Thanks to Rose City Reader for hosting this meme. To participate, share the first line or two of the book you are currently reading and, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line.
Doug Peacock was a good friend of Edward Abbey’s, and was the inspiration for the Hayduke character in Abbey’s highly regarded The Monkey Wrench Gang – thus, obviously, my interest in this memoir. It begins:
High in the shadow of Dhaulagiri they are bleeding the yaks. Two Tibetans hold the curved horns of the shaggy beast and a third man uses a wooden bowl to catch the bright red blood that pulses and spills out a hole in the yaks’ neck.
So, a little rough in the beginning if you don’t like pulsing blood! I’m okay though. 🙂 What are you reading this weekend?
Filed under: book beginnings | Tagged: Edward Abbey, memoir, nonfiction |
pagesofjulia 
Yikes…that is a gory scene to start with…good luck with it.
Wow! That is quite a beginning!
I really enjoy memoirs by non-famous people, so this one has captured my fancy. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
I added your link on the BB page. Sorry for the delay this morning. I pre-scheduduled several Book Beginnings posts and then forgot to change them! Done now. So they are all going to work just fine going forward.
Thank you both! Yea, it’s a little bloody at first, but I’m still intrigued. 🙂 Rose City, I like them too; I always thought it was an odd taste I had but clearly I’m not alone.
Yikes! Quite a beginning!
Hi Julia,
What a bloodthirsty beginning, I wonder if this is a one-off scene, or if it sets the tone for the entire book.
Funny, I don’t mind reading about blood or gory events, but I can’t stand the sight of the stuff, not my own nor anyones else’s.
I am not really into reading memoirs, but I hope that you enjoyed your book.
Have a good weekend, Yvonne
Wow…that’s some beginning. Hope you are enjoying the book!
This is my first time participating in this meme – and I’m getting a lot of good reads to add to my tbr!
Have a great weekend!
That is a eye catching beginning. Thanks for sharing.