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Beautiful first sentences: Reading with Susanne Schulz in Neustrelitz!
On July 2nd, Susanne Schulz will read about the fascination of first sentences in literary works at the Neustrelitz antiquarian bookstore.
Beautiful first sentences: Reading with Susanne Schulz in Neustrelitz!
A very special reading will take place in Neustrelitz on July 2nd, 2025. Under the title “Most beautiful first sentences... and what comes after,” journalist Susanne Schulz invites you to the antiquarian bookshop at the city harbor. It starts at 7 p.m. and all literature enthusiasts are cordially invited to attend this entertaining literary foray. Schulz, who is organizing the event, will deal with the most impressive opening sentences in literature, such as the famous first sentence by Günter Grass: “Ilsebill salted after.” These first sentences are not only highly recognizable, but they also draw readers into the stories and make them curious about what is to come.
Peter-André Alt, a renowned German scholar and former president of the Free University of Berlin, has also discussed the meaning of such first sentences in detail in his new book “Someone had to have slandered Josef K.... – First sentences of world literature and what they reveal to us”. Alt, who has also written fascinating biographies of greats such as Franz Kafka, Friedrich Schiller and Sigmund Freud, emphasizes that the first sentence often determines whether a reader continues the book or loses interest. In his work he analyzes 249 such sentences that have shaped literary history. Examples from his collection range from Kafka's puzzling question in the “Process” to Goethe's well-known sentence, “The play took a very long time,” which makes it clear how diverse the beginnings can be and what role they play in the introduction to the story.
A look at development
The development of the first sentences in literature is an exciting topic that Alt traces back to antiquity. Originally, epic storytellers sought the assistance of the gods, which gave their stories a special weight. However, over the centuries, more powerful and unmediated beginnings emerged, allowing authors to experiment with their readers. Alt categorizes these beginnings according to various criteria, such as whether they begin with a description of a place or the introduction of a person.
But it's not just literary greats who are concerned with the beginning. Also the project Sentence machine illuminates the fascination of first sentences by automatically tweeting sentences from German-language literature. These first sentences are often the most familiar and have been continually studied to understand their function and what they reveal about the plot.
Invitation to the meeting
If you feel inspired now, mark July 2nd in red on your calendar and visit the Neustrelitz antiquarian shop. Here you not only laugh and marvel, but also demonstrate a good knack for the love of literature. Because in the end it is the first sentence that opens the journey into the book and brings us closer to the world of stories. Be there and be inspired by the most beautiful literary beginnings!
Please note that the information about the event has been checked by the editorial team. Information about this can be found in the Nordkurier, the Deutschlandfunk Kultur and the one already mentioned Satzomat.