Friday, October 2, 2009

A Passage to Savor


I picked up The Sea by John Banville, based on Davin's recommendation. Here is the first passage:

They departed, the gods, on the day of the strange tide. All morning under a milky sky the waters in the bay had swelled and swelled, rising to unheard-of heights, the small waves creeping over parched sand that for years had known no wetting save for rain and lapping the very bases of the dunes. The rusted hulk of the freighter that had run aground at the far end of the bay longer ago than any of us could remember must have thought it was being granted a relaunch. I would not swim again, after that day. The seabirds mewled and swooped, unnerved, it seemed, by the spectacle of that vast bowl of water bulging like a blister, lead-blue malignantly agleam. They looked unnaturally white, that day, those birds. The waves were depositing a fringe of a soiled yellow foam along the waterline. No sail marred the high horizon. I would not swim, no never again.

I read and re-read it a few times, and maybe I'll manage to herd my thoughts into something that resembles coherent ideas sometime next week. In the mean time, enjoy!

6 comments:

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Oh my goodness that's amazing. Davin is a genius with what he chooses to read! And it shows in his writing.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Whoa, that indeed takes time to savor and digest. Astounding in detail and depth.

Yat-Yee said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Yat-Yee said...

Let's try to see if I can write a proper sentence, since the last one didn't make sense.

Writing like this makes me wonder why I even bother to write, but it also pushes me to keep trying, keep studying, or at least keep absorbing.

And Michelle, you know it takes one to know one, don't you?

Michelle D. Argyle said...

I think I knew that, but I don't often feel that way!

Davin Malasarn said...

Wow, I'm flattered that you'd give this book a shot! It's got a strange ending, but I liked it overall. Banville's similes are so bizarre and interesting.