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inspiring reflective medium-paced

I loved learning all about eels. Keep note this is a memoir style so the author does mix their own experiences in the story. I thought that was nice but could have skipped over those parts fine. 
emotional funny hopeful informative slow-paced
adventurous emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced
informative medium-paced

A co-worker recommended this to me with the preface "You're not going to believe this but I read this great book about EELS..." I did not believe it, however, we tend to have similar taste so I gave it a try on audio. The voice of the narrator was wonderfully soothing and I found myself actually interested in eels. Who would have guessed? Of course the real underlying story is the bond between a father and a son which was very sweet. I would hesitate to recommend this to anyone else (because, you know, eels!), but I will say: it was the right book at the right time for me.
informative fast-paced

I couldn't quite place why the book felt off to me. Then the author got to a chapter where he talks about faith, Jesus, parables, resurrection, and apostles. I paused and looked it up online, because I thought it was a book on human (see: general) fascination with eels, some history, science, commentary, etc. Turns out, the original is in Swedish and titled: "The Gospel of the Eels: A Father, a Son and the World's Most Enigmatic Fish". A compelling book... IF that is what you want to read about. I did not.

I rated this low. Two starts for the actual eel content. Minus 3 stars for the blatant misrepresentation. Not the author's fault per se. But shame on translators and publishers for thinking this was a good idea. I did finish this out of respect for the author. I found another book on eels, and hope the title is not another bait & switch. I would have given this only one star, but the book itself is well written, for what it's worth.
informative mysterious relaxing slow-paced
informative

Ålevangeliet hittar en fin balans mellan att presentera den historiska utvecklingen av ålkunskap, samt filosofiska reflektioner över författarens relation med sin far och ålens symbolvärde för människan. Överlag blev det inte en överdos på ren ål-information, och om något hade jag gärna lärt mig ännu mer om ålen och dess liv. 

Däremot är denna fokus grundad i boken som tar sats i ålen som ett mysterium och konstant gåta. I ett kapitel beskriver Patrik hur Rachel Carsons kända verk använder antropomorfism för att engagera läsare och skapa empati till djurliv. Om Carson tar sina subjekt närmare läsaren, håller Svensson ålarna på distans. I rollen som fantasi eggande varelse passar det bättre att ålen tillåts vara en perifer gestalt vilket gör den mer filosofiskt intressant. Det är en intressant poäng som görs, att intresset kring ålen delvis bärs up av vår bristande kunskap. Och det är ju paradoxalt att ökad förståelse krävs i bevarande syfte, samtidigt som ökad förståelse riskerar att reducera vår emotionella investering i dess fortlevnad. Häftig bok som väckte mycket tankar. 
adventurous informative inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced