig on the Bundel Downs any how there hadnt ben none for a long time befor him nor I aint looking to see none agen." (Russell Hoban, "Ridley Walker:)And what about the powerful sentences of my Episcopalian upbringing: "Be still, and know that I am God." Or "Like as the hart desireth the waterbrooks, so longeth my soul after thee, oh God" or many others from the Psalms. Or so msany sentences from Emerson, and from Thoreau? "Looking back together, telling our stories to one another, we learn how to be on our own." -- Lois Lowry, "Looking Back'; "Cleveland is a city in the orbit of New York but still firmly planted in the Midwest, not far enough from Manhattan in either miles or temperament ever to have qualified as a Second City, like Chicago, but not close enough to consider bowling ironic." Deanne Stillman in the NY Times Book Review, November 12000 "Ballooning spiders are members of what ecologists, with the accidental felicity that sometimes pops out of Greek and Latin sources, have delightfully called the aeolian plankton." -- Edward O. Wilson, "The Diversity of Life "As soon as I got used to the strange light within the tear, I began to swim clumsily toward my parents." (That's "tear" as in the eye.) -- Fred Chappell, "I Am One of Your Forever" 3 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
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janehyde |
4. RE: Read any great sentences lately?
Jan 24 2008, 8:53 PM EST
Karen -- I got shut out by the word limit! Maybe we should start a senbtence blog together? This is too much fun....
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KHarrington |
5. RE: Read any great sentences lately?
Feb 1 2008, 2:10 PM EST
Hey, that's not a bad idea. I have created about 5 of these kinds of articles already for blogging purposes. But I'm loving getting the response from other readers. You could add more of your post on www.fivethoughtsabout.blogspot.com where this all started. :) Happy Groundhog day.Karen 1 out of 3 found this valuable. Do you? |
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christians |
6. RE: Read any great sentences lately?
Jul 2 2008, 9:59 PM EDT
I'm not an author but rather a sufficiently deficient wanna-be writer! Anyway as my first post to this great site I thought I would quote myself as to give others an introduction of sorts to who I am. After all if you don't think your own stuff is good than how can I think well of others..."Of sights and sounds and lunatic phrases I'm loosing myself among the pages" -the juniper girls " We are all just living here in our own misfit harmony with such capacity for invention."-demons of lunatic island Best regards, Christian 0 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you? |
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clemmer |
7. RE: Read any great sentences lately?
Jul 11 2008, 9:24 AM EDT
Here's a collection of great six word sentences. In 2006, inspired by the urban legend that Ernest Hemingway came up with a six word story: "For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Worn," Smith Magazine challenged readers to write their memoirs in six words--no more, no less. One thousand of the submissions are gathered in this collection, with additional memoirs found on their website. "Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure" is fun and thought provoking. The following is a few examples to get you smiling and composing your own memoir: -- Still lost on road less traveled. -- Wandering imagination opens doors to paradise. -- My first concert: Zappa. Explains everything. -- Aging late bloomer yearns for do-over. -- Girlfriend is pregnant, my husband said. -- Let's just be friends, she said. -- Hope my obituary spells "debonair" correctly. -- Wasn't born a redhead; fixed that. 2 out of 4 found this valuable. Do you? |
