That page/sentence meme again

[desperance]

I really shouldn't do these, because by definition, when I'm at the computer I'm at the desk, where the range of books is - well, limited. It'll always be work, my own or someone else's.

Still:

Grab the book nearest you. Right now. Turn to page 56. Find the fifth sentence. Post that sentence along with these instructions in your LiveJournal. Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

And then she was gone, suddenly and unacceptably: she who had been both his shadow and his shelter for all these many weeks, the sharp heart of this new life he was building, steel to his stone.

—Daniel Fox, Jade Man's Skin (manuscript)

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Slightly strange this one as the nearest book to me is the Linotype font catalogue... page 56, 5th 'sentence' is Bold Italic ITC Legacy Sans and runs a-z; A-Z; 1234. :)

Slim

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Hee. Does it actually call itself a font catalogue, by the way? I'm an old letterpress man, and by me that's a typeface catalogue; fonts are boxes full of yer actual type...

[(Anonymous)]

'... the Linotype Library of fonts...' and '... this typeface catalog...' - German company with American values?

S

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Lovely. I love the balance of that and the rhythm through all those 's's. Like a lyrical version of Anglo-Saxon heroic verse.
Curiously, I'm currently rereading Dragon in Chains prior to reviewing it for Strange Horizons. If you're likely to see Daniel in the next day or two could you warn him that I may be mailing to check a couple of quotations?

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I will do that thing. And thank you on his behalf!

[slovobooks.livejournal.com]

The book closest to me right this minute is FM 31-20: Department of the Army Field Manual - Special Forces Operational Techniques...

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I completely misread that as Department of the Army Field Mouse. I think there needs to be one...

[frumpo.livejournal.com]

"Contemplate the mysteries of the Hermel Pyramid (p361)"

Lonely Planet - Syria & Lebanon

[desperance.livejournal.com]

*contemplates*

writers/editors always have trouble with this meme...

[lagilman]

If I reach far enough to almost fall out of my chair:
"In Middle English to the 1800s, a maid was a virgin man." English Through the Ages by William Brohaugh. There. Now you've learned something today.


Otherwise, the closest thing to me is: "The look the boy gave him suggested that he highly doubted that, and Malech almost laughed." The Vineart War: Flesh & Fire by, um, moi. (manuscript)

Re: writers/editors always have trouble with this meme...

[desperance.livejournal.com]

"In Middle English to the 1800s, a maid was a virgin man." English Through the Ages by William Brohaugh. There. Now you've learned something today.

Wow, I really have. Thank you!

Re: writers/editors always have trouble with this meme...

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

Quite informative. Does that mean "maid" was then the masculine form of "maiden"? (I'm serious)

[jemck.livejournal.com]

Um, I must also confess the closest book is one of mine one, really, truly, on account of just having had the first author copies of Irons in the Fire arrive, courtesy of UPS. huzzah

"Eclan jerked the reins, surprised."

So, make of that what you will.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

If it makes you feel better, the second closest book to me was the IRONS manuscript. :)

[amberflux.livejournal.com]

Teehee, actually, the one closest to me is a manuscript of mine, as well. (Unless you count an Apple PowerBook as an actual book. Which I don't.)

"Scherpe potloden en kwaadaardige kolenkachels belagen je van alle kanten."

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Hee. Don't you flash your Foreign at me... (We can has translation nao?)

[amberflux.livejournal.com]

From the Dutch: "You are being set upon by sharp pencils and evil coal-fired stoves."

Um, yes, there are reasons. Valid ones. Honest.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Yay! I knew it would be something fabulous. Sometimes you can just tell, y'know?

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

Hm. I'm not sure how you count sentences in the Harrap's Unabridged Dictionnaire (yep, that's how it's called). So I'll cheat slightly and take the book inderneath that one, Weird Tales, Fall 1989, Karl Edward Wagner issue, and the sentence is: I thrust my jaw out, turned on my heel and strode rapidly away from her. (The Pit-yakker, by Brian Lumley)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

That is ... oh, so very Brian. Every clause a physical expression.

But damn, now you've got me thinking about Karl...

[mantichore.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the Club, I've been thinking about him very much lately. But then again, I'm putting the finishing touches to the French translation of the third volume of the Complete Kane, and it's impossible to read (and re-read, and translate, and ponder) "At first, just ghostly" without remembering all those Fantasycons where Karl and Dennis Etchison and Charles Grant would clown around, obviously enjoying themselves and having a great time visiting. And now Karl and Charles Grant are gone.

Actually, on the way back from the latest Fantasycon, I stayed a bit in London and tried to find the places Karl mentions in the story. Most of them are still there, the pubs more than the hotels, and it felt a bit strange. I've taken a few pics:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmarcel/sets/72157607643564384/

Yeah, the chatter is in French. So sue me. ^_____^

Book, wut book?

[baboongirl.livejournal.com]

If I turn to the left it's:

"Yes, father, but I was interested in the point."
(James Douglas: "Theodore Watts-Dunton, Poet Novelist Critic")

and If I turn to the right we get:

"Among the distinguished contributors were Oscar Wilde and his elder brother Willie, T.W.H.Rolleston, John Todhunter, Freeman Wills, Brabazon Casement (a relative of Roger Casement) and Standish O'Grady"
(Peter Haining and Peter Tremayne: "The Un-Dead")

Somehow I'm feeling that my reading matter lacks that keen edge of excitement, but at least there are some good names there.

Re: Book, wut book?

[(Anonymous)]

My vote goes to James Douglas, although t'other book is much more in my line. I would love to be called Brabazon Casement; but I really want to have grown up saying "Yes, father, but I was interested in the point."