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A review by cindypepper
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World by Patrik Svensson
4.0
(3.5 stars, rounded up to 4)
A charming, quirky read that is truly a memoir in a book-of-eel's clothing. It reminded me a little bit of H is for Hawk: meditative and introspective, with an animal species and familial grief as the lens for reflection. I did learn a lot about eels (I read this around Thanksgiving and was very surprised to find that eels were thiiiisclose to becoming turkey as we know it today!), and the different histories that Svensson chooses to explore (Aristotle, Freud, Schmidt) are quite fascinating. The book does tend to bop around a memoir, different historical moments involving eels, and philosophical surmising of the inscrutable nature of the eel -- perhaps in the same slippery nature of an eel! -- but it is a short enough read that the constant zigzagging of chapters shouldn't hamper the enjoyment of the book.
A charming, quirky read that is truly a memoir in a book-of-eel's clothing. It reminded me a little bit of H is for Hawk: meditative and introspective, with an animal species and familial grief as the lens for reflection. I did learn a lot about eels (I read this around Thanksgiving and was very surprised to find that eels were thiiiisclose to becoming turkey as we know it today!), and the different histories that Svensson chooses to explore (Aristotle, Freud, Schmidt) are quite fascinating. The book does tend to bop around a memoir, different historical moments involving eels, and philosophical surmising of the inscrutable nature of the eel -- perhaps in the same slippery nature of an eel! -- but it is a short enough read that the constant zigzagging of chapters shouldn't hamper the enjoyment of the book.