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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
informative
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
I never thought a book about eels would make me so emotional, or make me so fascinated by eels. I found it thoughtfully written and covered a lot of ground on humans historical interactions and research on eels. Along with Svensson’s own experiences with eels growing up in Sweden fishing for eels with his dad. I think it’s fitting he writes about Rachel Carson several times in the book because I likened this to her work before she was mentioned. Worth a read even though you might not think you care about eels
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Meh. I kind of liked how the author alternated between informative chapters and chapters about his own life but sometimes the personal stuff was too weird and not related to eels. Weird kind of religious chapter. Too much rando stuff about Freud. Also the sources are not listed in a comprehensive way where you can tell which information came from which source? And some are just websites?
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent
Minor: Colonisation
The Book of Eels is part science history, part memoir. The chapters alternate between longer ones detailing the long and largely futile efforts of the scientific community to understand even the most basic information about these elusive creatures, and shorter chapters with poignant memories of the author's experiences eel fishing with his father as a boy. The structure helped accentuate what I found to be the book's biggest takeaway - the quest for the eel is, ultimately, a quest for ourselves.
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced