I'm currently reading "The Battle for North America" - an abridgment of Francis Parkman's 13-volume "France and England in North America" which is no longer published, but was called "the greatest single achievement in our literature" by Henry Commanger (maybe I can get him to review this blog!). Anyway, this book, about the French and English experience in North America from discovery until the end of the French and Indian War, has the best opening paragraph of any book I've ever read. I always enjoy authors who manage to squeeze what seem like pages out of a single paragraph, and this one is the king:
The ancient town of St. Malo - thrust out like a buttress into the sea, strange and grim of aspect, breathing war from its walls and battlements of ragged stone, a stronghold of privateers, the home of a race whose intractable and defiant independence neither time nor change has subdued - has been for centuries a nursery of hardy mariners. Among the earliest and most eminent on its list stands the name of Jacques Cartier. His portrait hangs in the town hall of St. Malo - bold, keen features bespeaking a spirit not apt to quail before the wrath of man or of the elements.
It would take me the entire time Parkman wrote all 13 volumes to ever come up with a paragraph like that. Awesome.
On a side note, it has been really neat to read about the history of New France, especially because much of it centers around one of my favorite places - Acadia National Park. I had no idea that Mt. Desert Island is essentially France's Plymouth Rock. Really makes me excited to explore this aspect of the park the next time we get back there.
Here's a brief history from the Acadia website: http://www.nps.gov/acad/historyculture/stories.htm
I refuse to read any more of this blog until there is at least one post about time travel!
ReplyDelete-Justin