#FirstLineFriday Submissions Are Now Closed – We Have Our Winners & the Answer to the Quiz!

/ Marcia Meara

Hope you enjoyed our fourth #FirstLineFriday Trivia Quiz! Remember, it isn’t ONLY about winning. It’s about sharing some great opening lines that make you want to come up with ideas for your own books. Some of these are so beautiful or intriguing, they almost demand a reader dig into the story. And that’s the kind of thing we should be looking at and learning from. So play the game, for sure, but also study these lines as ways to improve your own skills. There’s value in that as well. 🙂

Today, we have two winners: Darlene Foster and Bette Stevens, whose book club just happens to have chosen this very book for their monthly selection. What are the odds! Congratulations, Ladies, and I hope you enjoy your prizes.

And here’s the answer to today’s quiz:

“In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.”

This is the brilliant and curiosity-arousing  opening line from  the 1976 novella  A River Runs Through It, by Norman Maclean. It was made into a very popular film roughly  20 years later, directed by Robert Redford, and starring Tom Skerritt. (Oh, and some guy named Brad Something-Or-Other. 😀 )

BLURB:

From its first magnificent sentence, “In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing,” to the last, “I am haunted by waters,” A River Runs Through It is an American classic.

Based on Norman Maclean’s childhood experiences, A River Runs Through It has established itself as one of the most moving stories of our time; it captivates readers with vivid descriptions of life along Montana’s Big Blackfoot River and its near magical blend of fly fishing with the troubling affections of the heart.

“A masterpiece. . . . This is more than stunning fiction: It is a lyric record of a time and a life, shining with Maclean’s special gift for calling the reader’s attention to arts of all kinds—the arts that work in nature, in personality, in social intercourse, in fly-fishing.”—Kenneth M. Pierce, Village Voice.

Buy A River Runs Through It HERE
(You owe it to yourself to read this one!)

And there you have it! I hope that if you’re unfamiliar with this story,  you’ll consider adding it to your TBR pile. It’s well worth a read! Thanks for playing and see you next week, 8:00 am sharp, with another #FirstLineFriday quiz.

21 thoughts on “#FirstLineFriday Submissions Are Now Closed – We Have Our Winners & the Answer to the Quiz!”

    • Still, I think half of the fun is seeing what a good opening line can do. This one made me curious immediately, because of the comparison between religion and fly fishing. It pulled me right in, which is, of course, just what you want your opening line to do. I’m determined to study each of these that I present and think about WHY they are considered by so many to be such great first lines. 😀 And then I’m going to pore over my lists and choose a new one for next Friday. I love scrolling through them! 🙂

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    • Both are beautifully done, Trish. I think you’d enjoy them. And the book is a novella, with two more short stories included, so a great deal from a wonderful writer. Hope you check them out when you get a chance. 🙂

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