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.
Hayduke Lives! is more than just a bumper sticker: it’s the sequel to The Monkey Wrench Gang, published at the very end of Abbey’s life. It begins:
Old man turtle ambles along the deerpath, seeking breakfast. A strand of wild ricegrass dangles from his pincer-like beak. His small wise droll redrimmed eyes look from side to side, bright and wary and shrewd. He walks on long leathery legs, fully extended from the walnut-colored hump of shell, the ventral skid-plate clear of the sand. His shell is big as a cowboy’s skillet, a gardener’s spade, a Tommy’s helmet. He is 145 years old – middleaged. He has fathered many children and will beget more. Maybe.
…so we don’t meet Hayduke and the gang immediately. But I love this opening paragraph for its eccentric descriptive style, and clear love of the land, which is what really defines Abbey.
What are you reading this weekend?
Filed under: book beginnings | Tagged: Edward Abbey, misc fiction, nature |
pagesofjulia 
So are the main characters turtles?
Here’s my Book Beginning.
No, we just meet the turtle briefly. The books are about a group of environmental activists who use direct action & sabotage. The turtle just lets us check in with the natural world they’re trying to save.
Great beginning. Love the cover too.
Yea, me too!
I have not seen either of the books before. Here is m post:
BBF
They’re old – the first was published in 1975 – but definitely have a cult following!
That is wonderful! I love watching turtles, and this opening reminded me of why.
Thanks for participating in Book Beginnings on Fridays. I’d like to drum up some more participants, and one idea I had was this: if you are on Twitter, please tweet a link to your post using the has tag #BookBeginnings. Maybe in connection with #FridayReads, if you participate in that twitter event. Thanks!
No twittering here, but I will say this: I kind of like your lower traffic levels, compared for example with the Tuesday Teasers meme I participate in. I couldn’t possibly wade through all the fellow bloggers there. Your numbers are low enough to be manageable; I like it. Just another $0.02. 🙂
Hey, I *love* the turtles! Aside from little dogs, they’re my favorite animal. Have a great Friday!
I am reading Against the Day, by Thomas Pynchon. I gave up when trying to read it in paper, since it is over 1,000 pages long and too heavy to carry around, but now Mr. Pynchon has allowed his books to be made available for the Kindle, so I’m reading it that way.
The first line in the book is “Now single up all lines!” — a line which appears in every Pynchon novel save one, though in this case it refers not to a ship but to the “hydrogen skyship Inconvenience,” piloted by those celebrated aeronauts the Chums of Chance.
A very promising beginning (I’m 14% of the way through so far).
Wow, interesting. I’ve never tackled any Pynchon; I find him intimidating. And what a great application of the Kindle 🙂 – I wrinkled my brow at your 14% marker for just a moment before remembering that that’s another Kindle feature! I’ll look forward to hearing your thoughts on the book.
Pynchon can be a bit hard to get through, but this varies a lot from book to book. For example, I think Mason & Dixon is his masterpiecec, but it’s 600+ pages long and written in faux 18th century English, so it can be difficult at first (though I got used to the language pretty quickly). Nearly as good, and much easier to read (and much shorter, and funny) is Inherent Vice, which I heartily recommend. I’ve written about it on my blog (extensively), but it’s probably better to read it first.
Okay, thanks for the tips!