This week's question:
Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
Turn to page 123.
What is the first sentence on the page?
The last sentence on the page?
Now . . . connect them together….(And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that’s cheating!)
The book I have at hand is Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker.
The first sentence on page 123 is:
I will tell you one more tale to earn myself that fire.
The last sentence is (actually last two sentences as it has an aside):
"Is that your idea of a life, Jakobok?" (He only called me Jakobok when he was spoiling for an argument; when feeling fond [on to page 124] he called me Mister B."
I'm not sure, to be honest, what is meant by "connect them together". By explaining their context? The demon, Jakobok Botch (Mister B.) is fighting with his fellow demon/friend Quitoon, about where on Earth _ in the 15th century _ they should go next to cause mayhem. The first sentence relates to Mister B. exhorting the reader to burn the very book they are reading, which he does periodically throughout the book. The last refers to Quitoon's desire to move on, and Jakobok's desire to stay put. So the connecting thread between the first sentence, and the last, would be conflict. :)
Okay. Let's try this one again. That'll teach me to do the BTT posts at midnight!
First line:
I will tell you one more tale to earn myself that fire.
What more do I have to do to convince you? I have told you of the horrors I have inflicted. And yet you keep reading. Do you not care? Are you also some kind of a monster? You must be, to still be reading this book. How many times already have I asked you to burn it and yet you keep reading?
Fine. Then what happens next, is your fault, and not mine.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
Quitoon and I had been together for a long time. And I was content, in our little house in the woods.
"Is that your idea of a life, Jakobok?" (He only called me Jakobok when he was spoiling for an argument; when feeling fond [on to page 124] he called me Mister B."
9 comments:
I wasn't sure either and I see that people have done different things - some have posted the sentences and left it at that, some like you and me have explained their context and some people have written their own story. I think it doesn't matter which you do!
I haven't read your book - so thanks for the information.
A book that asks you to burn it? Odd!
I wasn't sure about how to answer either. I'm not a creative writer so I went with context too.
Burn this book is the very first sentence OF the book. :) Clive Barker writes ... interesting horror novels.
I interpreted the challenge thusly: that we're supposed to write some sort of story connecting the two sentences... regardless of where they came from.
It's true that lots of people are doing lots of different things, though. I just thought that made the most sense because it's a "writing challenge."
Glad I wasn't the only one that was a little lost today.
Yes, it seems like a lot of us were a little confused.
Sounds like an interesting story. I'll have to look into that book. :)
Clive Barker. His books were turned into gruesome movies, weren't they? Happy (belated) BTT!
Now that you mention it ... the Hellraiser movies maybe? This challenge, once I got it, was a lot of fun! Thanks for the comments. :)
As an afterthought, I went and wrote a middle. I did not get it either!
Here is my BTT post!
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