Book Beginnings on Friday is a meme hosted by Becky at Page Turners(Becky's taking a bit of a break at the moment, but head over and check out some of her older posts anyway).
Anyone can participate; just share the opening sentence of your current read, making sure that you include the title and author so others know what you're reading. If you like, share with everyone why you do, or do not, like the sentence.
This week, one of the books I am reading is Bernard Cornwell's Rebel
. I'd just finished reading Crane's Red Badge of Courage
and was looking for a bit of a modern take on the American Civil War. Here's the first sentence:
. I'd just finished reading Crane's Red Badge of Courage and was looking for a bit of a modern take on the American Civil War. Here's the first sentence:The young man was trapped at the top end of Shockoe Slip where a crowd had gathered in Cary Street.It's a good enough start to a novel. It gets straight to the action, though I am not sure why Cornwell uses 'young man' instead of Nathaniel Starbuck(the protagonists name). If it's a literary device( like Crane's use of 'the Youth') then its done away with fairly quickly.
I am not enjoying Rebel
, I am finding that Cornwell's style is grating on me. The only real action happens in the first five or six pages and after that its beginng to feel drawn out. I also find his referencing of particular streets and store names annoying as they don't appear to be important to the story - if it's for the sake of historical accuracy Bernie, it's not working for me and I love history.
