2 posts tagged “pompeii”

Lots and lots of books to read in the new year.

To start me out, I'm going to be tackling:

Trying to knock a few more off my massive lifelong booklist...I managed to check off about 50 this year, which is good considering that I only started it midyear. There are about 4k books on that list overall. I read about 21 or so books that are not on the main list, not counting all the many nonfiction Rome books I have been reading for research on my book. If I was only tackling books on my big list I probably would have plowed through a lot more. Goal this upcoming year is 100 books off the main booklist. Shouldn't be too hard...I read about 800 words a minute.

This week I read:

I also have been reading through You on a Diet which is pretty good, actually. Figured I could use some motivation in 2008. :)

I'll probably also snag a book on CD at the library, actually. I find that I really like listening on my drive to work. Right before Christmas I finished Pompeii, which I highly recommend.

Oh, and I zoomed through The Glass Castle right before Christmas. VERY VERY good--a book that will sit with me for years to come.


I think that's enough bookish things for now, don't you think?

Last night I woke up with a song lyric in my head. It was quite specific and most likely due to a book I was reading when I went to bed--a gorgeous book, The Houses of Roman Italy 100 B.C.-250 A.D.

The lyric: "Were you praying at the Lares shrine?"

I knew that this was a lyric that I had known for probably 20 years--turns out it was 21 years. The most important thing about that lyric though was the fact that now I knew what a Lares shrine was. I have known for a few months actually but last night I was specifically reading about the rituals associated with them.

There was a shrine to the Lares in every Roman household in the entryway or atrium, called a Lararium. The Lares are the gods of the family and of the household. Offerings were made daily to the Lares and when the family moved, the gods would move with them. When a woman married, she took coins to the Lares of her new household, to symbolize her passage into that family.

And now that I knew what it was, suddenly I had a whole new understanding of "Cities in Dust" by Siouxsie and the Banshees. Not really rocket science but I hadn't really examined the lyrics closely before. I knew all the words and knew them well but never totally understood what the song was about. Pompeii.

Pompeii bodies

Water was running; children were running
You were running out of time
Under the mountain, a golden fountain
Were you praying at the Lares shrine?
But ohh oh your city lies in dust, my friend
ohh oh your city lies in dust, my friend

We found you hiding, we found you lying
Choking on the dirt and sand
Your former glories and all the stories
Dragged and washed with eager hands

But ohh oh your city lies in dust, my friend
ohh oh your city lies in dust, my friend
your city lies in dust

Water was running; children were running
We found you hiding, we found you lying
Water was running; children were running
We found you hiding, we found you lying
your city lies in dust
ohh oh your city lies in dust, my friend

Hot and burning in your nostrils
Pouring down your gaping mouth
Your molten bodies blanket of cinders
Caught in the throes .......

Ohh oh your city lies in dust, my friend
Ohh oh your city lies in dust, my friend
Ohh oh your city lies in dust, my friend
Ohh oh your city lies in dust, my friend

Your city lies in dust

For me it was just that amazement of an "aha!" moment, waking from sleep and understanding something of importance. I haven't heard that song in awhile but it is a favorite song from my youth. It was the cool feeling of having knowledge permeate my very thoughts, immersing me in history and understanding that will ultimately help me round out and shape my book.