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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
What a wonderful touching story of a man and his father told through the metaphor of the eel (Anguilla anguilla) and the story of its known and lesser known history. I'm sure that some will compare it to "H Is for Hawk" by Helen Macdonald in its focus on a relationship between father and child but this has much more of a scholarly feel (not to diminish "H Is for Hawk" in any way).
The structure of the book is set up in mostly alternating chapters between the natural history of the eel (of what is known) and the story of a young boy in Sweden who grew up casually fishing for eels with his father. This lends the book a more obvious personal touch, but the author also uses the eel as a looking glass to hold up to his own and others situations to see what one can divine about the nature of life and death. The eel itself is a very odd and secretive animal about which surprisingly little is known in terms of its reproductive process and death and therefore it is well suited to its use as a metaphor for human lives.
The structure of the book is set up in mostly alternating chapters between the natural history of the eel (of what is known) and the story of a young boy in Sweden who grew up casually fishing for eels with his father. This lends the book a more obvious personal touch, but the author also uses the eel as a looking glass to hold up to his own and others situations to see what one can divine about the nature of life and death. The eel itself is a very odd and secretive animal about which surprisingly little is known in terms of its reproductive process and death and therefore it is well suited to its use as a metaphor for human lives.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cancer
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Part nonfiction, part memoir. I had no idea eels were such a mystery
I liked this one a lot. That might be controversial, but I really did. While I do think a more proper title for this one would've been Eels: A Memoir, or something along those lines, I still appreciated it for everything it accomplished as is, simply under the guise of just being some book about eels.
For me, this book would simply be incomplete without the stories Svensson told about his father. There was a greater message being woven here, all throughout, intertwining the nature of eels with Svensson's own life story, which was, as far as I was concerned, beautiful, and profound. His fascination stemmed from a place of childhood curiosity; it felt filial, and nostalgic, and soft. Some might argue that the two overarching concepts discussed in this book—half-eel factoids, half-heartfelt paternal memoir—were unrelated, but I think Svensson tied them together quite nicely.
If nothing else, The Book of Eels served as a fascinating and enjoyable read with some lovely writing and impactful takeaways. I never thought I'd love learning so much about eels but, here I am, still amazed like seven months later lol
For me, this book would simply be incomplete without the stories Svensson told about his father. There was a greater message being woven here, all throughout, intertwining the nature of eels with Svensson's own life story, which was, as far as I was concerned, beautiful, and profound. His fascination stemmed from a place of childhood curiosity; it felt filial, and nostalgic, and soft. Some might argue that the two overarching concepts discussed in this book—half-eel factoids, half-heartfelt paternal memoir—were unrelated, but I think Svensson tied them together quite nicely.
If nothing else, The Book of Eels served as a fascinating and enjoyable read with some lovely writing and impactful takeaways. I never thought I'd love learning so much about eels but, here I am, still amazed like seven months later lol
A really informative read that I did not expect to like so much, since this is not my usual genre. I wish the eel facts were presented in a more sequential way, but it wasn't too hard to follow.
informative
fast-paced