In the Beginning

 In the Beginning 834

So in the beginning was the word, we are told in the bible and the word was god, we are told in the bible.  

Being an Atheist this interested me very much. No not the bit about God but the bit about the word. Because as a writer I am very interested in words. In fact without words it would be impossible to be a writer. Without spoken words it would be difficult to communicate would it not? 

However in the beginning, I mean before the bible. Let's say from the stone age on, 8-10,000 BC until 4000BC, people did communicate without words did they not? eg. Cave paintings. The earliest known writing was invented around  3400 B.C.  in an area called Sumer near the Persian Gulf. The development of a Sumerian script was influenced by local materials: clay for tablets and reeds for styluses (writing tools).27 Apr  I seem to remember American Indians used smoke signals. I learned semaphore in the guides but I could never manage Morse code except for S-O-S. Now I am thinking did these people think in words or were they just communicating feelings.

At this point, as usual, I was about to go down the deep dark bottomless rabbit hole. 

But the topic is not words is it? It's in the beginning. 

So, Brian/ Russel,  I expect this title amused you. It is a real puzzler is it not?

I asked myself, the beginning of what, the universe?

“In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. “ To quote Douglas Adams. “

There are lots of books about beginnings. 

Here are a few

The beginning of a career:  100 Must-Read Debut Novels

The beginning of a series:  62 of the Best Book Series to Start Reading

The beginning of life:  10 Books Featuring Childbirth as a Theme

The beginning of something new:  Nonfiction Science Books About Discoveries

The beginning of people:  Books by Indigenous Authors

The beginning of the world:  Novels Set in the Ancient World

The beginning of a love of reading:  35 Classic Children's Books Adults 

I like that one. The beginning of a love of reading. I did begin to read in the infant school. We had strips of card on which there were sentences. We had to match these lines to another card with multiple lines. I liked this because I found it easy and was eager to get on and read a book.

This truly was the beginning. 

As a child I read everything In the house. My father had bought what I imagine now, was then a special  offer for a complete library that every home needs. The World's Greatest Short Stories, Everybody's Family Doctor, The Universal Book of Hobbies and Handicrafts,  The Universal Home Lawyer  illustrated. The big Book of Needlecraft and A Dictionary of the English Language. There was also a book entitled The world's Most Famous Photographs. These books are still in my book case. However I am ashamed to say that the book of photographs is falling to bits probably because it contains photos of nudes. I can blame my brothers for that and I'll take pride in the fact that the dictionary also looks well used.

To continue with the theme. I joined the library where I went every week and devoured Enid Blyton (frowned on by some) and books about school life. Looking back I find this catorgory bizarre. Did I fancy going to a boarding school? Certainly not. But there were no books about working class kids like me. I often wish that I'd had someone to point me to the classics but I came to them later.

Grammar school meant Shakespeare of course. I know it's frowned upon to say that one is not a fan of Shakespeare but I am not. Oh I forgot to mention that my father's library contained 'The complete Works of Shakespeare'  which I am ashamed to say and which I regret, I gave it away.

I did not do much reading at college as my subjects were Games and Maths.

After college I returned to being an avid reader. Historical novels were my thing.  Nevil Shute, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Hardy, Dickens and of course Arnold Bennett were all popular.

Then I read the Female Eunuch which you could say was another beginning. Feminism. I had always been a feminist but it was not a clearly defined idea. It was more of a feeling.

Not sure when I joined a Women's Group and read many feminist writers. Fear of Flying by Erica Young, Feminism as Therapy impressed me greatly.

Now so not to bore you with a list of the books on my shelves I 

have taken a photo.

A question I often ask is 'Who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin “?

It was a woman Harriet Beecher Stowe not Mark Twain he wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn