The History Book Club discussion

The July BOTM discussion will be the Pulitzer Prize for Non Fiction (2016) winner - Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan

by William Finnegan (no photo)

Synopsis:

**Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Autobiography**

“Reading this guy on the subject of waves and water is like reading Hemingway on bullfighting; William Burroughs on controlled substances; Updike on adultery. . . . a coming-of-age story, seen through the gloss resin coat of a surfboard.” —Sports Illustrated

Included in President Obama’s 2016 Summer Reading List

Barbarian Days is William Finnegan’s memoir of an obsession, a complex enchantment. Surfing only looks like a sport. To initiates, it is something else: a beautiful addiction, a demanding course of study, a morally dangerous pastime, a way of life.

Raised in California and Hawaii, Finnegan started surfing as a child. He has chased waves all over the world, wandering for years through the South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Africa. A bookish boy, and then an excessively adventurous young man, he went on to become a distinguished writer and war reporter. Barbarian Days takes us deep into unfamiliar worlds, some of them right under our noses—off the coasts of New York and San Francisco. It immerses the reader in the edgy camaraderie of close male friendships forged in challenging waves.

Finnegan shares stories of life in a whites-only gang in a tough school in Honolulu. He shows us a world turned upside down for kids and adults alike by the social upheavals of the 1960s. He details the intricacies of famous waves and his own apprenticeships to them. Youthful folly—he drops LSD while riding huge Honolua Bay, on Maui—is served up with rueful humor.

As Finnegan’s travels take him ever farther afield, he discovers the picturesque simplicity of a Samoan fishing village, dissects the sexual politics of Tongan interactions with Americans and Japanese, and navigates the Indonesian black market while nearly succumbing to malaria. Throughout, he surfs, carrying readers with him on rides of harrowing, unprecedented lucidity.

Barbarian Days is an old-school adventure story, an intellectual autobiography, a social history, a literary road movie, and an extraordinary exploration of the gradual mastering of an exacting, little-understood art.

About the Author:



William Finnegan has been a contributor to the New Yorker since 1984 and a staff writer since 1987. Reporting from Africa, Central America, South America, Europe, the Balkans, and Australia, as well as from the United States, he has twice received the John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism and twice been a National Magazine Award finalist.

His article “Deep East Texas” won the 1994 Edward M. Brecher Award for Achievement in the Field of Media; his article “The Unwanted” the Sidney Hillman Prize for Magazine Reporting. His report from Sudan, “The Invisible War,” won a Citation for Excellence from the Overseas Press Club, and he received the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism for “Leasing the Rain.” His article “The Countertraffickers” won the Overseas Press Club’s Madeline Dane Ross Award for International Reporting, and his report from Mexico, “Silver or Lead,” won the Overseas Press Club’s Robert Spiers Benjamin Award.

Finnegan is the author of five books: Crossing the Line, which was selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best nonfiction books of the year; Dateline Soweto; A Complicated War; Cold New World: Growing Up in a Harder Country, which was a finalist for the Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism; and Barbarian Days, his latest.

all by William Finnegan (no photo)

SYLLABUS - WEEK ONE:

Week One Assignment: July 3rd - July 9th - Chapters 1 - 3 (pages 1 - 104)

Epigraph

Chapter One: Off Diamond Head - Honolulu, 1966-67 - page 1

Chapter Two: Smell the Ocean - California, ca, 1956 - 65 - page 59

Chapter Three: The Shock of the New - California, 1968 - page 85

Praise:

“Without a doubt, the finest surf book I’ve ever read . . . But on a more fundamental level, Barbarian Days offers a clear-eyed vision of American boyhood. Like Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, it is a sympathetic examination of what happens when literary ideas of freedom and purity take hold of a young mind and fling his body out into the far reaches of the world.” —The New York Times Magazine

“Incandescent . . . I’d sooner press this book upon on a nonsurfer, in part because nothing I’ve read so accurately describes the feeling of being stoked or the despair of being held under. . . . [But] it’s also about a writer’s life and, even more generally, a quester’s life, more carefully observed and precisely rendered than any I’ve read in a long time.” —Los Angeles Times

“How many ways can you describe a wave? You’ll never get tired of watching Finnegan do it. A staff writer at The New Yorker, he leads a counter life as an obsessive surfer, traveling around the world, throwing his vulnerable, merely human body into line after line of waves in search of transient moments of grace…It’s an occupation that has never before been described with this tenderness and deftness.” — TIME Magazine, Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2015

“A hefty masterpiece.”
—Geoff Dyer, The Guardian

“Terrific…Elegantly written and structured, it’s a riveting adventure story, an intellectual autobiography, and a restless, searching meditation on love, friendship and family…A writer of rare subtlety and observational gifts, Finnegan explores every aspect of the sport — its mechanics and intoxicating thrills, its culture and arcane tribal codes — in a way that should resonate with surfers and non-surfers alike. His descriptions of some of the world’s most powerful and unforgiving waves are hauntingly beautiful…Finnegan displays an honesty that is evident throughout the book, parts of which have a searing, unvarnished intensity that reminded me of ‘Stop Time,’ the classic coming-of-age memoir by Frank Conroy.”
— Washington Post

“The kind of book that makes you squirm in your seat on the subway, gaze out the window at work, and Google Map the quickest route to the beach. In other words, it is, like Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, a semi-dangerous book, one that persuades young men…to trade in their office jobs in order to roam the world, to feel the ocean’s power, and chase the waves.”
—The Paris Review Daily

“Fans of [Finnegan’s] writing have been waiting eagerly for his surfing memoir…Well, Barbarian Days is here. And it’s even better than one could have imagined…This is Finnegan’s gift. He’s observant and expressive but shows careful restraint in his zeal. He says only what needs to be said, enough to create a vivid picture for the reader while masterfully giving that picture a kind of movement.”
—Honolulu Star-Advertiser

“That surfing life is [Finnegan’s], and it’s a remarkably adventurous one sure to induce wanderlust in anyone who follows along, surfer or not…Lyrical but not overbaked, exciting but always self-effacing. It captures the moments of joy and terror Finnegan’s lifelong passion has brought him, as well as his occasional ambivalence about the tenacious hold it has on him. It’s easily the best book ever written about surfing. It’s not even close.”
—Florida Times-Union

“An engrossing read, part treatise on wave physics, part thrill ride, part cultural study, with a soupçon of near-death events. Even for those who’ve never paddled out, Finnegan’s imagery is as vividly rendered as a film, his explanation of wave mastery a triumph of language. For surfers, the book is The Endless Summer writ smarter and larger, touching down at every iconic break.”
—Los Angeles Magazine

“Vivid and propulsive…Finnegan…has seen things from the tops of ocean peaks that would disturb most surfers’ dreams for weeks. (I happily include myself among that number.)…A lyrical and enormously rewarding read…Finnegan’s enchantment takes us to some luminous and unsettling places — on both the edge of the ocean, and the frontiers of the surfing life.”
—San Diego Union-Tribune

“Barbarian Days gleams with precise, often lyrical recollections of the most memorable waves [Finnegan has] encountered…He carefully mines his surfing exploits for broader, hard-won insights on his childhood, his most intense friendships and romances, his political education, his career. He’s always attuned to his surroundings, and his reflections are often tinged with self-effacing wit.”
—Chicago Reader

“Extraordinary…[ Barbarian Days] is in many ways, and for the first time, a surfer in full. And it is cause for throwing your wet-suit hoods in the air…If the book has a flaw, it lies in the envy helplessly induced in the armchair surf-­traveler by so many lusty affairs with waves that are the supermodels of the surf world. Still, Finnegan considerately shows himself paying the price of admission in a few near drownings, and these are among the most electrifying moments in the book…There are too many breathtaking, original things in Barbarian Days to do more than mention here—observations about surfing that have simply never been made before, or certainly never so well.”
—The New York Times Book Review

More Praise:

“Without a doubt, the finest surf book I’ve ever read… All this technical mastery and precise description goes hand in hand with an unabashed, infectious earnestness. Finnegan has certainly written a surfing book for surfers, but on a more fundamental level, ‘Barbarian Days’ offers a cleareyed vision of American boyhood. Like Jon Krakauer’s ‘Into the Wild,’ it is a sympathetic examination of what happens when literary ideas of freedom and purity take hold of a young mind and fling his body out into the far reaches of the world.”
—The New York Times Magazine

“Which is precisely what makes the propulsive precision of Finnegan’s writing so surprising and revelatory… Finnegan’s treatment of surfing never feels like performance. Through the sheer intensity of his descriptive powers and the undeniable ways in which surfing has shaped his life, Barbarian Days is an utterly convincing study in the joy of treating seriously an unserious thing…As Finnegan demonstrates, surfing, like good writing, is an act of vigilant noticing. ”
—The New York Review of Books

“Finnegan is an excellent surfer; at some point he became an even better writer. That pairing makes Barbarian Days exceptional in the notoriously foamy genre of surf lit: a hefty, heavyweight tour de force, overbrimming with sublime lyrical passages that Finnegan drops as effortlessly as he executed his signature ‘drop-knee cutback’ in the breaks off Waikiki…Reading this guy on the subject of waves and water is like reading Hemingway on bullfighting; William Burroughs on controlled substances; Updike on adultery…Finnegan is a virtuoso wordsmith, but the juice propelling this memoir is wrung from the quest that shaped him…A piscine, picaresque coming-of-age story, seen through the gloss resin coat of a surfboard.”
—Sports Illustrated

Overflowing with vivid descriptions of waves caught and waves missed, of disappointments and ecstasies and gargantuan curling tubes that encircle riders like cathedrals of pure stained glass…These paragraphs, with their mix of personal remembrance and subcultural taxonomies, tend to be as elegant and pellucid as the breakers they immortalize…This memoir is one you can ride all the way to shore.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“[A] sweeping, glorious memoir…Oh, the rides, they are incandescent…I’d sooner press this book upon on a nonsurfer, in part because nothing I’ve read so accurately describes the feeling of being stoked or the despair of being held under. But also because while it is a book about ‘A Surfing Life’…it’s also about a writer’s life and, even more generally, a quester’s life, more carefully observed and precisely rendered than any I’ve read in a long time.”
—Los Angeles Times

“Gorgeously written and intensely felt…With Mr. Finnegan’s bravura memoir, the surfing bookshelf is dramatically enriched. It’s not only a volume for followers of the sport. Non-surfers, too, will be treated to a travelogue head-scratchingly rich in obscure, sharply observed destinations…Dare I say that we all need Mr. Finnegan…as a role model for a life fully, thrillingly, lived.”
—Wall Street Journal

“An evocative, profound and deeply moving memoir…The proof is in the sentences. Were I given unlimited space to review this book, I would simply reproduce it here, with a quotation mark at the beginning and another at the end. While surfers have a reputation for being inarticulate, there is actually a fair amount of overlap between what makes a good surfer and a good writer. A smooth style, an ability to stay close to the source of the energy, humility before the task, and, once you’re done, not claiming your ride. In other words, making something exceedingly difficult look easy. The gift for writing a clean line is rare, and the gift for riding one even rarer. Finnegan possesses both.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Finnegan writes so engagingly that you paddle alongside, eager for him to take you to the next wave…It is a wet and wild run. He makes surfing seem as foreign and simultaneously as intimate a sport as possible…Surfing is the backbone of the book, but Finnegan’s relationships to people, not waves, form its flesh…[A] deep blue story of one man’s lifelong enchantment.”
—Boston Globe

“Finnegan’s epic adventure, beautifully told, is much more than the story of a boy and his wave, even if surfing serves as the thumping heartbeat of his life.”
—Dallas Morning News

“That’s always Finnegan’s M.O.: examining the ways in which surfing intertwines with anthropology, economics, politics, and, of course, writing. Finnegan is a sober, straightforward author, but the level of detail, emotion, and insight he achieves is unparalleled…A must-read for all surfers — not just because of its unblinking prose and subtle wit, but because it’s the only book that properly details what it’s like to cultivate both an award-winning career and a dedicated surfing life.”
—Eastern Surf Magazine

“Finnegan describes, with shimmering detail, his adventures riding waves on five continents. Surfing has taken him places he'd never otherwise have thought to go, but it also buoyed him through a career reporting on the politics of intense scarcity, limitless cruelty, and unimaginable suffering. It's a book about travel and growing up, and the power of a pastime when it becomes an obsession.”
—Men's Journal

“With a compelling storyline and masterful prose, Finnegan’s beautiful memoir is sure to resonate.”
—The New York Observer

“Fearless and full of grace.”
—Outside Magazine

“Irresistible.”
—O, The Oprah Magazine

“It’s always fabulous when an incredible writer happens to also have a memoir-worthy life; Barbarian Days bodes well.”
—GQ.com

“A demonstration of gratitude and mastery. [Finnegan] uses these words to describe the wave, but they might as well apply to the book. In a sense, Barbarian Days functions as a 450-page thank you letter, masterfully crafted, to his parents, friends, wife, enemies, ex-girlfriends, townsfolk, daughter—everyone who tolerated and even encouraged his lifelong obsession. It’s a way to help them—and us—understand what drives him to keep paddling out half a century after first picking up a board.”
—NPR.org

“[A] lyrical, intellectual memoir. The author touches on love, on responsibility, on politics, individuality and morality, as well as on the lesser-known aspects of surfing: the toll it takes on the body, the weird lingo, the whacky community. Finnegan’s world is as dazzling and deep as any ocean. It’s a pleasure to paddle into and makes for a hell of a ride.”
—The Millions

“As it progresses the whole book turns into a portal…It’s tempting to say that Barbarian Days will bring readers as close as they’ll get to the surf, short of actual surfing. But I had a stronger reaction: The book brought me closer than I’d ever been, or expected to get, to the real, unfathomable ocean.”
—Bookforum

“A dream of a book by a masterful writer long immersed in surfing culture. Finnegan recaptures the waves lost and found, the euphoria, the danger…the allure.”
—BBC.com

“Panoramic and fascinating…The core of the book is a surfing chronicle, and Finnegan possesses impeccable short-board bona fides…A revealing and magisterial account of a beautiful addiction.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Like that powerful, glassy wave, great books on surfing come few and far between. This summer, New Yorker writer Finnegan recalls his teenage years in the California and Hawaii of the 1960s—when surfing was an escape for loners and outcasts. A delightful storyteller, Finnegan takes readers on a journey from Hawaii to Australia, Fiji, and South Africa, where finding those waves is as challenging as riding them.”
—Publishers Weekly's Best Summer Books of the Summer

“A fascinating look inside the mind of a man terminally in love with a magnificent obsession. A lyrical and intense memoir.”
—Kirkus

“An up-close and personal homage to the surfing lifestyle through the author’s journey as a lifelong surfer. Finnegan’s writing is polished and bold…[A] high-caliber memoir.”
—Library Journal

Table of Contents:

ONE - OFF DIAMOND HEAD - Honolulu, 1966 - 67 - p. 1

TWO - SMELL THE OCEAN - California, ca. 1956 - 65 - p. 59

THREE - THE SHOCK OF THE NEW - California, 1968 - p. 85

FOUR - 'SCUSE ME WHILE I KISS THE SKY - Maui, 1971 - p. 105

FIVE - THE SEARCH - The South Pacific, 1978 - p. 147

SIX - THE LUCKY COUNTRY - Australia, 1978 - 79 - p. 209

SEVEN - CHOOSING ETHIOPIA - Asia, Africa, 1979 - 81 - p. 237

EIGHT - AGAINST DERELICTION - San Francisco, 1983 - 86 - p. 277

NINE - BASSO PROFUNDO - Madera, 1994 - 2003 - p. 351

TEN - THE MOUNTAINS FALL INTO THE HEART OF THE SEA - NYC, 2002 - 15 - p. 409

SYLLABUS - WEEK TWO:

Week Two Assignment: July 10th - July 16th - Chapters 4 - 5 (pages 105 - 208)

FOUR - 'SCUSE ME WHILE I KISS THE SKY - Maui, 1971 - p. 105

FIVE - THE SEARCH - The South Pacific, 1978 - p. 147

SYLLABUS - WEEK THREE:

Week Three Assignment: July 17th - July 23rd - Chapters 6 - 8 (pages 209 - 350)

SIX - THE LUCKY COUNTRY - Australia, 1978 - 79 - p. 209

SEVEN - CHOOSING ETHIOPIA - Asia, Africa, 1979 - 81 - p. 237

EIGHT - AGAINST DERELICTION - San Francisco, 1983 - 86 - p. 277

SYLLABUS - WEEK FOUR:

Week Four Assignment: July 24th - July 31st - Chapters 9 - 10 (pages 351 - 447)

NINE - BASSO PROFUNDO - Madera, 1994 - 2003 - p. 351

TEN - THE MOUNTAINS FALL INTO THE HEART OF THE SEA - NYC, 2002 - 15 - p. 409

Introduction and Let us Get Started:

Folks please introduce yourself and let us know why this book interested you and what you hope to get from reading it?

Do we have any surfers in the group? Do any of you have passions/obsessions or hobbies that you have had to compartmentalize within your life so that you could still eat and survive yet these skills and talents remain as strong as they once were in your youth?

This book is another path that we have taken to select books that are either history books, non fiction, historical fiction, award winners, classics, etc. Here is a thrilling autobiography and memoir of an individual whose passion/obsession paralleled and complemented his working world life.

Let us know who you are - brief intro - your avatar name is fine but if you want to share your first name that is good too. Also where are you reading from - we love to know where in the world all of our folks are located - since we are a strong global community.

All, I have opened up the thread so that we can begin discussion - remember this is a single thread discussion so you must be careful about spoilers. We do not have this problem on a multi thread discussion.

However for my benefit and for everybody else's I am changing things a bit. If you are posting during the week of the reading schedule and you are only posting information about that week's reading and not going ahead - then you do not have to use the spoiler html. However, if you go ahead of the weekly reading and want to post ahead about some topic or page or quote that we have not been assigned yet and have not read - you are bound to use the spoiler html with the header or your post will be moved to the spoiler glossary thread.

At any time you can post on the spoiler glossary thread but on this discussion thread we are posting and staying with the assignments and not getting ahead if in fact you do not want to be bound to use the spoiler html.

So it is up to you. If you stay with the assignments and do not post about something ahead that is coming up - you do not have to use the spoiler html but if you don't and you get ahead or you want to talk about something expansive then you MUST use the spoiler html or post it on the glossary spoiler thread.

Those of you who are going to read Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life. Use the spoiler html if you plan to post about pages ahead of the weekly discussion because this is a single thread discussion.

1. Read messages (9 - 14); those messages show you the rules for the BOTM discussion and how to do the spoiler html.

2. Messages 12 and 13 actually show you the spoiler html code. Use it on this thread if you plan to go ahead of the weekly assigned reading or if you become more expansive. You can post expansive material on the glossary thread with spoiler html but here you must use the spoiler html if you get ahead or become too expansive.

3. Where is the Table of Contents and the Weekly Reading Assignments? - for this selection - check message 5 for the table of contents and messages 2, 6, 7 and 8 for the syllabi for all four weeks - so that your reading schedule matches the assigned reading for that week.

Remember the following:

Everyone is welcome but make sure to use the goodreads spoiler function if you get ahead of the assigned weekly pages.

If you come to the discussion after folks have finished reading it, please feel free to post your comments as we will always come back to the thread to discuss the book.

The rules

You must follow the rules of the History Book Club and also:

First rule of Book of the Month discussions:
Respect other people's opinions, no matter how controversial you think they may be.

Second rule of Book of the Month discussions:
Always, always Chapter/page mark and spoiler alert your posts if you are discussing parts of the book that are ahead of the pages assigned or if you have become expansive it your topics.

To do these spoilers, follows these easy steps:

Step 1. enclose the word spoiler in forward and back arrows; < >

Step 2. write your spoiler comments in

Step 3. enclose the word /spoiler in arrows as above, BUT NOTE the forward slash in front of the word. You must put that forward slash in.

Your spoiler should appear like this:
(view spoiler)

And please mark your spoiler clearly like this:

State a Chapter and page if you can.
EG: Chapter 24, page 154

Or say Up to Chapter *___ (*insert chapter number) if your comment is more broad and not from a single chapter.

Chapter 1, p. 23
(view spoiler)[I know everything now about chapter one and I am going to post it here - oops I better place this in a spoiler alert so I do not ruin the book for others (hide spoiler)]

If you are raising a question/issue for the group about the book, you don't need to put that in a spoiler, but if you are citing something specific, it might be good to use a spoiler.

By using spoilers, you don't ruin the experience of someone who is reading slower or started later or is not reading the assigned pages.

Thanks.

All, we do not have to do citations regarding the book or the author being discussed during the book discussion on these discussion threads - nor do we have to cite any personage in the book being discussed while on the discussion threads related to this book.

However if we discuss folks outside the scope of the book or another book is cited which is not the book and author discussed then we do have to do that citation according to our citation rules. That makes it easier to not disrupt the discussion.

You can copy and paste below to get your spoiler right:

(view spoiler)[Put Text Here (hide spoiler)]

This is the discussion thread folks and is the non spoiler thread.

The other thread is the glossary which is the spoiler thread.

We are open!!!!!

SYLLABUS - WEEK ONE:

Week One Assignment: July 3rd - July 9th - Chapters 1 - 3 (pages 1 - 104)

Epigraph

Chapter One: Off Diamond Head - Honolulu, 1966-67 - page 1

Chapter Two: Smell the Ocean - California, ca, 1956 - 65 - page 59

Chapter Three: The Shock of the New - California, 1968 - page 85

Some Kick-Off Discussion Questions:


Edward St. Aubyn

Epigraph:

1. Please read message 9 first and then dive in - introducing yourself and telling us what your first impressions of the book are?

2. What are your thoughts about the epigraph at the beginning of the book? What are the connections to the title of the book itself?

"He had become so caught up in building sentences that he had almost forgotten the barbaric days when thinking was like a splash of colour landing on a page."

-- Edward St. Aubyn, Mother' Milk

by Edward St. Aubyn

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NyYB...

Edward St Aubyn brilliantly blends savage social comedy with deeply affecting characters to create an unforgettable portrait of a man doomed by the apparent good fortune of his birth. He’s joined in conversation by Louise Swinn.

St Aubyn’s dark-witted books about the misdeeds of the privileged upper classes have been compared to Evelyn Waugh and Oscar Wilde. St Aubyn was born into immense wealth and privilege; his work draws on his upbringing and ‘monstrous’ parents.

His semi-autobiographical Patrick Melrose novels have been called ‘some of the most perceptive, elegantly written and hilarious novels of our era’. The fourth, Mother’s Milk, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Link to trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJ4iu...

Edward St Aubyn In Conversation. Adelaide Writers' Week
Link: https://youtu.be/Ux6nlNHr3gg

Chapter Overviews and Summaries:

ONE - OFF DIAMOND HEAD - Honolulu, 1966 - 67

Chapter One discusses the author's childhood in Hawaii, his parents, family life and school.

TWO - SMELL THE OCEAN - California, ca. 1956 - 65

Chapter Two begins with the author's father dislocating his shoulder. We are introduced to the author's family living in California and when Finnegan meets the Beckers - who were ocean people. Finnegan is introduced to surfing.

THREE - THE SHOCK OF THE NEW - California, 1968

Chapter Three discusses surfing and the art of the sport, Finnegan is thinking about the future and what he would do for a living, his father's preference for Finnegan is to do something similar to what he had done. The reader is introduced to the ups and downs of the author's friendship with Dominic.

Bentley here - from Metro New York City area - saying hello to all readers of this book of the month. I will be going through the book this month and this week we are reading Chapters One - Three - above is the table of contents and syllabi for each week. I wanted to read this book due to the high praise that it has received from every reviewing outlet as well as being the Pulitzer Prize recipient in its category. This non fiction book which is also an autobiography interested me since I know very little about surfing as a sport - but was interested more in the language and beauty of the reported writing about a life well spent.

Please add your brief intro - indicating where you are reading your book. We like to hear from all of our global members.

I am Karen Bird, from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, USA.

I just finished the first three chapters, and thoroughly enjoyed them. To me it's a mark of a good author that can take a subject that I am not particularly interested in, make it a subject that is very interesting.

One of the reasons that I like the book is the time in Hawaii. My parents were stationed Fort DuRussy (and Tripler hospital) during WWII, where they met.

My Husband was stationed in Hawaii in 1965, right before being sent to Vietnam in 1966. He knows of the beaches that Bill surfed.

I also like reading a memoir from someone who loved the life they lead, and express it so beautifully.

Karen wrote: "I am Karen Bird, from Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, USA.

I just finished the first three chapters, and thoroughly enjoyed them. To me it's a mark of a good author that can take a subject that I am ..."

Karen, I think his writing is beautiful really and I am very impressed so far too. Next week we will be reading the next three chapters.

Try to find some passages and quotes or things that you especially liked in the first three chapters and post your thoughts.

I was going to look up the beaches where Finnegan surfed and you have a wonderful connection to Hawaii - I love Valley Forge too where you are now. But vastly different than your Hawaii days especially - the winters out your way.

I am glad that you have joined in and post, post, post.

Bonnie wrote: "Hi, I'm Bonnie from Rabbit Bay, MI USA. I live on Lake Superior and love and am fascinated by water. I was so excited that this was picked for a BOTM in one my book groups since it was already on m..."

Bonnie, Lake Superior is beautiful but not exactly a surfing locale but a beautiful by the water location. I always am relaxed by water - oceans, lakes, etc.

We do not do links to pages here for books - we do the required citations if you cite outside books. So if you could take out the links and just add the book cover, the word by, the author's photo and author's link to the bottom of your comment box and edit your comment that would be great.

Here is how your books that you cited should look:

by Murry A. Taylor (no photo)

In the case above - there was no author's photo so we add in parens - (no photo) at the end.

by Jon Krakauer

Click on the add book/author link and you will have to go in twice for both the author's photo and author's link - and once for the book cover.

You will get the hang of it but you must edit and we are here to help. You do not have to cite the book and author we are discussing - just when you cite outside books. And remember we never add links for books like you did so they need to be deleted. Just type the titles for the books normally within the text of your comment box and add the citations at the bottom - it will become very easy for you and we are here to help you along the way.

I think that Finnegan had an exciting and thrilling life, a life well lived and that is part of the excitement of reading about it. It imparts some excitement to all of us even though we are not surfers nor probably will most of us ever become one.

Here is Bonnie's post:

Hi, I'm Bonnie from Rabbit Bay, MI USA. I live on Lake Superior and love and am fascinated by water. I was so excited that this was picked for a BOTM in one my book groups since it was already on my "To Read" list.

I don't really have any all-encompassing passions or hobbies, but I think that may be why I enjoy reading about others so much. This book seemed to be in the same category as Jumping Fire by Murray Taylorand Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Every so often I like one of these all out danger seeking obsessive books...especially in the summer for some reason. (See citations added above by moderator)

ONE - OFF DIAMOND HEAD - Honolulu, 1966 - 67


William Finnegan. Portrait of the author as a young man. Photo from Barbarian Days, courtesy: William Finnegan.

And so we begin Chapter One:

"I never thought of myself as a sheltered child. Still, Kaimuki Intermediate School was a shock. We had just moved to Honolulu, I was in eighth grade, and most of my new schoolmates were "drug addicts, glue sniffers, and hoods" -- or so I wrote to a friend back in Los Angeles. That wasn't true. What was true was that holes (white people; I was one of them_ were a tiny and unpopular minority at Kaimuki. The "natives," as I called them, seemed to dislike us particularly. This was unnerving because many of the Hawaiians were, for junior-high kids, alarmingly large, and the word was that they liked to fight. Orientals-- again, my terminology--were the school's biggest ethnic group. In those first weeks I didn't distinguish between Japanese and Chinese and Korean kids -- they were all Orientals to me. Nor did I note the existence of other important tribes, such as the Filipinos, the Samoans, or the Portuguese (not considered haole), let alone all the kids of mixed ethnic background. I probably even thought the big guy in wood shop who immediately took a sadistic interest in me was Hawaiian."

Discussion Topics:

1. The time period was the 60's. What do you think were the attitudes on race during that period?

2. What did you think of the attitudes that young Finnegan had when he arrived in Hawaii and was thrown into a situation where he was not the predominant race and was not even close. This must have been tough for an eighth grade boy - maybe 12 or 13 years old.

3. How come the teachers were not aware of the bullying and abuse going on within the school? Why do you think that the young Bill Finnegan never told his parents and adopted the "Code of Boys"?

4. Do you think that Finnegan's early love for surfing provided an outlet and a way to compensate for what was going on in school? Why or why not?

5. What were your thoughts on Finnegan's parents and the family make up and synergy?


“To be thirteen, with a surfboard, in Hawaii.” Photograph: New Yorker/William R. Finnegan

Link to TheScuttlefish: http://thescuttlefish.com/tag/william...

All, I have posted quite a few things already on the glossary thread which might be interesting to folks who do not know that much about surfing or their lingo - or for folks who are just interested in seeing some amazing feats and images especially of some amazing surfers going through the pipe line.

Others of you who are contemplating reading this book - I would highly recommend it so far - the writing is beautiful and though it discusses a passion that the author had - it is more a story of his life - one that is vibrant, rich, thrilling, and filled with the ups and downs of childhood, adolescence and growing up in a complex world - where one does not make up the rules/codes or have control of circumstances and events.

Also just post that you are participating and where you are reading from and just tell us about the three chapters and what moved you or influenced you in some way. Or something that caused possibly a visceral reaction or a moment of reflection or joy. Maybe a quote or passage resonated with you - tell us why.

But moderators need to have posters and interaction so post away and this discussion is for all of you to take part as you read and share your thoughts, your ideas, and your reflections.

Hello, I'm Christopher. I come from Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK. I live close to some beautiful beaches, some of which are good surf locations.
However, it took a holiday to Australia the Christmas just gone to begin my passion for the sport. So I'm very new to it and some of the technical surf talk takes some comprehension.
A colleague at work pointed me in the direction of this book and I'm very pleased she did. I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
Hawaii is not a place I'm acquainted with at all. An added bonus of this book for me is looking up the places Finnegan talks of on a map to get an accurate image in my head and learn a little about somewhere new. Waikiki and Waimea Bay meant nothing to me before.

Hello Christopher and welcome to you from Australia.

Yes, we will try to add these perspectives to the glossary and the discussion thread to give folks some perspective of where these places and spots are.

They are all beautiful spots. The book is beautifully written so I think you will enjoy not only the book but the discussion itself. Thank you for posting - and continue to post often and try to jump in on the discussion questions and take a stab at them and give your opinions.

Bentley wrote: "Introduction and Let us Get Started:

Folks please introduce yourself and let us know why this book interested you and what you hope to get from reading it?

Do we have any surfers in the group? Do..."

I am reading from Raleigh, North Carolina. I won't have a copy of the book until sometime next week, but I am very much looking forward to the experience of reading it and discussing it with the group.

I enjoy exploring new topics which is what drew me to this book. I recently returned from a trip to the coast where I was able to watch a number of surfers in action, therefore this book seems especially relevant.

Through this book, I hope to gain some insight into a sport of which I know basically nothing. Also, I enjoy being able to view life from another person's perspective. I always find it fascinating to see how someone else approaches and experiences life. From what I understand, this is a beautifully written autobiography. I look forward to beginning the journey.

Welcome from Raleigh, North Carolina - a wonderful place - Dusty - this is beautifully written and I love this author's style.

It is never too late to start and this book reads very well so you should have no problems whatsoever.

I am new to this type of discussion. My name is Rich. So far, I have enjoyed this book, but sometimes, Finnegan gets a little arrogant and appears to be talking down to his audience. He tries to be profound, as if he is always reminding us that he has superior intellectual powers. We know Finnegan is smart, but sometimes a story is more just needs to be clear to be good.

Hello Richard - it is funny - I did not get that feeling so far but the assignment this week is only the first three chapters - so don't by accident post any spoilers (smile).

I did think in the first three chapters that he was bullied, learned to fight and maybe did that too much, was in the wrong crowds at times, and was lucky he ended up as well as he did (smile). I suspect that having the alone time and surfing helped supply for him an outlet.

I love the way he writes and I did not feel that way about him but every person reads a book differently and that is the joy of reading and discussing these books.

Where are you from Richard? We always like to learn in a global community where the person is reading the book - fun to share world locations. I am glad that you are here and take a stab at the discussion questions that are posted. And of course keep posting.

Hi, JeanMarie here from Illinois. I was intrigued by a review of Barbarian Days and a description of Finnegan's writing style. Also, I love everything about the ocean, though I have never surfed. I enjoy autobiographies/biographies in general, I like to see how others deal with this great adventure we call life. I'm a bit ahead of the reading schedule, and so far am not disappointed. I find Finnegan's writing to be quite picturesque.

Hi everyone,
I am Ayse, I am reading in Ankara, Turkey. When I started the book we were having a heat wave here temperatures reaching up to 50 C. The book helped a lot, I almost felt the ocean breeze flowing to me from the pages. I found his style very easy to read.

The bullying Finnegan had to suffer really bothered me. Especially the part where it went on unnoticed by the parents and teachers, and for long. However I am not surprised, It is clear by research that bullying gets ignored by teachers very often. Also commonly, the victims do not want to be called the squealer, or are afraid the bullying might get worse, so they do not inform the teachers or even parents.

A careful parent or teacher can easily spot the problem; I felt sorry for Finnegan being so alone and unprotected at that time. I didn't feel like they were a close knitted family at all.

I think he did a good job trying to excell in surf, that seemed to support him, and vent out his negative feelings.

Hello Jean Marie from Illinois - happy to have you with us. Just jump in and take a stab at answering the topics for discussion so that everybody can join and dialogue about the book. I have to agree with you about his writing.

Ayse - from Ankara Turkey - hello.

You hit on a theme that I thought was very important to discuss - the fact that Finnegan was bullied. That bothered me too and I wondered why didn't anybody notice - at school, at home. They seemed to love one another as a family but I sensed too - emotional disconnection.

Yes, I agree - if Finnegan did not have surfing as an outlet - I wondered how he might have turned out.

Hi Bently,
Bullying is such an important issue, a sort of social disease if I may, that it can affect the person way beyond the school years, not only the victim and the bully but the by standers as well, so I agree with you.

It is Ayse - and I thought that was an interesting sidebar in this memoir because Finnegan was bullied and did bully - which often happens to folks who have been bullied or abused in childhood.

I am sure if we knew the author that he would agree that some of the effects stayed with him for a long time. And the folks who watched and allowed it to happen are as guilty.

TWO - SMELL THE OCEAN - California, ca. 1956-65


Finnegan on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif., with his mother in 1953. Courtesy of William Finnegan

And so we begin Chapter Two:

"I was in Laguna Beach, California, a few years ago, driving south in a rental car down the main street, Pacific Coast Highway. It was foggy, damp, deserted ocean to my right, its midnight swell, the aqueous lights of business closed for the night flanking the road. I was tired, but not unalert. Passing an old, decrepit-looking motel, I heard a horrible cry. I knew what it was: a memory, not a crime or a heartbeat in progress, But the rawness of the remembered shriek made my scalp prickle. It was my father, as a young man. He had dislocated his shoulder in that motel, playing with me in an indoor pool I had seen. It was the first time I had heard my dad cry out in pain. He never cursed or complained when he got cuts, scratches, bruises. Indeed, he usually laughed. So this was bad--terrifying, really for me. He was helpless, desperate. My mother was called. An ambulance came. What were we doing in a motel in Laguna? I don't know. We had friends in Newport Beach, the next town north, not Laguna. I was four at the most--still in that purported Eden before siblings."

THREE - THE SHOCK OF THE NEW - California, 1968



And so we begin Chapter Three:

"The new thing in surfing - that which Glenn Kaulukukui had seemed to me, in Waikiki, to be in the vanguard of--was, it turned out, the shortboard revolution. By luck, I saw its foremost progenitor in action the following winter, just before the underground movement surfaced. He was an Australian named Bob McTavish. I saw him at Rincon, a point break north of Ventura that I had started surfing with Domenic when we could cadge a ride that far. Rincon, now known kitschily as the Queen of the Coast, was then known simply as the best wave in California, a long, hollow, wintertime right of astonishing quality. It was a big day, low tide, late afternoon, and we were resting on the rocks in the cove when somebody shouted and pointed to a brawny set standing up against the sky out at Second Point. Few people surfed Second Point, also known as Indicator, at that size. The great wave at Rincon was First Point. One paddled up to Second Point to escape the crowd on small days, settling for inferior waves. There were stories about huge perfect days when it was possible to surf all of the way from Second Point through First Point and down to the cove, some eight hundred high-speed yards, but I had certainly never seen it done."

Folks do not forget to look at the glossary - many of the music references at that time in the first three chapters have been added to the glossary.

Also dive in and answer the discussion questions - take a stab at them and express your viewpoints.

Now that you are completing the first three chapters - what are some of your thoughts of these beginning segments.

Remember keep your posts to the first three chapters - if you do not want to use spoiler html. Also this is a non spoiler thread.

Next week we will be doing the next three chapters.

Hello everyone. I am Glynn from the space coast of Florida, USA. I apoligize for not saying yes or no to reading this. I was on the fence but I have decided to dive in (pun intended.)

Surfing is a big thing on the space coast of Florida. It is the hot and humid, rainy season down here known elsewhere as "summer," so this book is timely. I have finished chapter one and like the author's writing style so this will be an enjoyable read

Not quite sure about the epigraph (or the book title for that matter.) I would take a guess that it has to do with the author thinking back to his early life as opposed to his current life but I'm sure more will be reavealed as we go along.

Welcome Glynn - glad to have you with us. I think you will like this book. Excellent writing style. Thank you for taking a stab at the epigraph - it helps as you know to try your hand at the topical questions - was there anything that surprised you in the first chapter or any topic or quote that resonated with you?

Have you ever tried surfing yourself - I haven"t but it appears to have become increasingly popular. However this book so far is going to be a great memoir and the author remarkably weaves into the fabric of the book many cultural references of the era - including music and fads and attitudes of the 60's and events which make the read culturally historical.

Bentley wrote: "Welcome Glynn - glad to have you with us.,,,was there anything that surprised you in the first chapter or any topic or quote that resonated with you?...Have you ever tried surfing yourself....."

Hi Bentley.. I haven't tried my hand at surfing yet. My daughter wants to take a lesson and says I should join her. We shall see... When I was a kid living in California I did some body surfing but only for fun. One thing surprising to me is that there was a heirarchy in the water. The author mentions how he couldn't go over to where the veteran surfers were. I always thought that the surf was a big place and there was room for everybody but I guess you need to earn your place, even in the water!

Yes, that sounds like fun. I guess it is like everything else - a pecking order of skillsets. (smile)

For those of you who wonder what we will be reading and talking about next week - this is a repost of the Week Two Syllabus. You can always see how all of the weeks are laid out at the beginning of the thread.

SYLLABUS - WEEK TWO:

Week Two Assignment: July 10th - July 16th - Chapters 4 - 5 (pages 105 - 208)

FOUR - 'SCUSE ME WHILE I KISS THE SKY - Maui, 1971 - p. 105

FIVE - THE SEARCH - The South Pacific, 1978 - p. 147

Hi, everyone!

Apologies for posting so late in this discussion. I'm a librarian and I'm knee deep in summer reading programming.

Anyway, my name is Elin and I live in the mountains in western Pennsylvania where surfing, as you can imagine, isn't all that popular. I've never really thought about giving it a try as, in truth, I'm really not a beach person. Therefore, I wanted to read this book because the life and hobby represented is likely to be vastly different from my own.

As for hobbies that I've had to put on the back burner would be horse riding. I used to ride frequently, however, work, grad school, and the upkeep of riding became too much doing everything all at once. But, get me on a horse and it's like I ride every day. So while I don't surf, being able to connect with the subject in that way should make for an interesting read.

Looking forward to the discussion!

Elin

We are glad to have you with us Elin - just dig into the questions and post your responses.

My name is Rose, I live in a coastal city in Oregon and truly didn't realize the book was about surfing until I actually looked at the cover. I just like to learn and am usually very pleased with the selections offered for discussion; although I don't always participate in the discussions I usually read much of what is chosen.
People do surf here in Oregon but the water and weather is cold and windy, the riptides are dangerous, and suits are required. Surfing has never interested me but I am learning many new things about people, places and things so it will be well worth the listen.

Powder Rose welcome - I think you will like this book - it is easy reading and he does talk about his love for surfing but it is also a book about life and growing up. It should be very worthwhile for you.

And also welcome from beautiful Oregon. I was in Oregon a few years ago and honestly it was just like you said - yet incredibly beautiful and rugged.

Powder River Rose wrote: "My name is Rose, I live in a coastal city in Oregon...."

Hello Rose. I am like you. Never surfed or took much interest in it but having fun reading about it....This is kind of off topic but are you excited for the Total Eclipse coming in August? Are you in the path of totality?