What do you do for openers, Patrick White (1912-1990)? If
you’re interested in one of the truly gifted novelists, get a load of these
first words. With a shoutout to John Blanton who turned me on to the power of
Patrick’s prose.
The old woman’s head was barely fretting against the pillow.
She could have moaned slightly.
–
The Eye of the Storm
“There is a man here, miss, asking for your uncle,” said
Rose.
And stood breathing.
–
Voss
As the carriage drew back from Circular Wharf, Mr. Stafford
Merivale tapped the back of his wife’s hand and remarked that they had done
their duty.
–
Fringe of Leaves
And my favorite:
A cart drove between the two big stringybarks and stopped.
These were the dominant trees in that part of the bush, rising above the
involved scrub with the simplicity of true grandeur. So the cart stopped,
grazing the hairy side of a tree, and the horse, shaggy and stolid as the tree,
sighed and took root.
–
Tree of Man
Next: Running for
Your Life: Thurber!
