Welcome to my first post on WordPress!
This blog will contain: the thoughts, observations, and biased opinions of a Small-Town, USA girl.
This post contains: an introduction including a bit about the blog and a bit about me.
Call me Ishmael. No, kidding; call me Sam. I’m a Hebrew-speaking, guitar-and-piano-playing, Jewish liberal. For the past year, I’ve harbored a growing adoration for—and even a sort of obsession with—the Age of Sail (described by Wikipedia as “period in which international trade and naval warfare were dominated by sailing ships”). Expect posts about Age of Sail literature and websites and the like.
Which brings me to this blog. I recently read (and was captivated by) the book In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, by Nathaniel Philbrick. The Essex was rammed twice by a whale and subsequently sank on November 20th, 1820. The crew of 20 escaped in three of the ship’s whaleboats, one of which was later lost. Over the four months following the wreck of the Essex, twelve men died, seven of whom were eaten by other crewmembers. The boat containing Captain George Pollard and one other crewmember was discovered 95 days after the sinking of the Essex by the whaleship Dauhpin. Hence, Dauphin saves. (I should probably mention, however, that the blog title—”Feeling Poetic in the Opium Den”—is not an Age of Sail reference, only a phrase from a recent conversation with a friend about 19th century writers.)
The book was amazing. Despite Philbrick’s clinical and often blunt way of writing about the horrors suffered by the men, it was a fascinating, engaging story. (And, as I’m also a huge fan of Thomas Harris and Hannibal Lecter, In the Heart of the Sea featured my two great literary loves—cannibalism and tall ships.)
And there’s my introduction! In all honesty, I doubt many people will read this blog, but you never know; maybe there really are a few people in the blogosphere who want nothing else than to read the book reviews, political commentaries, and useless trivia found in my inexperinced mind.
