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Chargement... The Carolina Watermen: Bug Hunters and Boat Builderspar Richard Michael Kelly
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)975.629History and Geography North America Southeastern U.S. North CarolinaClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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I had picked up this book at a thrift store not too long ago, and when my wife and I chose to spend a couple of days in Oak Island, NC, I brought this book along. The Carolina Watermen is a local history of folks in and around Holden Beach involved in the shrimping and boatbuilding industries. The authors, the husband and wife team of Richard and Barbara Kelly, travelled to the area many times and conducted numerous interviews to learn the history they present in this book. A short, myopic and interesting recitation of the opinions and lives of the shrimpers and boatbuilders in southwestern NC.
The book is a very quick read, peppers with nice black and white photos of some of the people featured, as well as pics of boats and equipments. The authors describe the early 20th century buildup of Holden Beach and the changes that came as various land owners developed the land.
Several shrimpers and boatbuilders are interviewed, describing their hardships and pleasures, and offering a local view of the ways things change in small towns. Often, to my displeasure, the authors choose to include large sections of verbatim quotes made by the interviewees in which unfamiliar fishing terms are presented without explanation. I had to lookup many of these terms in order to understand the thoughts. Other times, the authors repeat themselves (as in describing Norman Bellamy as 'another boatbuilder'). There are occasions when the story itself drifts distantly as the reader waits for the authors to reengage the narrative.
While this book is a decent glimpse into a small corner of North Carolina life, it felt quite hollow in many places. There was great deal of information that could have been researched and offered to the reader to fill in the gaps in narrative and understanding. Some of the stories read more like individual essays which were pinched together, leading to the repetition and distance described above. I recommend this book only to those interested in myopic local histories, those who enjoy fishing, shrimping, or crafts, and to those who want to know more about coastal North Carolina life in the mid-to-late 20th Century. Three Stars. ( )