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A review by ejthomas
The Book of Eels by Tom Fort
2.0
This was not a particularly well balanced book.
The text starts with a laborious journey into where the author has fished and how some people like to eat their eels... Ugg... It was only at about chapter 5 (or was that 4? It's all a haze) that I perked up and became interested. The story about the how, who, when, and where the spawning ground for eels was discovered and the rivalry therein was well put forward and enjoyable. The rest of the book was forgettable, excluding a sprinkling of interesting titbits, and seemed to be an excuse for an avid fisherman to go an a jolly and meet others of his ilk.
I was disappointed at the heavy focus on the fishing community and only passing mention of any conservation effort and current research. Additionally a number of remarks were rather off base. Hoping that the Thames salmon doesn't make a comeback due to the increased red tape that would then come with fishing in associated waters, saying that if x number of elvers are transported to mature in a body of water then a similar number should reach adulthood (just no) and referring to research, research papers and the seminars and conventions yielding but "guesswork". The last one really gets me. The author is happy to utilize such resources for the purpose of his book and to give form to arguments and yet in one foul swoop implies that research efforts and peer reviewed papers are akin to a few college graduates chin-wagging over a pint at the pub. Whatever dude. Whatever.
The text starts with a laborious journey into where the author has fished and how some people like to eat their eels... Ugg... It was only at about chapter 5 (or was that 4? It's all a haze) that I perked up and became interested. The story about the how, who, when, and where the spawning ground for eels was discovered and the rivalry therein was well put forward and enjoyable. The rest of the book was forgettable, excluding a sprinkling of interesting titbits, and seemed to be an excuse for an avid fisherman to go an a jolly and meet others of his ilk.
I was disappointed at the heavy focus on the fishing community and only passing mention of any conservation effort and current research. Additionally a number of remarks were rather off base. Hoping that the Thames salmon doesn't make a comeback due to the increased red tape that would then come with fishing in associated waters, saying that if x number of elvers are transported to mature in a body of water then a similar number should reach adulthood (just no) and referring to research, research papers and the seminars and conventions yielding but "guesswork". The last one really gets me. The author is happy to utilize such resources for the purpose of his book and to give form to arguments and yet in one foul swoop implies that research efforts and peer reviewed papers are akin to a few college graduates chin-wagging over a pint at the pub. Whatever dude. Whatever.