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A review by griffgriffgriff_
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan
5.0
I rarely write more than a few sentences in review of any book, regardless of how good it is, but this one feels like it deserves an essay.
Finnegan is a tremendous storyteller, and he has a knack for the thing I admire most in a writer, which is the ability to allow the reader to feel his emotions and convictions as strongly as the writer might. There are passages throughout this book where I shed tears over descriptions of waves and surfboards—completely alien subjects for me. The sheer quality of his prose is immense. He writes so beautifully, so powerfully about the complex minutiae of his hobby (really his way of life) that it seems simple and intoxicating to the uneducated reader.
This is a memoir, but the strength of the stories told are due to the enormous cast of characters that accompany Finnegan through his life. Whether childhood friends in Hawai’i, girlfriends in college, parents and children in New York City, or surf buddies and life partners literally all over the globe, the path he takes through life is undoubtedly richer because of the people he chooses to spend his time with. Finnegan spends more time describing and illustrating his companions than he does on his own exploits. It’s a narrative choice that certainly pays off.
This book is unreal. It is so good. If I could give it 10 stars I would.
Finnegan is a tremendous storyteller, and he has a knack for the thing I admire most in a writer, which is the ability to allow the reader to feel his emotions and convictions as strongly as the writer might. There are passages throughout this book where I shed tears over descriptions of waves and surfboards—completely alien subjects for me. The sheer quality of his prose is immense. He writes so beautifully, so powerfully about the complex minutiae of his hobby (really his way of life) that it seems simple and intoxicating to the uneducated reader.
This is a memoir, but the strength of the stories told are due to the enormous cast of characters that accompany Finnegan through his life. Whether childhood friends in Hawai’i, girlfriends in college, parents and children in New York City, or surf buddies and life partners literally all over the globe, the path he takes through life is undoubtedly richer because of the people he chooses to spend his time with. Finnegan spends more time describing and illustrating his companions than he does on his own exploits. It’s a narrative choice that certainly pays off.
This book is unreal. It is so good. If I could give it 10 stars I would.