Well Begun and All Done

Years ago, one of our literature professors speculated that one could gain insight into a novel or short story simply by examining the opening and closing lines. He proposed--or perhaps threatened--to write a monograph on the subject. So far as we know, he never followed through on this threat. Considering that we took his class over 20 years ago and the man was in his 70s then, we suspect he never will.

In honor of this professor, then--and not at all because we're stuck for ideas--we take up his idle speculation and present the first installment of "Well Begun and All Done." In this space, we will present the opening and closing lines of whatever book we happen to be reading and see what conclusions, if any, we can draw. We may even find some perfect sentences to boot.

Opening Line

"Rausch," said the voice in Hollis Henry's cell.

Closing Line:

She put the helmet on, turned it on, and looked up, to where Alberto's giant cartoon rendition of the Mongolian Death Worm, its tail wound through the various windows of Bigend's pyramidal aerie like an eel through the skull of a cow, waved imperially, tall and scarlet, in the night.

--From Spook Country by Wiliam Gibson

William Gibson, author of such works as Neuromancer, is popularly known as the father of "Cyberpunk"--a science-fiction sub-genre featuring dark visions of a computer-dominated future (for the uninitiated, think "The Matrix"). This novel, a bit of a departure, is set in the present-day and, while it does feature technology, is less science-fiction than sociopolitical thriller.

The opening line is nicely disorienting. What does "Rausch" mean, and why is someone saying it in Hollis Henry's cell? Who is Hollis Henry and why is he or she in jail? Or is Hollis in jail? Are we hearing a voice in a cell phone? Is this some commentary on the different meanings of the word? Is the author suggesting that Hollis is a prisoner of technology? Are we all such prisoners?

As for the last line, who is "she"? Hollis again? We obviously are getting references to other characters in the novel. We're struck by the difference in the feel of the two sentences. The first short and telegraphic, the last more expansive and descriptive. But what's with the "eel through the skull of a cow"? Shouldn't that be "snake"? An intentional "mistake"? It can't be an accident. An eel moving through a cow's skull would look much like a snake, except it would, of course, be "wrong"--unless we're dealing with an underwater cowskull or an air-breathing eel. As with the opening line, then, there is a disorienting quality to the final sentence. Maybe Gibson is establishing the uneasy, uncomfortable, or simply off-putting qualities of life in "Spook Country."

WOS says we should ask the Nation to leave their own thoughts about the first and last lines, and/or suggest other books' lines to discuss. WOS says this. We ourselves couldn't care less.

(Image from Amazon.com)