Kraken

Yesterday also included a sybaritic book-buying binge. One of the books purchased is Dr Miéville’s Kraken. You want to know why he’s so damned good? His opening lines:

“The sea is full of saints. You know that? You know that: you’re a big boy.”

It’s an awesome opening: it invites the reader in. It tells them a secret, but also co-opts the reader – even if the reader doesn’t know the sea if full of saints, s/he doesn’t want to admit it, right? To admit it would be to put oneself on the outside and to risk being given no more secrets. And we all love secrets.

This opening creates a kind of intimacy, a strange warm welcoming that makes the reader want to go on … to find out more … “Well, of course the sea is full of saints,” we say and nod sagely. And we keep reading because we want to know more.

Dr M, rocking the kasbah once more.

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