Thursday, February 28, 2008

I've been tagged!

So this whole meme thing is a bit of a puzzle to me. I mean, why do people do it? But hey, since I've been tagged I'll play along.

Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people & post a comment here once you post it to your blog, so I can come see.

Tag You're It!
A Man With Bread
LadyAelfwynn
Sutragirl
Miriam
Fyrlocc

A's Mom tagged me, so Lettuce Be on Her Head if you are inadequately enlightened or entertained by what you are about to read. Here goes...

I'm a total Sci-Fi/Fantasy geek. There I said it. And while I'm confessing, I am passionate about children's books. At one time I aspired to write children's books. (Once I even sent off a manuscript. Complete with a query letter and everything. Never heard back.) J.K. Rowling gives me hope and renews my faith, so who knows? I still may get published one day.

Enough stalling -- here is my entry:

The Algolian let out a steam-whistle shriek of fury and lunged forward while Macduff, brandishing the cane like a rapier, danced pudgily backward, threatening even as he retreated.

"Come on, you overgrown shore dinner," cried Macduff valiantly. "We'll have it out now, humanoid to lobster!"

From The Last Mimzy Stories, originally published as The Best of Henry Kuttner

The above excerpt is from a story entitled "The Voice of the Lobster." I like it for a couple for reasons.

1. The title reminds me of the Jabberwocky poem "Tis the Voice of the Lobster"

2. Henry Kuttner's work as a whole has a sublime, timeless quality that eludes many writers, especially me! So not only is his work a great read, it is also a fine example to emulate.

5 comments:

Scott Nolan said...

Oops - the first book I grabbed was a thesaurus, and there are not five complete sentences on the whole of page 123. It is interesting that the page is mostly given over to desire and that there are lots of synonyms... designate is the fifth word on the page...

Fun!

IsDihara said...

*affecting her best Southern accent*
Well, I do declay-ah! Ah you flirtin' with me s'ah?

Thanks for playing along even though you weren't tagged.

A's Mom said...

Thanks for playing along! Did you like this book?? I saw they made a children's movie of it. Maybe we'll have to put it on our Netflix list.

IsDihara said...

Actually, I love this book! It is a collection of short Sci-Fi stories and (so far) every one has drawn me in, either with intriguing plot or dialogue. I think the stories have a timeless quality -- very well-crafted.

If you like Science Fiction, I recommend it highly and am glad the original book was reprinted. Even if it was simply to promote the movie.

Marty said...

"Then he reached down and sank one of the jars till it was full and raised it up dripping. The water was so clear. He held it to the light..."

--The Road by Cormac McCarthy