Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Tuesday Intros -- Finding Fontainebleau


Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.

This week, I'm reading Finding Fontainebleau by Thad Carhart. It's a memoir about an American boy growing up in Paris in the 1950s.
Here's the intro:
All these years later I can recall with keen precision the moment when the bottom dropped out, because that is exactly what it felt like: one moment we were flying, shaking a bit from turbulence, the next we were falling, in a calm, eerie quiet broken only by the sound of the four engines laboring uselessly. Then the air caught us again and it was bad: the plane pitched violently up and down, from side to side, every way imaginable. The passengers found their voice then, after the expectant dread of the free fall. This was active, maniacal horror, and people screamed. It was the first time I saw an adult -- many of them, in fact -- expressing fear without reserve. The woman across from us started to cry and yell, and there was nothing to be done but listen and watch with a kind of terrified fascination. 
This cliff-hanger opening leads to some calmer musings about life in post-war France and the experiences Carhart's family had adjusting to a move from suburban Virginia to Paris.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else is reading.

I'm also connecting with Paris in July.

9 comments:

Laurel-Rain Snow said...

Sounds intense and riveting. Thanks for sharing...and here's mine: “THE MELODY LINGERS ON”

Anonymous said...

It must have been difficult to move from Virginia to France at that point in time.
I'm just re-reading "My Life in France" by Julia Child. It's so good! I guess it was about the same period, post war.

JoAnn said...

Sounds like a good one!

Stacey Minter said...

Sounds like a book I would keep reading. Hope you enjoy it. Have a great day.

Literary Feline said...

I've been hearing such good things about this one. I don't often read memoirs, but I may have to give this one a try.

Unknown said...

it sounds really good

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

I like a good memoir and this one seems like my cup of the. Thanks for sharing.

Nise' said...

That would be scary and sure captures your attention.

Lisbeth said...

Interesting intro!

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