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The first sentence doesn't need to make the reader want to read the rest of the book. -- just the second sentence. And so on.

For example, the opening line of The Hobbit: "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit." The hobbit is thus introduced right away, but in a slightly deceiving way. Because in the next sentence Tolkien goes on to tell you about -- the hole! He doesn't bother explaining what a hobbit is until the reader has gone several paragraphs reading about that hole (and all the time wondering about its inhabitant).

Why is the hole so important? During most of the book, the hobbit is NOT in his hole. Aah, but he wishes (not for the last time) that he were. Concentrating on the hole at the beginning establishes clearly that the book is hobbit-centric. The POV isn't just Bilbo's. It's the POV of a hobbit who -- despite all his adventures -- is parochial and proud of it.

dmm
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