Discussion: Hooked Right from the Start

[neonpossibilities]

I just started a book I had in my reading list for a while and this is the very first paragraph:

The monk heard that a ship had arrived carrying one of the dog-headed people whom travelers speak of when they tell tall tales of the one-eyed and the winged, and he went out to the docks to see if it was true. This is how he first laid eyes on the relic thief; this is how the voyage to steal the corpse of Saint Nicholas began.

The book is "Nicked" by M. T. Anderson and I was immediately sucked into the story!

Did you ever read a book that grabbed your interest right from the first few lines/chapter? Or, on the other hand, were there any books you found boring and uninteresting at the beginning that revealed their potential later on?

Comments

[zenigotchas]

Lots of times.

Based off recent additions to my reading log, I would say the recent ones I've been reading have had really good beginnings. Maybe not always because they have lovely hooks, but because the pacing was good or because they introduced the topic/theme(s) of the story really well (including Spawn despite its many struggles in other parts of the writing department). But if I had to name some favorites:
-The original Getter Robo (Starts off with violence that seems senseless at first but then ends up establishing our main protagonist's personality and the overarching themes of the story)
-Sonic The Comic (Just does a good job establishing the worldbuild/lore and the protagonist's personality)
-Most of the Junji Ito manga I've read (I also think the art itself is a good introduction to his twisted worlds. A Father's Love has a very strong opening)
-The Killing Joke (it's cold, it's silent, it tells you what's going on, you understand the tone and mood. All without any exposition)
-In general I think a lot of the horror/dark/creepy stuff I like tends to have very strong beginnings (but you HAVE to have strong beginnings in stories like that since you're trying to ease them into the anxiety filled atmosphere of death).
There's probably more but this is off the top of my head.

I am not someone who really enjoys finishing a book out of the hope that it gets more interesting? I drop stuff that seems unpleasant within the first few chapters. Hell the times I've tried to hold out often blew up in my face and I felt I had wasted my time and should've tapped out the moment I realized I wasn't enjoy it at the start.

If I get spoiled and discover it heads into a direction I like then MAYBE I might return to it. But for me the beginning is super important for giving me a good reason to want to keep reading. And I probably wouldn't rec that book to someone on the basis of "it gets better, you just have to be patient." To me that has always felt more like an excuse for boring/poor begginings, personally.

[neonpossibilities]

you HAVE to have strong beginnings in stories like that since you're trying to ease them into the anxiety filled atmosphere of death

That's a very good point, the setting and the mood are everything!

Hell the times I've tried to hold out often blew up in my face

Oof, me too /o\ I can confirm that there were so many boring books that stayed boring or took a dive for the worst. I find that for books, sticking to them in the hope they'll improve will only lead to disappointment!