The Puritan Dilemma

"As the sea-weary company of men and women looked ashore at the straggling collection of huts and hovels and canvas booths that went by the name of Salem, they must have been staggered by the crudity of the life that lay ahead of them. The land was lovely but savage. Only a few hundred acres were cleared: beyond lay the forest, and they had seen for themselves how the huge trees came down to the shore along the coast to the north and east."

satuday sundaze

Yesterday Andrew took me to the Book Thing in Greenmount. It was cool to finally be able to go, after having heard so much about it. I was really impressed with the selection of available books, all for free and by the ingenuity of the entire operation. It's volunteer operated and all the books are donated. I like that there is this circulation of available knowledge. It's not a library but more a means of starting your own.

Anyway, I got some awesome finds. National Geographics from the first half of 1962, with all of the wonderful saturated colors and funny imagery. A ton of american history books and national geographic books from the 1970s about cowboys, american backwoods and the south. My favorite acquisitions though were definitely the smaller bound books from the 40s and 50s.
I love when there's writing sporadically throughout used books, it's like sharing something with whoever was reading it half a century ago.







Today I have to read this for my American Intellectual History Class.