# Post the first two paragraphs on page \[random #\]52\[/R #\] of the book you're reading **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2006, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350 "2006-01-04T05:07:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/21 "2006-01-04T11:42:25Z")
\*“I will ask you to work from life, to produce a model - life-size, I fancy - of me.” “Very few people see my face Ms. Lin. A man in my position has to be careful. I’m sure you understand. If you take this commission I will make you rich, but I will also own a part of your mind. The part that pertains to me. That is mine. I do not give permission to share it with any. If you do, you will suffer greatly befor you die”\* ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/22 "2006-01-04T12:35:23Z")
The first paragraph of page 52: > [@](#): > > Het probleem bij Utah was het binnenland. Achter de duinen bevond zich laagland, waar de Normandische boeren hun vee lieten grazen. Vanaf het strand liepen vier smalle, onverharde wegen landinwaarts, ongeveer een meter hoger dan de rest van het terrein. Veldmaarschalk Erwin Rommel, de Duitse bevelhebber, had het gebied onder water gezet. Troepen en tanks konden dan alleen via de wegen (_causeways_, zoals de planners van Eisenhower ze noemden) het binnenland bereiken. Rommels artillerie bevond zich voornamelijk achter het ondergelopen gebied, in gecamoufleerde stellingen of versterkte kazematten en bunkers van waaruit de wegen bestookt konden worden; Rommels infanterie stond gereed om verdedigingsstellingen in te nemen aan het westelijke uiteinde van de wegen, om zo eventuele troepen op die wegen te verdrijven. Good luck to anyone who doesn’t speak Dutch trying to decipher that. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/23 "2006-01-04T12:38:00Z")
“The show here in San Fransisco three more days, right? Then it go PorkLand.” “Portland.” “Okay Portland. By time set up in Seattle,I porobabbly be back. Back in show, same-o same-o” …OK that was three paragraphs but one was just one word. ---
**Author:** ![Mordib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Mordib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mordib)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/24 "2006-01-04T12:42:44Z")
just one paragraph > [@](#): > > But, Lem believed, the more realistic the virtual world the machine creates, the more imprisoned we are in our own imaginations. As our embodied selves, we interact with a world we know only in part , and which operates independantly of our desires. In contrast, the virtual worlds we encounter in the Phantomat are human constructions. Fabricated from our dreams, they are worlds in which nothing can be hurt or destroyed because nothing really exists. In short they are worlds in which nothing really matters. ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/25 "2006-01-04T13:04:35Z")
Mine doesn’t really have paragraphs, but here’s a short excerpt: _Then she said to him, “Go forth and return not hither, for if thou do I will surely slay thee;” screaming these words in his face. So he went from between her hands; and she returned to the dome and, going down to the sepulchre, she said, “O my Lord, come forth to me that I may look upon thee and thy goodliness!” The King replied in faint low words, “What thing hast thou done? Thou hast rid me of the branch but not of the root.”_ I know it’s not a game, but are we allowed to guess what other people’s books are? ( **Strinka** I know yours!) ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/26 "2006-01-04T13:33:41Z")
\*Somehow she had forgotten that bit of strangeness. “It’s too early to get dark.” “Yes, I don’t know about you but I feel a little jet-lagged…”\* ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/27 "2006-01-04T13:43:28Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > The first paragraph of page 52: > > Good luck to anyone who doesn’t speak Dutch trying to decipher that. 😃 I used my handy-dandy translator: "The problem by Utah was the interior. Behind the dunes was found of lowland, where the Normandische farmers their cattle let graze., . From the beach walked four narrow, onverharde weigh inland, approximately a meter more high than the rest of the grounds. Field marshal Erwin Rumble, had the German commander, the territory under water gezet. Troops and tanks could reach then only the interior via the roads (causeways, as the planners of Eisenhower they named). Junk artillery was found of mainly behind the been flooded order, in camouflaged positions or strengthened kazematten and bunkers of from which the roads harasses could become; Junk infantry stood ready apologies positions in to take at the western end of the roads, so possible troops on that weigh to drive away. of of. " The program could use a tweak or two, no? ---
**Author:** ![Sgt.Pepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sgt.Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sgt.Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/28 "2006-01-04T13:48:17Z")
The start of page 52 is in the middle of a paragraph, so I’ll post the next two complete ones, which happens to be dialog. “I’m the only psychiatric patient he’s using the Augmentor on, he told me so. He said he’s still working on it–perfecting it.” “It really is experimental, whatever he’s doing to you with it, then. Good. All right. I’ll see what I can do. It’ll take a week or more to get the forms through.” ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/29 "2006-01-04T14:00:35Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > The program could use a tweak or two, no? Yep. 😃 A better translation would be: > [@](#): > > The problem at Utah was inland. Behind the dunes there were flatlands where the Norman farmers let their cattle graze. From the beach there were four small unasphalted roads leading inland, that were about a meter higher than the rest of the terrain. Field marshall Erwin Rommel, the German commander, had flooded the area. Troops and tanks could only move inland via the roads (_causeways_, as Eisenhower’s planners called them). Rommels artillery was mostly placed behind the flooded land, in camouflaged positions, or in casemates and bunkers from which the the roads could be fired upon; Rommels infantry was ready to take up defensive positions at the western ends of the roads, to chase away any troops on the roads. It’s from Stephen E. Ambose’s Band of Brothers. My town’s dictionary didn’t have the English version, so I had to do with the Dutch. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/30 "2006-01-04T14:07:54Z")
Hah. [Babelfish](http://babelfish.altavista.com) translates Rommel’s name as “cheap goods”. That makes for a really funny read. “Field-marshal Erwin cheap goods” indeed. 😃 Why does your translator use “apologies” for “verdediging”? “Defense” or “defensive” would be much better. It also seems to translate “gebied” as “order”. “Area” or “region” would again be much better. ---
**Author:** ![Future\_Londonite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Future\_Londonite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Future_Londonite)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/31 "2006-01-04T14:19:54Z")
_What this all means is that glam metal was a layered construction. This phenomenon is completely common today - in fact, it’s virtually the **only** way rock exists in contemporary terms, and now it includes the especially elastic medium of cyberspace. But it was new in the 1980s. In fact, it was so new that its first consumers never even realized it._ _As I mentioned earlier, I never watched MTV until 1990, when I had already graduated from high school and happened to be visiting my eldest sister in Atlanta. However, I hated MTV when I was in junior high; I competely and totally despised everyting it represented. I even wrote an essay about in tenth grade, and I got an A._ ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/32 "2006-01-04T14:54:48Z")
I arrived at nine 'o clock. She was already there. I noticed her a long way off. She was standing, leaning with her elbows on the railing of the embankment, just as she had been standing the first time I saw her, and she did not hear me when I came up to her. “Nastenka!” I called her, restraining my agitation with difficulty. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/33 "2006-01-04T15:01:11Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > Yep. 😃 A better translation would be: > > It’s from Stephen E. Ambose’s Band of Brothers. My town’s dictionary didn’t have the English version, so I had to do with the Dutch. I see a career in translation for you. I’ve got my eye on you, Holmes! 😉 My current book has full-page paragraphs on these pages, so I’m not going to post. The jist of it is semi-pornographic. If you really want to see some of it, I’ll pick different pages to post. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/34 "2006-01-04T15:03:05Z")
> [@EuroMDguy](#): > > _What this all means is that glam metal was a layered construction. This phenomenon is completely common today - in fact, it’s virtually the **only** way rock exists in contemporary terms, and now it includes the especially elastic medium of cyberspace. But it was new in the 1980s. In fact, it was so new that its first consumers never even realized it._ > > _As I mentioned earlier, I never watched MTV until 1990, when I had already graduated from high school and happened to be visiting my eldest sister in Atlanta. However, I hated MTV when I was in junior high; I competely and totally despised everyting it represented. I even wrote an essay about in tenth grade, and I got an A._ Chuck Klosterman? ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/35 "2006-01-04T15:11:21Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I see a career in translation for you. I’ve got my eye on you, Holmes! 😉 Yeah, except for the fact that I wrote “dictionary” instead of “library”. :smack: Talk about a brain fart. Also, the author’s correct last name is “Ambrose”, but that was just a typo. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/36 "2006-01-04T15:34:12Z")
Anyway, they both nodded and departed and Jennie Margold and I exchanged troubled looks. As soon as the door closed, Jennie addressed Mrs. Hooper and asked, “Are Drummond and I missing something? The White House Chief of Staff’s dead. You can’t hide that.” It was an interesting question, and apparent a provocative one, because for a moment it just hung in the air. Then Phyllis, my boss, said, “It’s. . .well, it’s a little more complicated than that, I’m afraid. We probably should have seen this coming.” ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/37 "2006-01-04T16:09:59Z")
Er…I’m in various stages of reading six books right now. I’ll pick the last one I had my hands on. Okay, that turned out to have an end-of-chapter bibliography. The second to last one, then. And just one graf, cos it’s long. \* An important difference between Lewis’ childhood’s Sunday school, stained glass Jesus and Aslan is Aslan’s physicality: repeatedly his vibrant golden color, rich mane and “velvet” paws are mentioned; Lucy and Susan actually plunge their hands into and stroke his mane on several occasions. Aslan’s embodiment permits a relationship with the divine that combines delight in the wildness and power of an iconic predator with the pleasure of playing with and stroking pets. The narrator vibrantly describes many scenes of play and celebration, romping and feasting so that there is no doubt that a relationship with Aslan is about celebrating the body as much as the spirit. Aslan can even joke, albeit aggressively: when he first encounters the disbelieving Trumpkin, he tosses the unhappy, humiliated and terrified dwarf into the air like a kitten before making “friends” with him. \* ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Wrong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Mr.Wrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Wrong)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/38 "2006-01-04T16:29:19Z")
“Whoever will be so proud. Even if maybe your real folks aren’t. This person will be proud of you because you make them so proud of themselves. You’ll sip the water and cough just so the hero can wipe your chin with a napkin.” ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/39 "2006-01-04T16:38:37Z")
_In the spring of 1563, Mary sent Maitland to London to press her rights to the English succession. There were, however, three obstacles in her way: her continued refusal to ratify the Treaty of Edinburgh, her determination to marry Don Carlos, and the antipathy of most of the English towards her. Elizabeth had fretted for a long time about the prospect of Mary allying with a great Catholic power; now, she cam up with a solution that would assure her own security and the friendship of Scotland._ I think one paragraph is enough, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350/40 "2006-01-04T16:43:59Z")
> [@marky33](#): > > Others were not so bashful. They made themselves richer than they had ever been or ever would be again. > But they had little time to revel in it. As the sun rose over the African dunes and they buried the remaining bag of Spanish pieces of eight in the sand, they noticed a wild-looking man about half a mile away, walking up the beach toward them. Is that from Skeletons on the Zahara? **Josie had filed for divorce as soon as it was possible. Irretrievable breakdown – as if it were all his fault and she wasn’t shagging some poncy guy with a goatee. (“David,” Marlee said, not as grudgingly as Jackson would have liked. “He’s alright, he buys me chocolate, he makes nice pasta.” It was a six-lane motorway from the girl’s stomach to her heart. “I cook nice pasta,” Jackson said and heard how childish that sounded and didn’t care. Jackson had got someone he knew to look up David Lastingham on the pedophile register. Just in case.)** The next paragraph is too long. Marlee is Jackson’s young daughter; David is mom’s new boyfriend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-the-first-two-paragraphs-on-page-random-52-r-of-the-book-youre-reading/338350.md?page=3)