An eloquent and moving memoir -- which clearly paints the love Mowat has for the hardscrabble fishermen of Newfoundland and the pain he feels at the death of the natural world that accompanies fishing activities. ( )

Read this book after a trip to Newfoundland and learned much more about this wonderful Island

Never read any of Farley Mowat's books before, but this one looked interesting so I bought a used copy. I liked the premise of the thing, and the descriptions of little Newfoundland outports and their people in the 1960s (I have never been there, let alone in the 1960s). Was predictably horrified by the accounts of senseless violence against wildlife and on the environment itself, particularly by a people who are so dependent economically on them... But I suppose the point of Mowat's describing those anecdotes was to horrify the reader. I didn't find this book too appealing, perhaps---and I recognize how judgmental this sounds---because of some of the choices he made in his personal life and his frank unapologetic tone about them. Particularly since the book is touted as 'a love story,' I was surprised that the love story--in addition to the love story Mowat had with Newfoundland and its people--was also referring to a several-years-long extramarital affair. That made it hard to feel happy for him and his new love--I found my mind wandering to his forgotten wife and children back in Canada, and wondering what their story was.

Upshot: I didn't like this book too much because it wasn't too awfully enjoyable to read. But I do intend to read more of Mowat's works.

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