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Sunday, July 14, 2002 |
A Wild Coast and Lonely
Just finished reading this book of stories of life in Big Sur before the coastal highway was built in 1937. The author grew up in Bixby canyon, was born in 1919, knew a lot of the old timers and did a lot of interviews. Lots of stories (some credulous) but seems to capture the feel of the place. Some very interesting characters, such as Jaime De Angulo among others. Anecdotal, but recommended reading.
9:10:10 PM Permalink
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The Online Books Page
Here's a real nice search engine for repositories of online books at UPenn. Over 16,000 books indexed. Really a lot of fun to dig through. I've brought up what is nearly my favorite story of al time -- Robert Louis Stevenson's The Beach of Falesa. What a great start:
I saw that island first when it was neither night nor morning. The moon was to the west, setting, but still broad and bright. To the east, and right amidships of the dawn, which was all pink, the day-star sparkled like a diamond. The land-breeze blew in our faces, and smelt strong of wild lime and vanilla; other things besides, but these were the most plain; and the chill of it set me sneezing. I should say I had been for years on a low island near the line, living for the most part solitary among natives. Here was a fresh experience; even the tongue would be quite strange to me; and the look of these woods and mountains, and the rare smell of them, renewed my blood.
7:49:30 PM Permalink
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© Copyright 2004 Steve Michel.
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