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Fannish Friday: Favorite Beginnings
Tell me about a narrative of any kind--TV, movie, book, podcast, whatever--that has a beginning that just grabbed you. Especially if, once you've experienced the whole thing, you appreciate the beginning even more!
Some that I think of:
+ Octavia Butler's Kindred. When I pick up a new book, I like to read the opening matter--dedications, any author's notes, epigraphs the first few lines--as soon as I get it, even if I'm not going to read the book right away. I tried to do that with this book and...it did not work. I read the opening paragraph and I could not stop. I stayed up all night reading that book and it was totally worth it. Epitome of in media res used well!
+ Till We Have Faces. “I am old now and have not much to fear from the anger of gods. I have no husband nor child, nor hardly a friend, through whom they can hurt me. My body, this lean carrion that still has to be washed and fed and have clothes hung about it daily with so many changes, they may kill as soon as they please. The succession is provided for.”
+ The Hour. Let's start the first scene of the first episode of this show with Ben Whishaw talking directly to the camera. I never had a chance.
+ It's a cliche for a reason: A Christmas Carol has such a good opening line! Well done, Dickens!
+ Up! The rest of this movie is, imo, just okay, but the opening scene is a montage that lasts several minutes and it leaves me a weeping mess every time. This is kind of a cheat--it's more short-form storytelling than it is an opening tbh.
+ The Prince of Egypt. 'Nuff said.
(Next week is going to be favorite endings, so be thinking about that!)
Some that I think of:
+ Octavia Butler's Kindred. When I pick up a new book, I like to read the opening matter--dedications, any author's notes, epigraphs the first few lines--as soon as I get it, even if I'm not going to read the book right away. I tried to do that with this book and...it did not work. I read the opening paragraph and I could not stop. I stayed up all night reading that book and it was totally worth it. Epitome of in media res used well!
+ Till We Have Faces. “I am old now and have not much to fear from the anger of gods. I have no husband nor child, nor hardly a friend, through whom they can hurt me. My body, this lean carrion that still has to be washed and fed and have clothes hung about it daily with so many changes, they may kill as soon as they please. The succession is provided for.”
+ The Hour. Let's start the first scene of the first episode of this show with Ben Whishaw talking directly to the camera. I never had a chance.
+ It's a cliche for a reason: A Christmas Carol has such a good opening line! Well done, Dickens!
+ Up! The rest of this movie is, imo, just okay, but the opening scene is a montage that lasts several minutes and it leaves me a weeping mess every time. This is kind of a cheat--it's more short-form storytelling than it is an opening tbh.
+ The Prince of Egypt. 'Nuff said.
(Next week is going to be favorite endings, so be thinking about that!)
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- When the Angels Left the Old Country, by Sacha Lamb
- Kaufman Field Guide to Advanced Birding
- All the Horses of Iceland, by Sarah Tolmie
- She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker-Chan
- Beowulf: A New Translation, by Maria Dahvana Headley
- Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke
- The Door in the Hedge, by Robin McKinley
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