Damn Fine Sentence

“Outside, the sun shone bright and mean.”

I collect sentences and pay tribute to the authors by sharing their Damn Fine Sentences with you. Then I recount a personal memory the words bring up. It’s about how books connect with your life.

“Outside, the sun shone bright and mean.”

———Donna Tartt

———The Goldfinch

The summer before my junior year of college, I was imprisoned in summer school—a make-up English lit class, during which we read (or faked reading) James Joyce’s Ulysses. The torture took place at UC Santa Barbara, a campus right on the beach. The lecturer droned through extended passages of Joyce’s stream of consciousness prose, while my consciousness lay on the beach in my white bikini.

For a school-hating, sun worshiping California girl, there was nothing worse than sitting through Ulysses with a salty ocean breeze filling the classroom.

After three days, I broke.

I drove out of my parents’ driveway—going to class, see you later—and headed to Isla Vista Beach.

I peeled down to my swim suit, shook out my towel, and flopped, turning my face up to the cloudless sky. Beach routine took over. Bask for a few minutes. Tiptoe through the kelp to stick my toes into the foam. Let a single wave wash over my ankles. I liked to race backwards on the return trip to my towel, so I could watch my footprints disappear as the tide chased me. For an even tan, I flipped onto my stomach. The heat was broken up by a cool mist. Seagulls called. A dog barked. The surf lapped in and out, in and out. I fell asleep.

Two hours later, I stuffed my gear into the trunk of the car. It was a nice break, but summer quarter was too short for a repeat. To pass this class, required perfect attendance from this point on.

When I pulled out of the driveway—going to class, see you later—I Ieaned back against the seat. And howled. Holy shit, are my shoulders on fire? On campus, I caught myself in a bathroom mirror. My back was flame red.

There was something worse than sitting through Ulysses with the smell of the ocean wafting into the classroom. Sitting through Ulysses with a sunburn

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