Friday, January 24, 2014

A peak into S.


So - still giddy about the fact that I now have a copy of S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorset but since I am preparing for the semester to start and trying to write lecture notes for geochemistry class using a new textbook, I need to focus.  **focus**

Okay - that isn't working. I can't resist the small chance to play with my new book so ...

For Book Beginnings on Friday hosted by Rose City Reader here are the first couple of sentences of Ship of Theseus the framing book by the fictitious author V.M. Straka (I am skipping past the Translator's Note and Forward by F. X. Caldeira - which starts "WHO WAS V. M. STRAKA?" and all of the marginalia and the first insert as well)

...

CHAPTER 1

WHAT BEGINS,
WHAT ENDS

Dusk. THE Old Quarter of a city where river meets sea.

A man in a dark gray overcoat walks past the Quarter's streets, a tangle of cobblestone passages that spin from the harbor and thread themselves through neighborhoods where the smells of cooking spices vary but the sad decrepitude is shared. The buildings, black with the soot of centuries, loom over him, blocking out most of the sky and making it difficult to know at any given moment whether he is heading towards the water or away from it.

.....

And for The Friday 56 hosted at Freda's Voice here are some things from page 56 of S.
The black text is the text from Ship of Theseus and the blue underlining and text are the marginal notes - I only added one. (There was an insert between 54 and 55 so we just missed one, which is just as well since I am not sure how I would have added that)

...

He clings to the foremast and raises himself up, breathing heavily, his blood pumping. He watches as Maelstrom descends to the main deck, (where the sailors are transferring unlabeled crates from the hold of the small ship and stowing them below.) What might they contain? Nothing edible, of course; the starving young sailor would have broken into them when his situation became dire. *
 

* how was that steak, by the way? The one Serin bought?


7 comments:

  1. What a lyrical beginning. I would definitely pick it up...

    Here is my post

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  2. Sounds interesting. I like the author's use of present tense. It makes the action feel so immediate.
    Here's the link to my Friday post: PICTURING PERFECT.

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  3. Aaaah, I totally want a copy of S!! I'm so jealous! It sounds really good, the beginning is very descriptive. Here's my Friday post and I hope you have a good weekend :)
    Juli @ Universe in Words

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    1. I saw that lovely edition of Darwin's Meesterwerken you have. OOOhhh nice.
      I can't wait to be able to finally read S. It is currently sitting there on my desk taunting me.

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  4. Interesting snippets, though honestly not sure this would be my cup of tea.

    Happy weekend!

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    1. I am not sure it is my cup of tea either, especially now that I have seen that rather lurid video ad that is up on Amazon now. Urk. I still love the the layout and design aspects of the book though so even if I don't end up liking the story, I still really love the idea of a tactile physical book that just can't be recreated as an ebook.

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