Book Beginnings | A Journey to the Centre of the Earth

This meme used to be sponsored by Becky at Page Turners, but she relinquished the meme to someone else.  I like the idea of still doing this every Friday, so here's the opening to "A Journey of the Centre of the Earth," by Jules Verne.

"Looking back to all that has occurred to me since that eventful day, I am scarcely able to believe in the reality of my adventures."

Love it.  It's using foreshadowing to get the reader excited to hear about the 'eventful day.'  Based on this, it could be anything... but it's an adventure that is so good we may doubt the reality of it.  Awesome.  I never read any Jules Verne as a kid, so I'm excited to give this one a go.

What do you think about the opening sentence?

(Parenthetically, I really like this portrait and I can't figure out if it's due to the eyes, all the facial hair, or the beautiful shading.  Or maybe I just have some sort of man crush on Jules Verne?)

I am not dead, truly

It's extremely rare that I don't post in two weeks, and I must say that not only have I not posted in this amount of time... but I have not read anything either.  Not a book, not a magazine, not a short story, not an article.  Yes, I am behind.

I recently got a new job and I have been experiencing two weeks of 12 hour days... which only really leaves time for eating and sleeping, and even then, the timing of both has dwindled.  I saw my girlfriend for only a few minutes at a time during this period... but I'm hoping that soon the ship will right itself soon (in another week) and I can get back to a more 'normal' pace.

Hopefully I will remember what is happening in "The Way of All Flesh", but considering I just had to look up the title... I may be a little lost to begin with.  Anyways, just letting you all know I am alive and I'll resume a healthier pace on the blog shortly.  Keep checking in... and comment on this post and tell me what you're reading... so at least I can live vicariously through you.

Review: Pompeii and Herculaneum by Michael Grant

As part of the "Fall into Reading 2010" challenge, I decided to finally finish reading "Cities of Vesuvius: Pompeii and Herculaneum," which I started a couple of months ago and put on hiatus during a busy life period.  The book was written by Michael Grant and published in 1971 - and was reprinted later in 2005 by The Folio Society as part of it's "Lost Cities of the Ancient World" series.  It's difficult to review a non-fiction book like this, without getting into a ton of details about the eruption of Vesuvius and it's effect on the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.  I'm going to point out a few things in point form, without going into detail:

• The Samnites, not the Greeks or Italians gave Pompeii it's name
• Pompeii was captured by Roma in 300BC
• In 62AD, a major earthquake was recorded which decimated Pompeii and Herculaneum
• In 79AD, Vesuvius erupted and killed nearly everyone in it's path
• If you weren't killed by the heat, the fumes were lethal and many died of asphyxiation
• When they excavated Pompeii, it was covered in more than 6 metres of debris: 2 metres of earth, then 2 metres of ash and then 2-3 meters of pumice
• Herculaneum was covered in mud flows (from the steam from the eruption) which solidified into rock

The work was fairly easy to read, but contained lots of details.  I just gave a basic overview, but here are the topics presented:

1. The History of Pompeii and Herculaneum

2. Vesuvius
3. The Towns and their Meeting Places
4. Temples, Gods and Goddesses, and Philosophers
5. Private Houses in Town and Country
6. Paintings, Mosaics and Furniture
7. Farms and Trades
8. Public Life and Sexual Life

I'd recommend reading the novel, especially if you intend on taking a trip soon.  There were pictures interspersed throughout which helps you picture some of the buildings, artwork, etc as you read.  Imagination is still a huge part of the experience, and I believe that the work would be great to read before visiting the area.  I have never been, but it's on the list.

Book Beginnings | The Way of All Flesh

It must be Friday... which means it's time for Book Beginnings!  Here is the opening line from Samuel Butler's "The Way of All Flesh":

When I was a small boy at the beginning of the century I remember an old man who wore knee-breeches and worsted stockings, and who used to hobble about the street of our village with the help of a stick.

Not transcendent, but I like the imagery just the same.  I also like the fact that the sentence comes from the viewpoint of a child.  It is fascinating to me what one remembers as a child, because it's never necessarily the most important thing... but it's quite frequently something that adults have not given enough thought to... and it is always something that is important in its simplicity.