Tuesday, November 5, 2013

~ First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros ~


First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea every Tuesday. To participate, share the opening paragraph or two of a book you've decided to read based on that paragraph. I won this book last year and have been meaning to read it since. The author has also been on my list of author’s to read since her first book was published. The story in this book sounds fascinating. It’s termed a ‘literary mystery’, a type of book I usually enjoy. I’ve only just started reading this book but I’m already caught up in the story!

Don't forget to drop by Bibliophile by the Sea to read Diane's selection this week and those of the other participants. You'll probably get some good book titles, too!
 
 
The Nobodies Album
by
Carolyn Parkhurst

There are some stories no one wants to hear. Some stories, once told, won’t let you go so easily. I’m not talking about the tedious, the pointless, the disgusting: the bugs in your bag of flour; your hour on the phone with the insurance people; the unexplained blood in your urine. I’m talking about narratives of tragedy and pathos so painful, so compelling, that they seem to catch inside you on a tiny hook you didn’t even know you’d hung. You wish for a way to pull the story back out; you grow resentful of the very breath that pushed those words into the air. Stories like this have become a specialty of mine.

It wasn’t always that way; I used to try to write the kind of story everyone wanted to hear, but I soon learned what a fool’s errand that was. I found out there are better ways to get you. “I wish I hadn’t read it,” a woman wrote to me after she finished my last novel. She sounded bewildered, and wistful for the time before she’d heard what I had to say. But isn’t that the point — to write something that will last after the book has been put back on the shelf? This is the way I like it. Read my story, walk through those woods, and when you get to the other side, you may not even realize that you’re carrying something out that you didn’t have when you went in. A little tick of an idea, clinging to your scalp, or hidden in a fold of skin. Somewhere out of sight. By the time you discover it, it’s already begun to prey on you; perhaps it’s merely gouged your flesh, or perhaps it’s already begun to nibble away at your central nervous system. It’s a small thing, whatever it is, and whether your life will be better for it or worse, I cannot say. But something’s different, something has changed.

And it’s all because of me.

What do you think? Would you keep reading?

10 comments:

  1. It's been about three years since I read this one. I remember being disappointed in it, but I did like it. I hope you like it better than I did!

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  2. intriguing beginning! just checked the synopsis, sounds good. thanks for sharing

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  3. I see more and more novels that begin with the storyteller. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'll be interested to see what you think. Here's Mine

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  4. The opening has got me interested... I'd be curious to see where this story is going. Hope you enjoy it, Amy!

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  5. I have enjoyed other books by this author...and I love that beginning. So it's going on my list! Thanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.

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  6. wow -- that pulled me in Amy. I would keep reading. thanks for joining us.

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  7. I spend an hour on the phone with the insurance company! This intro grabbed me right away.

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  8. the title is very interesting and the intro pulled me right in. kelley—the road goes ever ever on

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  9. That beginning does not grab me. The character writes the stories I avoid at all cost.

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