Scan barcode
A review by thisbookishcat
Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo
Did not finish book. Stopped at 36%.
Shark clickbait hoo ha ha.
Michael spends so much time poetically attempting to craft a tale of Victorian and Edwardian East Coasters during the turn of the century, going into full backgrounds of people, inventions, the wars, etc. and not enough time on the damn shark. The time he does spend on the shark? He's trying to get into the shark's mind, think as it thinks, portray its thoughts and motivations for what it did, while briefly touching on anything scientific.
As some others have pointed out in their reviews, this reads more like he was trying to write a screenplay and less like he was actually trying to present the facts and information about these shark attacks, and the science and research that has gone into understanding shark behaviour now as compared to what took place back then. I'm so disappointed because I love sharks, non-fiction, and history, so this in theory had it all. Instead, it was 30% into the novel before the first shark attack happened, in which time we've learned ALL about some hotel, some rich people loving the beach, the SCANDALOUS new bathing attire, proper etiquette for the rich and Quakers and proper Victorian men, and the use of ichthyologist a few times to make it seem like we're still talking about sharks. Did I mention the SCANDALOUS swimsuits? if he spent half as much time on the shark as he did on how shocking this swim attire was, it would probably have been a better book.
This is a big no for me. Clearly it works for some but I want my non-fiction to feel like non-fiction and not a wannabe screenplay.
TL;DR - Not enough sharks. Too many stuck up Victorian ideals. Swim suits.
Michael spends so much time poetically attempting to craft a tale of Victorian and Edwardian East Coasters during the turn of the century, going into full backgrounds of people, inventions, the wars, etc. and not enough time on the damn shark. The time he does spend on the shark? He's trying to get into the shark's mind, think as it thinks, portray its thoughts and motivations for what it did, while briefly touching on anything scientific.
As some others have pointed out in their reviews, this reads more like he was trying to write a screenplay and less like he was actually trying to present the facts and information about these shark attacks, and the science and research that has gone into understanding shark behaviour now as compared to what took place back then. I'm so disappointed because I love sharks, non-fiction, and history, so this in theory had it all. Instead, it was 30% into the novel before the first shark attack happened, in which time we've learned ALL about some hotel, some rich people loving the beach, the SCANDALOUS new bathing attire, proper etiquette for the rich and Quakers and proper Victorian men, and the use of ichthyologist a few times to make it seem like we're still talking about sharks. Did I mention the SCANDALOUS swimsuits? if he spent half as much time on the shark as he did on how shocking this swim attire was, it would probably have been a better book.
This is a big no for me. Clearly it works for some but I want my non-fiction to feel like non-fiction and not a wannabe screenplay.
TL;DR - Not enough sharks. Too many stuck up Victorian ideals. Swim suits.