{"id":628,"date":"2017-08-29T21:36:24","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T01:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durkota.net\/?p=628"},"modified":"2017-08-29T21:36:24","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T01:36:24","slug":"we-have-flash-fiction-why-cant-we-have-flash-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durkota.net\/?p=628","title":{"rendered":"We have flash fiction, why can\u2019t we have flash reviews?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love novels. I love first lines of novels. I also love bookstores. My dream is to be locked in a bookstore overnight. If I were, I would read the first line of every single book in the fiction section. Since I can\u2019t reason through a series of events that would find me incarcerated at Barnes & Noble, I decided to exercise the fantasy (over time) on Amazon.<\/p>\n

The rules: I will occasionally choose a novel from the Kindle bestsellers page or a random Indie novel from my Twitter feed. For each one I will record the first line and then provide my first impressions. I reserve the right to choose the first line from either the prologue or the first chapter. I like a little chaos.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s three to get me started:<\/p>\n

Rejected Writers Take the Stage<\/em>, Suzanne Kelman<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cKaren, the Southlea Bay library manager, approached the door with her key and stopped short before announcing through a clenched smile, \u201cDoris alert.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t know if Karen is just a bitch or if Doris is really irritating. I am curious though. I also can\u2019t avoid staring at the chapter title with wild anticipation: \u201cFrozen Yetis & Scotch Tape Shenanigans.\u201d In the history of the written word, never before have those words appeared even roughly in that order. Well Played, Suzanne. Well played.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Unmasked<\/em>, EM Kaplan<\/a>
\n\u201cThe beast grabbed Mel with a gray-skinned hand and dragged her across the rutted dirt road.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I just wish I had a better sense of the conflict here. Kidding. Seriously, there is a lot packed into these 16 words. I\u2019m obviously worried about Mel. And I am equally intrigued by a world that has beasts with gray skin.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>All the Light We Cannot See<\/em>, Anthony Doerr
\n\u201cAt dusk they pour from the sky.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The chapter is titled \u2018Leaflets,\u2019 so really, the first sentence is a continuation. I don\u2019t know if \u2018pour\u2019 is the best word to describe leaflets falling from the sky, but he won a fucking Pulitzer for this. Who am I to judge?<\/p>\n\n

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I love novels. I love first lines of novels. I also love bookstores. My dream is to be locked in a bookstore overnight. If I were, I would read the first line of every single book in the fiction section. Since I can\u2019t reason through a series of events that would find me incarcerated at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-flash-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t