Saturday, May 20, 2017

Book Excerpt for the Day


    The most common question, though, concerned the date etched into the rock’s surface.  Why did it say 1620, visitors wondered, rather than 1492?  Wasn’t that when Columbus arrived?

    “Or they ask, ‘Is this where the three ships landed?’” Claire said.  “They mean the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.  People think Columbus dropped off the Pilgrims and sailed home.”

    Claire had to patiently explain that Columbus’s landing and the Pilgrims’ arrival occurred a thousand miles and 128 years apart.  “Americans learn about 1492 and 1620 as kids and that’s all they remember as adults,” she said.  “The rest of the story is blank.”


    (from A Voyage Long And Strange by Tony Horwitz)

  9*/10.  The complete review is here.
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