Teaser Tuesday 12.4.2011

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

The rules are:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two teaser sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers
• Share the title and author too so that other Teaser Tuesday participients can add the book on their TBR lists, if they like your teasers!

I'm reading The Tea Lords by Hella S. Haasse. This is the first book I've ever read by this famous Dutch author and I am thoroughly enjoying the experience. My teaser is from p. 54. Rudolf Kerkhoven arrives in the Dutch East Indies i.e. Java. The year is 1871.

"Never in his life had Rudolf felt such profound relief as when the Telanak dropped anchor in the roadstead of Batavia. The long sea voyage, so eagarly anticipated as a gripping adventure, had turned out to be exceedingly tedious: 107 1/2 days of being confined to the cramped spaces reserved for passangers on deck and in the midship, cheek by jowl by a motley assortment of individuals whom he could not imagine ever consorting with of his own free will."

Can you imagine over 100 days at sea?!