Hocus Pocus


As you were.

quote:

Originally posted by PRG:
Hocus Pocus

Hooray for PRG. You are one well read dude. I know sinis just finished this book, and it certainly sounds like Vonnegut, so I'm guessing that's right.

I like to think I'm well read, but I also think I've just been lucky, too! In the case of this particular line, it has become somewhat fashionable and I have seen used in other places. I just wish I was as gifted at thinking of lines, but like I've said, I draw a blank every time I try! Go ahead and post one, Kendo.

"He was an inch, perhaps two, under six feet, powerfully built, and he advanced straight at you with a slight stoop of the shoulders, head forward, and a fixed from-under stare which made you think of a charging bull. His voice was deep, loud, and his manner displayed a kind of dogged self-assertion which had nothing aggressive in it. It seemed a necessity, and it was directed apparently as much at himself as at anybody else. He was spotlessly neat, apparelled in immaculate white from shoes to hat, and in the various Eastern ports where he got his living as ship-chandler's water-clerk he was very popular."

Long quote, but it's a little obscure. At the age of 17 or 18, this was arguably my favorite book.

BTW, PRG, when I need a quote, I'll often fetch it from Wikiquote.
I'll choose a book I've read, go to the author, and find a quote from it. Particularly when I'm at work, and don't have access to the book itself. I only quote from books I've actually read, though.

I already posted the first line in this thread!!

Here.

Post another one, kendo.

Oops. I forgot about that. It is a great book, though.

Ok, lets try again.


"In 1815, M. Charles-Francois-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of D---- He was an old man of about seventy-five years of age; he had occupied the see of D---- since 1806."

quote:

Originally posted by kendocubano:
"
BTW, PRG, when I need a quote, I'll often fetch it from Wikiquote.
I'll choose a book I've read, go to the author, and find a quote from it. Particularly when I'm at work, and don't have access to the book itself. I only quote from books I've actually read, though.

Good idea. I'll probably start doing that as well.

One of my all time favourite novels, by one of my all time favourite writers - Les Miserables!!!

(a intertextual follow up )

'Abandon all hope ye who enter here is scrawled in blood red lettering on the side of the Chemical Bank near the corner of Eleventh and First and is in print large enough to be seen from the backseat of the cab as it lurches forward in the traffic leaving Wall Street and just as Timothy Price notices the words, a bus pulls up, the advertisement for Les Miserables on its side blocking his view.....'

Do we need a new book?
In the interest of resurrection, I have a nice, easy one.
"It goes by many names: 'The Crisis,' 'The Dark Years,' 'The Walking Plague,' as well as newer and more 'hip' titles..."

Hell. i just realized 17 days went by with no-one guessing my book quote...which is from 'American Psycho.' Boo Hoo...nobody cares.

Anyway, onto Sinistre's line.....I know not of what you speak.....

oh, and p.s. whatever happened to Sunsplashed? I miss her input.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kulturtrager,

I knew it was American Psycho, but I (surprise!) didn't have a quote to post so I let it go. Oh well.

I think I might know Sin's quote, but I have to check at home for confirmation.

Silly PRG. You know you can always hand it off to me...
And how do you know ALL of these!?!? Are you some sort of telepathic book machine!?!?

I've just been getting lucky. I mean, I am a bit of a bibliophile, but I guess I just tend to remember first lines. Like you know, I'm dreadful at thinking of them without the book right in front of me, so I kind of wish there was a bit more balance.

Take for instance your quote above, which I confirmed is from World War Z. This one is pure luck because a friend of mine gave it to me last week and I always read the first one or two paragraphs.

Ok, I will try and post a quote. As your pa suggested, I'm going to wikiquote to see if I can dig one up. I've tried this once and they didn't have the books I wanted to try. I'll set my sights lower this time!

Ok I got one! This is not the first line, because I think that would give it away too quickly, but it is very close to the first line.

"It seems to me that almost everything is a waste of time"

PRG, not too sure. Someone else....where'd everyone go?

Um. No idea. Sorry. I bet PRG knows

Brett Easton Ellis Less Than Zero, quoth mine father?

Ok ok, here is the first line. This should help?

"There was once a boy named Milo who didn't know what to do with himself -- not just sometimes, but always."

The Phantom Tollbooth by I forget

"I wonder how many men, hiding their youngness, rise as I do, Saturday mornings, filled with the hope that Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam and Daffy Duck will be there waiting as our one true always and forever salvation?"

Sounds a little like Chuck Klosterman...

You're right, PRG, with the first line, I'd have totally gotten it. I loved the Phantom Tollbooth.