[Grammar] past simple or past perfect

[constantinusphilo]

It was the first time I had even thought of a tourniquet; some kind of doctor I would have made.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Why past perfect here? Would the simple past not suffice?

 

[emsr2d2]

No, the past simple wouldn't work there. With "the first (or any ordinal number) time ...", we use the present perfect or the past perfect.

It is the first time I have thought about ...
It was the first time I had thought about ...