12 ms·

Read first pages of novels, and reveal the author and title if you're hooked

469 points by gnomespaceship 8y ago

jannes 8y ago
The site fails to work with cookies disabled. Most sites that require cookies at least display an error message.
0x4f3759df 8y ago
Much easier on the eyes if the colors are inverted
smoll 8y ago
Great idea. I noticed that the right arrow key works great for quickly skipping a book I don't like, but if I accidentally push it there's no way to go back (back button and left arrow key don't work at all)
dqpb 8y ago
This is cool and worked well for me on mobile!
eranation 8y ago
This promoted me to write a first page of a new book idea. Was trying to write just the first page that would have gotten me curious enough to want more. I’d love if there was a similar website but instead of existing books it will have new book ideas. Authors will just write the first page and by votes (or donations) get encouraged to write more. Like Reddit’s writing prompts but more organized. Maybe it will be my next weekend project...
- kodablah 8y ago
  > [...] website but instead of existing books it will have new book ideas. Authors will just write the first page [...] I'd prefer an outline as the first page isn't enough. Maybe with some parts of the outline marked as spoiler. I just started keeping a couple story ideas as issues in a repo[0], but they don't come to me as often as software ideas. 0 - https://github.com/cretz/stories/issues https://github.com/cretz/stories/issues
- Kuiper 8y ago
  There are a number of sites where people post serial fiction as it's written, chapter by chapter, and many popular web serials began with opening chapters of around 500-2000 words (2-8 pages). These sites usually offer writers validation in the form of likes or star ratings, a view counter, and comments from readers (who will often respond with short affirming messages like "looking forward to chapter 2" or speculation about where the story might be headed). Royal Road is one of the newer and faster-growing sites, notable for being the biggest home of free LitRPG stories. Archive of Our Own (AO3) is a site mainly for fan works, though there are a number of people posting original fiction there. AO3 is currently a closed site with a queue to get in (most stories can be read by anyone, but an account is required to post), there's usually a waiting period of around 10 days after you submit your email address to the waiting list. There are also some forum-style sites like Sufficient Velocity (and its progenitor Spacebattles), where the forum software allows authors to "threadmark" certain posts in a thread and label them as chapters to separate them from the posts that are discussions/comments. Readers can choose between "Reader mode" (which just displays the posts that have been labeled as chapters by the original poster) or a regular forum mode (where they can see all of the comments from other posters between chapters). Although this forum-based approach might make it feel like it's less optimized for sharing stories (as opposed to sites that are tailored specifically to that purpose), I've found that the forum setting makes people much more likely to comment on stories. While these forum-based websites might not have the biggest audiences, they certainly seem to have the most engaged audiences, which I think makes them more valuable if you're looking to validate a story idea.
WolfeReader 8y ago
Could you add links to other book vendors besides Amazon?
NickM 8y ago
It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.
- nfoz 8y ago
  Reminds me of this: http://bulwer-lytton.com/ http://bulwer-lytton.com/ "The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, a whimsical literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels."
  - smrq 8y ago
    And, in a similar but shorter-winded vein, the Lyttle Lytton: http://adamcadre.ac/lyttle.html http://adamcadre.ac/lyttle.html
- volkk 8y ago
  that's why judging a book by one page is basically impossible and will never actually become popular aside from a fun little project
  - pomber 8y ago
    You can judge writing style by reading only one page. Soemtimes that's a good indicator.
    - volkk 8y ago
      writing style, true. but i've also read some really bland books written by great authors. to each their own i guess
- jrumbut 8y ago
  I think this might already happen. This is just anecdata but I often get turned off from books by overwrought first page(s). Eventually someone convines me to go back and the rest of the novel is good. I'd love to hear an author's perspective on this, if any of them notice it. My guess is that they stew on opening passages for years before writing, causing them to get a little neurotic about them, then eventually they settle down and write in a way that comes more naturally to them for the rest of the book.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
justincc 8y ago
Would be great to be able to categorize pages by genre.
4throwit 8y ago
It is astonishing how much trash there is in the literature market that still sells.
berbec 8y ago
Great idea. No HTTPS?
- TruthSHIFT 8y ago
  I feel ignorant about this. Why would this site need HTTPS?
  - kodablah 8y ago
    Put concisely, so nobody can inject content in-transit.
    - bnav6 8y ago
      Use an ISP that you can trust.
      - lghh 8y ago
        For most of us in the US, that isn't an option. Also, your ISP isn't the only point of attack for injections.
  - Bedon292 8y ago
    Search engines and browsers are quickly headed towards essentially requiring HTTPS. So probably want it from that stand point. And, first thing I can think of is affiliate links. The site is all affiliate links, but I can just MITM it and just sub in my own number and get credit.
- yesenadam 8y ago
  ngate's Discourse on HTTPS. I don't know how accurate it is, but it's a good read! http://n-gate.com/software/2017/07/12/0/ http://n-gate.com/software/2017/07/12/0/
  - icebraining 8y ago
    Doesn't seem factually inaccurate, it's essentially saying "not my problem". I assume the incompetence accusation on LE is due to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11881704 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11881704.
the_af 8y ago
Interesting. Some novels have powerful first pages and even opening paragraphs. However, one distinction (of many) between the novel and the short story is that the short story must hook your attention from the first paragraph, whereas a novel has the time and space to grow on you. I'm not sure this will work for novels. As an example, I got the first page of a book which talked about a middle-aged man and his relationship with a prostitute. I was surprised to find out the book was Coetzee's "Disgrace" -- a book I've read and which I do not associate at all with a middle-aged man and his affection for a prostitute. I really don't think you can decide whether you'll like a novel -- or even find out its main themes -- in the first few pages. I think this approach can successfully work for short stories, though. Short stories have no time to waste; they must both engage the reader and their themes in the first few paragraphs. ...but then again, do you really need a recommendation to read a short story? You might just as well read it and get it over with :)
urmish 8y ago
That may not work for all (I want to say most) of literature. Many books I like are pretty dry. These books are theme based and not story based where you don't really care how the story ends, but are more interested in the deep conversations between characters which are spread throughout the book which may not show up in the first few pages. The author uses the first few pages to describe the settings and make you more comfortable with the times and the environment the book is based on. You may not really be interested in those parts but subconsciously they help you out throughout the book and lead to a more immersive experience. This is what separates films from movies too. I'm sure even fast paced fiction (say thriller) writers would take their time in setting up a universe for the reader. You don't really remember the details described in each line but the approximate picture is enough to get you 'into the zone'.
Jagat 8y ago
I'm currently hooked to this free book "Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors" https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Go-Very-Short-Authors-ebook/dp/B00R1GECO6 https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Go-Very-Short-Authors-ebook/d... Each story is <1000 words (5-10mins), from a distinct author, and if you like the writing style, you can buy more books from the author.
- Kapow 8y ago
  Reminds me of "100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories" edited by Asimov. The format works really well for hard sci-fi, gets straight to the point. Some of them have stuck with me for decades.
  - wyldfire 8y ago
    I've looked up "Microcosmic God" several times because I can't seem to remember the title. But the story was particularly memorable. It wasn't in this Asimov anthology but it was published in the SF Hall of Fame. A quick search reveals that someone has a copy of the text freely (but perhaps not legitimately) available.
CurtMonash 8y ago
Tindr for books?
- bartread 8y ago
  Ooooh: Bindr. I like it.
sdsdsdsdsdsds 8y ago
How is this done? Where do you get the books and their first pages? I am wondering if Amazon API gives book preview also.
- morganvachon 8y ago
  It's curated from author/publisher submissions, link is top center: http://www.recommendmeabook.com/submit http://www.recommendmeabook.com/submit
rebuilder 8y ago
Very cool! I find myself skipping the vast majority of books on kindle because the blurbs make them sound awful to me, but I admit I'd probably also have skipped a lot of books I really liked had I judged them that way. Also this seems like a good way to find books I wouldn't normally consider sampling just because of laziness and prejudice on my part.
skookumchuck 8y ago
"Call me Ishmael." Ok, I'm hooked!
skookumchuck 8y ago
"It was a dark and stormy night. A door slammed. A woman screamed. A shot rang out. Meanwhile, back on the ranch..."
Faaak 8y ago
How did you do this site ? Did you download a big torrent of ebooks and extracted the first chapter/words of them ? Interesting though ;-)
irrational 8y ago
I kept hearing raving reviews of "The Name of the Wind". I started reading it and got a couple of chapters in and had no interest in continuing. I mentioned this to my brother and he told me that I had to keep going. So I figured I'd read a bit more and see if there was anything to the book. I just finished it on Saturday and I have to say it is easily one of the best books I have ever read. But, if I had just read the first pages of the book I never would have been hooked.
- openasocket 8y ago
  I felt pretty much the same way when reading it. "The Name of the Wind" is rather unusual as a novel because those first chapters are pretty fundamentally different than the rest of the novel. Not just in terms of plot, but I think also the general tone and style. I don't actually have a count, but I think it's a good 50-100 pages before the novel falls into its rhythm. It's not that the beginning is bad (in my opinion, obviously) it's just that there's a lot to set up and he does so without using a bunch of exposition.
  - didsomeonesay 8y ago
    "And, well, I thought. If I have to carry the damn thing, I might as well read it. So I started reading, and there, on page four—of a book that started on page three, mind you, were five bowls of stew." https://www.tor.com/2011/03/07/best-sff-novels-of-the-decade-an-appreciation-of-the-name-of-the-wind/ https://www.tor.com/2011/03/07/best-sff-novels-of-the-decade...
  - ghostbrainalpha 8y ago
    That's really interesting. The first few pages come pretty close to poetry in my opinion. For me its those interludes that raise TNOTW into a class above the normal Harry Potter Copycat Formula that is so popular now. I never even considered the possibility that, those bits would be putting people off. It's pretty clear that its those sections were Patrick Ruthfuss strives for perfection, that is taking so long to complete the series. He can churn out pages, once he gets "into the rythm" of more common storytelling.
iandanforth 8y ago
Like all other shortcuts for judging a book this one has plenty of issues. However I like that it disentangles a few of those issues. Instead of judging a book by the author, cover, title and then the first page you can focus in on just one of those heuristics. Also if you can control yourself and avoid revealing the author/title of books you don't like you won't bias yourself when you get recommendations from friends!
russellbeattie 8y ago
"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." Forget the first page... All you really need is the first sentence.
- overcast 8y ago
  That is just too iconic not to know.
nkg 8y ago
I'm hooked. Your app works. kudos.
acangiano 8y ago
Reminds me of the (I believe now defunct) Page99Test site. Similar concept but you read page 99 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_99_test https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_99_test) instead.
elicash 8y ago
Use this in conjunction with the Library Extension so that when you click the Amazon link, you find out whether it's also in your local public library! https://www.libraryextension.com https://www.libraryextension.com
camillomiller 8y ago
Open inspector in Chrome, find the #generated div, deactivate text-align: justify. Much better.
drblast 8y ago
It's funny that most of these that I read start off with a very annoying, cliched "writer" tone. I've always had the impression that authors just can't help buy try to prove how clever they are in the first paragraph at the expense of making the story compelling. It's like everyone has delusions that the book they're writing is going to be the next Moby Dick, so that beginning must be literary dammit.
- ycombinete 8y ago
  Very often it's more that people struggle to find a way to start a story. In much the same way that students use cliche'd academic speak in the introductions to their essays. It's not a pose, it's a crutch.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- amp108 8y ago
  I don't know which specific novels you're referring to, but the first sentence/paragraph/chapter of a novel often need to have a different tone from the rest. The opening of a novel sets the scene and sets the tone and raises expectations for the rest of the story in a way that a strictly narrative opening wouldn't. In other words, these "literary"-style openings are no more and no less clichéd than any other.
jyriand 8y ago
I would follow Marshall MacLuhan's advice. Open a book on page 69, read it. If you like what you read, buy it. Also: "Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you." -- Ford Madox Ford
- jgtrosh 8y ago
  My father's rule is to only read by opening books (new, old, known, unknown, already read, halfway read) randomly and just plowing through that random part of the book. I don't think I would personally enjoy that constant destructuration but it help get a global vision of many books fast.
sunstone 8y ago
Now this is a good idea!
Bedon292 8y ago
Pretty nifty, but I would like it to actually recommend based on my tastes. Like combine this and Goodreads.
- DavideNL 8y ago
  But that would also be a limitation, since you'd never explore new things ;)
  - Bedon292 8y ago
    You can still find new things that way. I get all kinds of recommendations on Netflix that I wouldn't have found on my own, but they still have high odds I will like them. And then not have to read through a dozen that are of no interest before you finally find a good one.
habosa 8y ago
If you live in SF, go to the Booksmith on Haight street and look up on the walls on the left side of the store. They have the first line of many famous novels, printed without context. I was shocked at how many I knew, even though if it had been posed to me in reverse (How does {book x} begin?) I would have had no idea. I'm not even a very attentive reader, but I guess some of these really great opening lines will stick with you forever. Two of my favorites: * "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” * “I’ve been cordially invited to join the visceral realists. I accepted, of course. There was no initiation ceremony. It was better that way.”
fouc 8y ago
Some really good books can be quite a struggle to read until you get past the first 100 pages. I even found Anathem by Neal Stephenson to be a struggle until I got past 200 pages, but after that it was so worth it.
dajonker 8y ago
This is a great idea, but for some reason it feels like a contest after I could guess 6 out of the first 10 correctly.
Bobbleoxs 8y ago
This is actually how I select books in a book shop. I admit I was ruined by all things tech with very limited attention span. In fact I only read the first paragraph over about a dozen books on the website and finally decided on one which turned out to be The hitchhacker's guide to the galaxy. My suggestion here is not necessarily putting out the first page but a page the author feels most representative of the story/view/idea. Personally I would either draw to a unique plot or some really smooth/beautiful verse. In both scenarios, I don't think the first page may necessarily be representative enough, leaving me the shame of missing a damn good book. Love the idea though! Thank you.
drumttocs8 8y ago
Very cool. How's it work? Affiliate links to amazon, sure- is amazon serving the first couple pages as well? Great project.

jannes 8y ago

The site fails to work with cookies disabled. Most sites that require cookies at least display an error message.

0x4f3759df 8y ago

Much easier on the eyes if the colors are inverted

smoll 8y ago

Great idea. I noticed that the right arrow key works great for quickly skipping a book I don't like, but if I accidentally push it there's no way to go back (back button and left arrow key don't work at all)

dqpb 8y ago

This is cool and worked well for me on mobile!

eranation 8y ago

This promoted me to write a first page of a new book idea. Was trying to write just the first page that would have gotten me curious enough to want more. I’d love if there was a similar website but instead of existing books it will have new book ideas. Authors will just write the first page and by votes (or donations) get encouraged to write more. Like Reddit’s writing prompts but more organized. Maybe it will be my next weekend project...

kodablah 8y ago
> [...] website but instead of existing books it will have new book ideas. Authors will just write the first page [...] I'd prefer an outline as the first page isn't enough. Maybe with some parts of the outline marked as spoiler. I just started keeping a couple story ideas as issues in a repo[0], but they don't come to me as often as software ideas. 0 - https://github.com/cretz/stories/issues https://github.com/cretz/stories/issues
Kuiper 8y ago
There are a number of sites where people post serial fiction as it's written, chapter by chapter, and many popular web serials began with opening chapters of around 500-2000 words (2-8 pages). These sites usually offer writers validation in the form of likes or star ratings, a view counter, and comments from readers (who will often respond with short affirming messages like "looking forward to chapter 2" or speculation about where the story might be headed). Royal Road is one of the newer and faster-growing sites, notable for being the biggest home of free LitRPG stories. Archive of Our Own (AO3) is a site mainly for fan works, though there are a number of people posting original fiction there. AO3 is currently a closed site with a queue to get in (most stories can be read by anyone, but an account is required to post), there's usually a waiting period of around 10 days after you submit your email address to the waiting list. There are also some forum-style sites like Sufficient Velocity (and its progenitor Spacebattles), where the forum software allows authors to "threadmark" certain posts in a thread and label them as chapters to separate them from the posts that are discussions/comments. Readers can choose between "Reader mode" (which just displays the posts that have been labeled as chapters by the original poster) or a regular forum mode (where they can see all of the comments from other posters between chapters). Although this forum-based approach might make it feel like it's less optimized for sharing stories (as opposed to sites that are tailored specifically to that purpose), I've found that the forum setting makes people much more likely to comment on stories. While these forum-based websites might not have the biggest audiences, they certainly seem to have the most engaged audiences, which I think makes them more valuable if you're looking to validate a story idea.

WolfeReader 8y ago

Could you add links to other book vendors besides Amazon?

NickM 8y ago

It's interesting to think what might happen if something like this became really popular. I'd imagine many novels might start adding super oddball stuff in the first page, just to stand out from the crowd and pique peoples' curiosity. Kind of the literary equivalent to clickbait headlines.

nfoz 8y ago
Reminds me of this: http://bulwer-lytton.com/ http://bulwer-lytton.com/ "The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, a whimsical literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels."
- smrq 8y ago
  And, in a similar but shorter-winded vein, the Lyttle Lytton: http://adamcadre.ac/lyttle.html http://adamcadre.ac/lyttle.html
volkk 8y ago
that's why judging a book by one page is basically impossible and will never actually become popular aside from a fun little project
- pomber 8y ago
  You can judge writing style by reading only one page. Soemtimes that's a good indicator.
  - volkk 8y ago
    writing style, true. but i've also read some really bland books written by great authors. to each their own i guess
jrumbut 8y ago
I think this might already happen. This is just anecdata but I often get turned off from books by overwrought first page(s). Eventually someone convines me to go back and the rest of the novel is good. I'd love to hear an author's perspective on this, if any of them notice it. My guess is that they stew on opening passages for years before writing, causing them to get a little neurotic about them, then eventually they settle down and write in a way that comes more naturally to them for the rest of the book.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

justincc 8y ago

Would be great to be able to categorize pages by genre.

4throwit 8y ago

It is astonishing how much trash there is in the literature market that still sells.

berbec 8y ago

Great idea. No HTTPS?

TruthSHIFT 8y ago
I feel ignorant about this. Why would this site need HTTPS?
- kodablah 8y ago
  Put concisely, so nobody can inject content in-transit.
  - bnav6 8y ago
    Use an ISP that you can trust.
    - lghh 8y ago
      For most of us in the US, that isn't an option. Also, your ISP isn't the only point of attack for injections.
- Bedon292 8y ago
  Search engines and browsers are quickly headed towards essentially requiring HTTPS. So probably want it from that stand point. And, first thing I can think of is affiliate links. The site is all affiliate links, but I can just MITM it and just sub in my own number and get credit.
yesenadam 8y ago
ngate's Discourse on HTTPS. I don't know how accurate it is, but it's a good read! http://n-gate.com/software/2017/07/12/0/ http://n-gate.com/software/2017/07/12/0/
- icebraining 8y ago
  Doesn't seem factually inaccurate, it's essentially saying "not my problem". I assume the incompetence accusation on LE is due to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11881704 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11881704.

the_af 8y ago

Interesting. Some novels have powerful first pages and even opening paragraphs. However, one distinction (of many) between the novel and the short story is that the short story must hook your attention from the first paragraph, whereas a novel has the time and space to grow on you. I'm not sure this will work for novels. As an example, I got the first page of a book which talked about a middle-aged man and his relationship with a prostitute. I was surprised to find out the book was Coetzee's "Disgrace" -- a book I've read and which I do not associate at all with a middle-aged man and his affection for a prostitute. I really don't think you can decide whether you'll like a novel -- or even find out its main themes -- in the first few pages. I think this approach can successfully work for short stories, though. Short stories have no time to waste; they must both engage the reader and their themes in the first few paragraphs. ...but then again, do you really need a recommendation to read a short story? You might just as well read it and get it over with :)

urmish 8y ago

That may not work for all (I want to say most) of literature. Many books I like are pretty dry. These books are theme based and not story based where you don't really care how the story ends, but are more interested in the deep conversations between characters which are spread throughout the book which may not show up in the first few pages. The author uses the first few pages to describe the settings and make you more comfortable with the times and the environment the book is based on. You may not really be interested in those parts but subconsciously they help you out throughout the book and lead to a more immersive experience. This is what separates films from movies too. I'm sure even fast paced fiction (say thriller) writers would take their time in setting up a universe for the reader. You don't really remember the details described in each line but the approximate picture is enough to get you 'into the zone'.

Jagat 8y ago

I'm currently hooked to this free book "Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors" https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Go-Very-Short-Authors-ebook/dp/B00R1GECO6 https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Go-Very-Short-Authors-ebook/d... Each story is <1000 words (5-10mins), from a distinct author, and if you like the writing style, you can buy more books from the author.

Kapow 8y ago
Reminds me of "100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories" edited by Asimov. The format works really well for hard sci-fi, gets straight to the point. Some of them have stuck with me for decades.
- wyldfire 8y ago
  I've looked up "Microcosmic God" several times because I can't seem to remember the title. But the story was particularly memorable. It wasn't in this Asimov anthology but it was published in the SF Hall of Fame. A quick search reveals that someone has a copy of the text freely (but perhaps not legitimately) available.

CurtMonash 8y ago

Tindr for books?

bartread 8y ago
Ooooh: Bindr. I like it.

sdsdsdsdsdsds 8y ago

How is this done? Where do you get the books and their first pages? I am wondering if Amazon API gives book preview also.

morganvachon 8y ago
It's curated from author/publisher submissions, link is top center: http://www.recommendmeabook.com/submit http://www.recommendmeabook.com/submit

rebuilder 8y ago

Very cool! I find myself skipping the vast majority of books on kindle because the blurbs make them sound awful to me, but I admit I'd probably also have skipped a lot of books I really liked had I judged them that way. Also this seems like a good way to find books I wouldn't normally consider sampling just because of laziness and prejudice on my part.

skookumchuck 8y ago

"Call me Ishmael." Ok, I'm hooked!

skookumchuck 8y ago

"It was a dark and stormy night. A door slammed. A woman screamed. A shot rang out. Meanwhile, back on the ranch..."

Faaak 8y ago

How did you do this site ? Did you download a big torrent of ebooks and extracted the first chapter/words of them ? Interesting though ;-)

irrational 8y ago

I kept hearing raving reviews of "The Name of the Wind". I started reading it and got a couple of chapters in and had no interest in continuing. I mentioned this to my brother and he told me that I had to keep going. So I figured I'd read a bit more and see if there was anything to the book. I just finished it on Saturday and I have to say it is easily one of the best books I have ever read. But, if I had just read the first pages of the book I never would have been hooked.

openasocket 8y ago
I felt pretty much the same way when reading it. "The Name of the Wind" is rather unusual as a novel because those first chapters are pretty fundamentally different than the rest of the novel. Not just in terms of plot, but I think also the general tone and style. I don't actually have a count, but I think it's a good 50-100 pages before the novel falls into its rhythm. It's not that the beginning is bad (in my opinion, obviously) it's just that there's a lot to set up and he does so without using a bunch of exposition.
- didsomeonesay 8y ago
  "And, well, I thought. If I have to carry the damn thing, I might as well read it. So I started reading, and there, on page four—of a book that started on page three, mind you, were five bowls of stew." https://www.tor.com/2011/03/07/best-sff-novels-of-the-decade-an-appreciation-of-the-name-of-the-wind/ https://www.tor.com/2011/03/07/best-sff-novels-of-the-decade...
- ghostbrainalpha 8y ago
  That's really interesting. The first few pages come pretty close to poetry in my opinion. For me its those interludes that raise TNOTW into a class above the normal Harry Potter Copycat Formula that is so popular now. I never even considered the possibility that, those bits would be putting people off. It's pretty clear that its those sections were Patrick Ruthfuss strives for perfection, that is taking so long to complete the series. He can churn out pages, once he gets "into the rythm" of more common storytelling.

iandanforth 8y ago

Like all other shortcuts for judging a book this one has plenty of issues. However I like that it disentangles a few of those issues. Instead of judging a book by the author, cover, title and then the first page you can focus in on just one of those heuristics. Also if you can control yourself and avoid revealing the author/title of books you don't like you won't bias yourself when you get recommendations from friends!

russellbeattie 8y ago

"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." Forget the first page... All you really need is the first sentence.

overcast 8y ago
That is just too iconic not to know.

nkg 8y ago

I'm hooked. Your app works. kudos.

acangiano 8y ago

Reminds me of the (I believe now defunct) Page99Test site. Similar concept but you read page 99 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_99_test https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Page_99_test) instead.

elicash 8y ago

Use this in conjunction with the Library Extension so that when you click the Amazon link, you find out whether it's also in your local public library! https://www.libraryextension.com https://www.libraryextension.com

camillomiller 8y ago

Open inspector in Chrome, find the #generated div, deactivate text-align: justify. Much better.

drblast 8y ago

It's funny that most of these that I read start off with a very annoying, cliched "writer" tone. I've always had the impression that authors just can't help buy try to prove how clever they are in the first paragraph at the expense of making the story compelling. It's like everyone has delusions that the book they're writing is going to be the next Moby Dick, so that beginning must be literary dammit.

ycombinete 8y ago
Very often it's more that people struggle to find a way to start a story. In much the same way that students use cliche'd academic speak in the introductions to their essays. It's not a pose, it's a crutch.
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amp108 8y ago
I don't know which specific novels you're referring to, but the first sentence/paragraph/chapter of a novel often need to have a different tone from the rest. The opening of a novel sets the scene and sets the tone and raises expectations for the rest of the story in a way that a strictly narrative opening wouldn't. In other words, these "literary"-style openings are no more and no less clichéd than any other.

jyriand 8y ago

I would follow Marshall MacLuhan's advice. Open a book on page 69, read it. If you like what you read, buy it. Also: "Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you." -- Ford Madox Ford

jgtrosh 8y ago
My father's rule is to only read by opening books (new, old, known, unknown, already read, halfway read) randomly and just plowing through that random part of the book. I don't think I would personally enjoy that constant destructuration but it help get a global vision of many books fast.

sunstone 8y ago

Now this is a good idea!

Bedon292 8y ago

Pretty nifty, but I would like it to actually recommend based on my tastes. Like combine this and Goodreads.

DavideNL 8y ago
But that would also be a limitation, since you'd never explore new things ;)
- Bedon292 8y ago
  You can still find new things that way. I get all kinds of recommendations on Netflix that I wouldn't have found on my own, but they still have high odds I will like them. And then not have to read through a dozen that are of no interest before you finally find a good one.

habosa 8y ago

If you live in SF, go to the Booksmith on Haight street and look up on the walls on the left side of the store. They have the first line of many famous novels, printed without context. I was shocked at how many I knew, even though if it had been posed to me in reverse (How does {book x} begin?) I would have had no idea. I'm not even a very attentive reader, but I guess some of these really great opening lines will stick with you forever. Two of my favorites: * "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.” * “I’ve been cordially invited to join the visceral realists. I accepted, of course. There was no initiation ceremony. It was better that way.”

fouc 8y ago

Some really good books can be quite a struggle to read until you get past the first 100 pages. I even found Anathem by Neal Stephenson to be a struggle until I got past 200 pages, but after that it was so worth it.

dajonker 8y ago

This is a great idea, but for some reason it feels like a contest after I could guess 6 out of the first 10 correctly.

Bobbleoxs 8y ago

This is actually how I select books in a book shop. I admit I was ruined by all things tech with very limited attention span. In fact I only read the first paragraph over about a dozen books on the website and finally decided on one which turned out to be The hitchhacker's guide to the galaxy. My suggestion here is not necessarily putting out the first page but a page the author feels most representative of the story/view/idea. Personally I would either draw to a unique plot or some really smooth/beautiful verse. In both scenarios, I don't think the first page may necessarily be representative enough, leaving me the shame of missing a damn good book. Love the idea though! Thank you.

drumttocs8 8y ago

Very cool. How's it work? Affiliate links to amazon, sure- is amazon serving the first couple pages as well? Great project.