For fun I thought it would be great if we all shared what we’re reading right now with a sentence or two from the first page.
It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. I realised, somehow, through the screaming in my mind, that even in that shackled, bloody helplessness, I was still free: free to hate the men who were torturing me, or to forgive them.
These are the first two sentences of Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, a 933 page novel that mirrors his own life.
So what are you reading right now and can you share a sentence or two from the first page? Any time of book works for me 🙂
Stacy's Books 
Wow, 933 pages! I’m reading EAT, DRINK, AND BE FROM MISSISSIPPI. It starts out with, “Hinds County needed rain. Heat rose to nearly a hundred degrees most afternoons.”
Shantaram is one of Jason’s favorites so I thought I should finally read it! Although eating and drinking sounds like more fun 🙂
“He had been stuck in a jam on the A1 for two mind-numbing hours so that it was already past the middle of the morning when he arrived in Edinburgh. It had been raining, steadily and unforgivingly, on the drive north and had only begun to ease off as he hit the outskirts of town.”
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. It is only 418 pages and I am halfway through it. I will be interested in reading your reivew of Shantaram. That is probably as close as I will get to actually reading it!
I won’t be done with it anytime soon!
“Clare: It’s hard being left behind. I wait for Henry, not knowing where he is, wondering if he’s okay. It’s hard to be the one who stays.”
– The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
I read Shantaram a few months ago. I think it’s quite good. But, speaking as an Indian, I think it focuses way too much on the seedier side of India. Not that a lot of what is portrayed in the book isn’t true, but every popular/award-winning book/movie featuring India seems to be catering to the global perspective of what India is (poor, poverty ridden) . Thus it becomes way too one-sided. Nobody aims at bringing out the positive side of being an Indian ( propelling economy, or simply, great food!-maybe that has been dealt with)
But otherwise I think the book was a good read. Worth spending a lot of time poring over. 🙂
I’ve only just started and I understand what you’re saying. The narrator seems to appreciate and love Bombay, even seeing the beauty in its poverty, which is good. Thanks for coming by and commenting 🙂
I’m reading “My Mercedes is not for sale” by Jeroen Van Bergeijk.
“I don’t think I ever would have thought of it myself. Visiting Ouagadougou, I mean. A good friend of mine, a fellow Dutchman, was getting married there, in the capital of the West African country Burkina Faso. To a Burkinabé. And I didn’t want to miss that. The wedding lasted three days and three nights. The last night, exhausted, I hailed a cab.”
Sorry, that’s more than a sentence or two, but they’re so short!
You always seem to read such interesting books and watch interesting movies!
Wow – I’m speechless! What a powerful teaser!
Here’s my Teaser! ~ Wendi
I almost included the whole first paragraph because it is very powerful, so it’s good to know the first two sentences were powerful enough on their own 🙂 Thanks for linking yours.
‘If the game of life ended tonight, would you be a winner?’
The Winner’s Manual For the Game of Life
-Jim Tressel
I really want to read this book!