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A review by sue_reilly
The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World by Patrik Svensson
3.0
Read on audio via Hoopla. Audio narrator is good.
The publisher tried to promote this by comparing it to [b:H is for Hawk|18803640|H is for Hawk|Helen Macdonald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442151714l/18803640._SY75_.jpg|26732095] and...no. H is for Hawk had top notch writing, a powerful emotional punch, and confidently woven narrative. Maybe it's lost in translation? Or a cultural difference? But I found the anecdotes about the author eel fishing with his father lacked an emotional connection and were kind of boring. The philosophical meanderings were poorly tied in and amateurish and felt like a student essay padded with too many words to reach a page count. The eel facts were the best part, I wish this had been purely scientific. I really enjoyed the journey along the history of eel research, including Aristotle and Freud. But overall the book just didn't hold its own. I'll leave the metaphysics of eels to others.
The publisher tried to promote this by comparing it to [b:H is for Hawk|18803640|H is for Hawk|Helen Macdonald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442151714l/18803640._SY75_.jpg|26732095] and...no. H is for Hawk had top notch writing, a powerful emotional punch, and confidently woven narrative. Maybe it's lost in translation? Or a cultural difference? But I found the anecdotes about the author eel fishing with his father lacked an emotional connection and were kind of boring. The philosophical meanderings were poorly tied in and amateurish and felt like a student essay padded with too many words to reach a page count. The eel facts were the best part, I wish this had been purely scientific. I really enjoyed the journey along the history of eel research, including Aristotle and Freud. But overall the book just didn't hold its own. I'll leave the metaphysics of eels to others.