First Chapter ~ First Paragraph Tuesday Intros is a weekly meme hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea. It's an opportunity to share the first paragraph(s) of a book I am currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.
Today I'm featuring the opening paragraphs from Orfeo by Richard Powers, which a friend gave me last month.
"An overture, then:
Lights blaze from an American Craftsman home in a demure neighborhood, late on a spring evening, in the tenth year of the altered world. Shadows dance against the curtains: a man working late, as he has every night that winter, in front of shelves filled with glassware. He's clad in mufti, protective goggles, and latex hospital gloves, and his Giacometti body hunches forward as if in prayer. A gray but still-thick Beatles mop hangs in his eyes.
He studies a book on the gear-cluttered workbench. In one hand--a single-channel pipette, raked like a dagger. From a tiny refrigerated vial, he sucks up no more colorless liquid than a hoverfly might take from a spring of bee balm. This pellet goes into a tube no bigger than a mouse's muzzle, a dollop so small he can't be sure it's really there. His gloved hands shake as he shoots the used pipette tip into the trash."
What do you think? Would you continue reading?
This is one of the most intriguing introductions I've read in a while. Beyond the pop culture references, I want to know: Who is this man? What is he so intent on creating? Is he up to no good?
What are you reading now or planning to read soon?
First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #50 was originally published by
Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished
without attribution.
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