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Eloquence of the Sardine: Extraordinary Encounters Beneath the Sea
If we were able to listen under water, what would we hear? What would we learn? How would it change us?
With erudition and charm, marine scientist and orator Bill François takes us on a deep dive into the secret lives of the world’s aquatic creatures, from musical whales and immortal eels to the cod that discovered America and the herring that almost caused a military conflict —to name but a few. We hear the songs of seahorses and scallops, eavesdrop on the conversations of lobsters, and swim in the glow of the fluorescent jellyfish.
A poetic blend of ancient myths, modern science, and storytelling through the ages, Eloquence of the Sardine is an invitation and guide to a dreamlike underwater world where the legends are often more believable than the incredible reality.
This is nature writing at its best —informative, captivating, and accessible, with a personal angle, about an endlessly fascinating and still mysterious subject.
A seafood platter or a day at the beach will never be the same.
With erudition and charm, marine scientist and orator Bill François takes us on a deep dive into the secret lives of the world’s aquatic creatures, from musical whales and immortal eels to the cod that discovered America and the herring that almost caused a military conflict —to name but a few. We hear the songs of seahorses and scallops, eavesdrop on the conversations of lobsters, and swim in the glow of the fluorescent jellyfish.
A poetic blend of ancient myths, modern science, and storytelling through the ages, Eloquence of the Sardine is an invitation and guide to a dreamlike underwater world where the legends are often more believable than the incredible reality.
This is nature writing at its best —informative, captivating, and accessible, with a personal angle, about an endlessly fascinating and still mysterious subject.
A seafood platter or a day at the beach will never be the same.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2019
About the author
Bill François
5 books32 followersBill François is a physicist passionate about the marine world. He studied at the ENS school in Paris and then devoted himself to research on hydrodynamics.
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June 23, 2021
Eloquence of the Sardine
Extraordinary Encounters Beneath the Sea
by Bill François
St. Martin's Press
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this phenomenal book! The author has a way of not just writing about sea life but making me feel one with the sea and its life as I read his words. It's such a good feeling that I had to read this book twice!
This book is a feel good book but also very informative along the way. As he takes the reader on his many undersea adventures, we learn about his love of the animals and that comes across so strongly that it is infused into his writing and transferred to the reader. As he goes, he embarks some interesting and astonishing facts about each animal. He does it in such a way that suddenly this new friend we were introduced to is a superstar! They are even more fascinating than before. Somehow, we seems even closer to the animal like we know a family secret.
For each animal, even the giant mussel, or an eel, so much attention and care is given to these creatures that I couldn't help but want to be there myself! Of course, the lover of the smallest of them has to give us the hard facts about what mankind is doing to the sea life. To these splendid new friends. To others like them we haven't met.
I recommend this book for anyone who needs a feel good book, wants to feel close to nature for a while, or as a gift for the animal or sea lover.
Extraordinary Encounters Beneath the Sea
by Bill François
St. Martin's Press
I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read this phenomenal book! The author has a way of not just writing about sea life but making me feel one with the sea and its life as I read his words. It's such a good feeling that I had to read this book twice!
This book is a feel good book but also very informative along the way. As he takes the reader on his many undersea adventures, we learn about his love of the animals and that comes across so strongly that it is infused into his writing and transferred to the reader. As he goes, he embarks some interesting and astonishing facts about each animal. He does it in such a way that suddenly this new friend we were introduced to is a superstar! They are even more fascinating than before. Somehow, we seems even closer to the animal like we know a family secret.
For each animal, even the giant mussel, or an eel, so much attention and care is given to these creatures that I couldn't help but want to be there myself! Of course, the lover of the smallest of them has to give us the hard facts about what mankind is doing to the sea life. To these splendid new friends. To others like them we haven't met.
I recommend this book for anyone who needs a feel good book, wants to feel close to nature for a while, or as a gift for the animal or sea lover.
July 8, 2021
'Eloquence of the Sardine' by Bill François is a journal of memories about fish, sort of a formal diary for readers instead of for one's private recollections, feelings and discoveries. The author is a scientist who is fascinated with the creatures who live in the waters of the world. By profession, he is a physicist. But his passion is watching and learning about fish, coral, crustaceans, shellfish and whales. He also has collected stories from fisherman, fellow travelers, and even ancient Greek texts that were written millennia ago, simply everything he could pick up from others who love to explore under the seas. There are some of the most interesting and unusual facts and experiences of fish that I have never before read anywhere else.
When François was a child, he had an encounter with a sick sardine while he was seeing what was in the tide pools and looking at whatever the waves brought onto the beach. He wasn't the only living thing on the beach that was looking. The sardine looked up at him after he captured it in a net and placed it into his pail. He realized suddenly the sardine had had an existence, a life of adventures underwater, growing up, learning. How do ocean creatures communicate? Do they think, feel, have families?
His curiosity led him to research the sardines and other fish, beginning with learning how to snorkel.
One of the first things he discovered was that the underwater world was noisy. Fish do talk! A lot! Their sounds are extraordinary and weird. Are they communicating? Yes, there are sounds of warnings and alerts, discerned from seeing how the fish behave when hunting or being hunted. He has since learned fish can smell scents and odors from many miles away. We readers know about sharks and blood of course, but there is much more than that being smelled and understood by different fish of all types - scents about sex, dangers, stress. Next, many fish have powerful abilities to see colors, so they use colors to attract other fish and to disguise themselves. Some can adjust their skin to display different colors in order to signal their own species as well as warn or hide from other species. Some can create strong electric fields intentionally to kill, while others can sense and identify what kind of fish is emitting the usual delicate and normal electrical fields of life. It is thought by some researchers fish can sense magnetic fields. Plus, vibrations! Many fish can sense and know what a particular vibration in the water means.
People have worked with dolphins to hunt. We know about the military training dolphins. But I didn't know dolphins in the past noticed how tribal men fished, and on their own formed partnerships with certain fishermen to show men where certain schools of fish were in order to share in the goodies of men's hunts for fish! Some ocean fish hunters also collaborate with other fish to hunt down quarry. Fish work together to protect each other or their habitats, too.
Fish have all kinds of sex, a huge variety of styles. Some fish are hermaphrodites, with the ability to change their gender back and forth during their lifetime at will. Some males raise the children alone because Mom leaves after birthing, others jointly share the care for the babes, and a lot of fish parents desert the children completely before they hatch from eggs. Some fish never lay their eggs outside their bodies, but the eggs hatch inside, with the strongest baby eating the others until it's ready to exit mom's body!
The author includes how civilizations of the past thought of fish, as well as how they fished. Generally, coastal communities and fishermen used to only take what they needed for food, using mostly nondestructive methods of the environment, unlike today. François speaks of how communities came together over the shared communal enjoyment of seafood. He also describes the various sea monsters travelers thought they encountered while going about in boats. He really wishes some of those monsters were real. Of course, some of them did turn out to exist to the surprise of many modern scientists!
The book has a lot of little quickie and interesting facts, mostly organized into appropriate chapters. For a lyrical, and often sweetly anecdotal, book, the author manages to cover a lot of ground!
Fish are weird and lovable, basically. Too bad we have killed off at least 80% of them that we found out about in history up to current times. People are yet discovering new species underwater in very deep places though. Poor things. We certainly will attempt to kill them off into extinction for profit if we can figure out how. This is purely my viewpoint. The author does not really do any sniping or whinging on as I just did except to briefly note in passing, and in more of a reasoned adult tone than I am, of how industrial fishing is both too genocidal to fish and it does not encourage any old-fashioned communal human bliss of sharing and caring as it once did. Instead, we've become greedy and selfish pigs, imho. Have you read about the price, and consequent overfishing, of bluefin tuna or some wild salmon species lately in some markets? Are there any cod left in the world? Anyway. This is not that book. It is sweet and interesting and kindly done.
The chapters are:
-Before
-Any Fish Will Tell You So
-The World Without Silence
-Packed Like Sardines
-Are Fish Good at School?
-Cockles and Mussels
-Daily Specials
-Draw Me a Fish
-Hold and Eel by the Tale
-Sea Serpents
-The Sea is Your Mirror
-Aquatic Dialogues
-In Tune with the Tuna
-The Tail End
-Epilogue
When François was a child, he had an encounter with a sick sardine while he was seeing what was in the tide pools and looking at whatever the waves brought onto the beach. He wasn't the only living thing on the beach that was looking. The sardine looked up at him after he captured it in a net and placed it into his pail. He realized suddenly the sardine had had an existence, a life of adventures underwater, growing up, learning. How do ocean creatures communicate? Do they think, feel, have families?
His curiosity led him to research the sardines and other fish, beginning with learning how to snorkel.
One of the first things he discovered was that the underwater world was noisy. Fish do talk! A lot! Their sounds are extraordinary and weird. Are they communicating? Yes, there are sounds of warnings and alerts, discerned from seeing how the fish behave when hunting or being hunted. He has since learned fish can smell scents and odors from many miles away. We readers know about sharks and blood of course, but there is much more than that being smelled and understood by different fish of all types - scents about sex, dangers, stress. Next, many fish have powerful abilities to see colors, so they use colors to attract other fish and to disguise themselves. Some can adjust their skin to display different colors in order to signal their own species as well as warn or hide from other species. Some can create strong electric fields intentionally to kill, while others can sense and identify what kind of fish is emitting the usual delicate and normal electrical fields of life. It is thought by some researchers fish can sense magnetic fields. Plus, vibrations! Many fish can sense and know what a particular vibration in the water means.
People have worked with dolphins to hunt. We know about the military training dolphins. But I didn't know dolphins in the past noticed how tribal men fished, and on their own formed partnerships with certain fishermen to show men where certain schools of fish were in order to share in the goodies of men's hunts for fish! Some ocean fish hunters also collaborate with other fish to hunt down quarry. Fish work together to protect each other or their habitats, too.
Fish have all kinds of sex, a huge variety of styles. Some fish are hermaphrodites, with the ability to change their gender back and forth during their lifetime at will. Some males raise the children alone because Mom leaves after birthing, others jointly share the care for the babes, and a lot of fish parents desert the children completely before they hatch from eggs. Some fish never lay their eggs outside their bodies, but the eggs hatch inside, with the strongest baby eating the others until it's ready to exit mom's body!
The author includes how civilizations of the past thought of fish, as well as how they fished. Generally, coastal communities and fishermen used to only take what they needed for food, using mostly nondestructive methods of the environment, unlike today. François speaks of how communities came together over the shared communal enjoyment of seafood. He also describes the various sea monsters travelers thought they encountered while going about in boats. He really wishes some of those monsters were real. Of course, some of them did turn out to exist to the surprise of many modern scientists!
The book has a lot of little quickie and interesting facts, mostly organized into appropriate chapters. For a lyrical, and often sweetly anecdotal, book, the author manages to cover a lot of ground!
Fish are weird and lovable, basically. Too bad we have killed off at least 80% of them that we found out about in history up to current times. People are yet discovering new species underwater in very deep places though. Poor things. We certainly will attempt to kill them off into extinction for profit if we can figure out how. This is purely my viewpoint. The author does not really do any sniping or whinging on as I just did except to briefly note in passing, and in more of a reasoned adult tone than I am, of how industrial fishing is both too genocidal to fish and it does not encourage any old-fashioned communal human bliss of sharing and caring as it once did. Instead, we've become greedy and selfish pigs, imho. Have you read about the price, and consequent overfishing, of bluefin tuna or some wild salmon species lately in some markets? Are there any cod left in the world? Anyway. This is not that book. It is sweet and interesting and kindly done.
The chapters are:
-Before
-Any Fish Will Tell You So
-The World Without Silence
-Packed Like Sardines
-Are Fish Good at School?
-Cockles and Mussels
-Daily Specials
-Draw Me a Fish
-Hold and Eel by the Tale
-Sea Serpents
-The Sea is Your Mirror
-Aquatic Dialogues
-In Tune with the Tuna
-The Tail End
-Epilogue
August 22, 2021
Imagine you are a sardine. How would you describe your world, your travels? Of course all of that is impossibile. However, author Bill François did imagine he could communicate with a sardine. He was just a child playing in the shallows of the Mediterranean. It was the beginning of his life's passion -- the sea. Fortunately, he retains that sense of curiosity and imagination he had as a child and passes that on to the reader in this book which is part memoir and part tantalizing stories he has gleaned in his many years of observation and study.
He begins with the mysteries of the ocean itself. It has its own climate zones, specifically a warm layer and a cold layer. The interface where these layers meet is called the thermocline. Sound bounces along the thermocline like traveling a special canal and enables whales to communicate with each other over distances of over a thousand miles.
Sound and smell are the key senses for marine inhabitants. Cackles, frictional scrapes, drumming, clacking, hammering and even farting are important signals and not the static our sonographs appear to be picking up. Anecdotes of camouflage, symbiosis, migration, larval survival, and hermaphroditic transformation depict the varied and mysterious lives.
These marvels make the inevitable chronicle of destruction all the more moving. Rising ocean temperatures have caused parasitic proliferation. In just one year 90% of the noble pen shell, a huge mollusk, have been wiped out. Industrial scale trawlers are juggernauts destroying coral, sea birds, and any life in its path – collateral damage in the pursuit of profit. “The scarlet livery of the rockfish, the frenzied shoals of spiny dogfish, the cunning ruses of anglerfish – in the sweep of a trawl net, it's all reduced to a heap of standardized pink flesh.” (p.85)
Nevertheless, François remains hopeful, describing examples of small restorations and population revivals. His enthusiasm is irrepressible and he transmits that excitement to the reader. He writes with poetic beauty. He includes just enough science to entice the reader's curiosity. His charming line drawings have an expressive simplicity.
NOTES:
Translatory Antony Shugaar talks about the translation process https://www.vqronline.org/essays-arti...
He begins with the mysteries of the ocean itself. It has its own climate zones, specifically a warm layer and a cold layer. The interface where these layers meet is called the thermocline. Sound bounces along the thermocline like traveling a special canal and enables whales to communicate with each other over distances of over a thousand miles.
Sound and smell are the key senses for marine inhabitants. Cackles, frictional scrapes, drumming, clacking, hammering and even farting are important signals and not the static our sonographs appear to be picking up. Anecdotes of camouflage, symbiosis, migration, larval survival, and hermaphroditic transformation depict the varied and mysterious lives.
These marvels make the inevitable chronicle of destruction all the more moving. Rising ocean temperatures have caused parasitic proliferation. In just one year 90% of the noble pen shell, a huge mollusk, have been wiped out. Industrial scale trawlers are juggernauts destroying coral, sea birds, and any life in its path – collateral damage in the pursuit of profit. “The scarlet livery of the rockfish, the frenzied shoals of spiny dogfish, the cunning ruses of anglerfish – in the sweep of a trawl net, it's all reduced to a heap of standardized pink flesh.” (p.85)
Nevertheless, François remains hopeful, describing examples of small restorations and population revivals. His enthusiasm is irrepressible and he transmits that excitement to the reader. He writes with poetic beauty. He includes just enough science to entice the reader's curiosity. His charming line drawings have an expressive simplicity.
NOTES:
Translatory Antony Shugaar talks about the translation process https://www.vqronline.org/essays-arti...
July 19, 2023
Няма нищо случайно в това, на което си играем като деца, а едно момче, което обожава морския свят, се превръща в учен от типа, на койт�� силно се възхищавам, рационалист и романтик едноврменно. Гласът на морските обитатели има своя най-вдъхновен писател и защитник
June 24, 2021
I don’t know if I’m just super tired and worn out at the moment so it’s making me overly emotional to an unwarranted extent but this had me almost in tears near the end. Not that we need any reminders of how badly we’ve treated the ocean and everything in it but the author has a way of singling out individual species and telling a story that makes it hit so hard. And makes you care a lot about a little sardine. And I can’t even think about that orca! Humans are living nightmares.
This reminded me a lot of some of Rachel Carson’s writing in Under the Sea Wind. I would’ve liked a little more memoir from the author, because those sections were really lovely and focused on such interesting angles (like being bored in school and finding his place in the water instead) but it’s just mostly about the fish.
Kind of weird, kind of surprising, all-around delightful. It was a great choice to be translated into English too.
This reminded me a lot of some of Rachel Carson’s writing in Under the Sea Wind. I would’ve liked a little more memoir from the author, because those sections were really lovely and focused on such interesting angles (like being bored in school and finding his place in the water instead) but it’s just mostly about the fish.
Kind of weird, kind of surprising, all-around delightful. It was a great choice to be translated into English too.
September 3, 2021
Cardume de Sardinhas“Onde mergulhamos, para perceber o que os peixes sentem debaixo de água.
Onde nos perguntamos se os nossos antepassados não aprenderam a falar ao mergulhar.
Onde percebemos que, debaixo de água, a cor e os perfumes são uma linguagem.
Onde descobrimos que as legendas do oceano mudo se leem nos mundos invisíveis.” (Pág. 15)
O escritor Bill François é um cientista que se dedicou à investigação na área da hidrodinâmica e ao estudo das espécies subaquáticas.
O livro ”A Eloquência da Sardinha” está subdividido em quinze capítulos que evidenciam um fascínio por águas profundas e pelo mundo subaquático.
Bill François revela ser um excepcional contador de histórias, conjugando paixão e pensamento científico – num mergulho original na etologia marinha de algumas criaturas aquáticas.
”A Eloquência da Sardinha” é sem dúvida uma das leituras mais fascinantes, quer pela originalidade temática, quer pela magnífica escrita; numa missão para melhor compreender e preservar o misterioso mundo subaquático, um ecossistema cada vez mais vulnerável e que permanece substancialmente desconhecido.
Baseando-se em história(s), mitos, lendas e divulgação científica - a que se associa uma escrita inspirada e poética Bill François conduz-nos com simplicidade e humor por caminhos – para mim – quase sempre desconhecidos, ”Pois o mundo do mar é como o das palavras: um espaço de liberdade, que deverá manter-se assim.” (Pág. 176)
Bill François acaba por concluir ”Espero que este livro vos tenha transportado para horizontes desconhecidos e simultaneamente próximos, e que guardem dele uma lembrança, como quando apanham uma concha na praia.” (Pág. 176)
December 27, 2022
Книга за рибите и някои други морски обитатели, написана с много разбиране и любов. Оказва се, че рибите съвсем не са мълчаливи създания - напротив, разговорливи са и понякога са толкова шумни, че ято хери��ги държали над десетилетие шведската флота на нокти със звуците си, попадащи в регистъра на руските подводници. Китовете пък пеят различни по тематика песни, които се предават през поколенията. Делфините и косатките имат изключително сложна комуникация. Сардините от заглавието, подобно на много други описани в книгата видове, са - освен всичко друго - пример за разработени от природата технологии (в случая маскиращият огледален слой кожа), които са невероятно фини и биха подобрили много аспекти от живота на сухоземните обитатели от вида homo sapiens. А змиорките, ах змиорките…
Морето и океаните са извор на мъдрост и вечно обновление, което не бива да губим с безразсъдно пренебрежение, както правим с ускорени темпове.
Кратичка, любопитна, много приятелска книга. Фактите да обвити в истории, а историите са нанизани като шарен гердан.
Морето и океаните са извор на мъдрост и вечно обновление, което не бива да губим с безразсъдно пренебрежение, както правим с ускорени темпове.
Кратичка, любопитна, много приятелска книга. Фактите да обвити в истории, а историите са нанизани като шарен гердан.
June 10, 2021
Part memoir, part travelogue, part anthropology text, and part natural history, this book is a collection of stories mostly about fish. As the title suggests there is the Sardine, but the Sardine is not alone; we are introduced to a full range of fish and some shellfish and crustaceans. Many of the fish described are Europe-centric but more than a few of these fish travel widely. Many fun facts, including human fish interactions throughout history. A fun read!
July 5, 2023
Официално си имам нова любима поредица. „Море“ на „Жанет 45“ съчетава истории от дълбините на любимото ми море с наистина любопитни факти за обитателите му. Аз дълго време живеех в заблуда, че става въпрос за художествена литература, но се оказа, че това са нехудожествени заглавия, които имат за цел да ни потопят още по-дълбоко във водите на океана и да ни разкрият някои от тайните му.
Останах очарован от „Душата на октопода“ и след прочита ѝ бях сигурен, че ще продължа с поредица. Така се случи, че на рождения ми ден ми подариха „Красноречието на сардината“ от Бил Франсоа и аз един хубав уикенд на село реших да я преполовя и нея. И не съжалявам.
За разлика от Сай Монтгомъри, която в „Душата на октопода“ разказва основно за тези мистични същества, за които тепърва ще разбираме още, и те бяха в аквариуми, в които учени изследваха тяхното поведение, то Бил Франсоа ни устройва една разходка из дълбините на океана, в която ни разказва за различни видове и техните особености. Сардините в случая са по-скоро само гид, с който започва и свършва тази история, но и ни съпровождат през цялата книга. Нещо като помощник на Франсоа, който да го води в правилния път, докато той е зает да ни пленява с историите си.
Бил Франсоа е физик, но винаги е имал афинитет към говоренето и писането. И това си личи. Книгата е написана много леко, интересно и има доста забавни шеги. От 2014 г. е ангажиран със спасяването на атлантическия червен тон, като участник в усилията по координиране на програмите по маркиране на Федерацията по морски риболов на Княжество Монако. Идеята зад „Красноречието на сардината“ е да сподели любовта си към морските създания и да подчертае значението на защитата на нашите океани. И за мен успява – след като прочетох книгата определено още повече се замислих всяко нещо действие как се отразява на морските обитатели, а и не само.
В книгата разбираме и, че особено го вълнува начина, по който морските обитатели общуват помежду си. И той ни дава различни примери за това. Още в начало на книгата той ни подготвя за едно морско приключение, в което са важни и вкусът, и мирисът, и звукът на океана. Особено звукът. Според Франсоа, чрез него опознаваме света на морето много по-добре. И той дава много различни примери като започнем от общуването между китовете, песните на мидите пектен и стигнем до пръдните на херингите. Да, правилно прочетохте. Те не са за подценяване, а още по-интересна е историята как за малко, тези пръдни, са щели да предизвикат война между Русия и Швеция.
В книгата Франсоа още ни разказва за змиорката Оле, живяла 150 години в кладенец, за рибите чистачи, които са си направили един своеобразен подводен салон за красота и за морските чудовища от приказките, които се оказват много реални. Просто нямаме морския змейове, а имаме риба гребло.
Освен наистина чудати факти за морските обитатели, примесени с шеговитото писане на автора, в тази книга може да намерите и сериозни научни изследвания. На мен ми направиха силно впечатление последните научни изследвания за коралите, които леко наподобяват на нас, както и разбрах, че зеленушката, може да си сменя пола постоянно. Интересни факти има още за змиорките, омарите, мидите, всякакви риби и разбира се за сардините.
Определено ви препоръчвам тази книга, но и засега съм доста доволен и от поредицата. С удоволствие ще си купя и другите излезли книги от нея, защото попадам на много добре написани книги, които ми дават обща информация, но не ми натежават ни най-малко.
Останах очарован от „Душата на октопода“ и след прочита ѝ бях сигурен, че ще продължа с поредица. Така се случи, че на рождения ми ден ми подариха „Красноречието на сардината“ от Бил Франсоа и аз един хубав уикенд на село реших да я преполовя и нея. И не съжалявам.
За разлика от Сай Монтгомъри, която в „Душата на октопода“ разказва основно за тези мистични същества, за които тепърва ще разбираме още, и те бяха в аквариуми, в които учени изследваха тяхното поведение, то Бил Франсоа ни устройва една разходка из дълбините на океана, в която ни разказва за различни видове и техните особености. Сардините в случая са по-скоро само гид, с който започва и свършва тази история, но и ни съпровождат през цялата книга. Нещо като помощник на Франсоа, който да го води в правилния път, докато той е зает да ни пленява с историите си.
Бил Франсоа е физик, но винаги е имал афинитет към говоренето и писането. И това си личи. Книгата е написана много леко, интересно и има доста забавни шеги. От 2014 г. е ангажиран със спасяването на атлантическия червен тон, като участник в усилията по координиране на програмите по маркиране на Федерацията по морски риболов на Княжество Монако. Идеята зад „Красноречието на сардината“ е да сподели любовта си към морските създания и да подчертае значението на защитата на нашите океани. И за мен успява – след като прочетох книгата определено още повече се замислих всяко нещо действие как се отразява на морските обитатели, а и не само.
В книгата разбираме и, че особено го вълнува начина, по който морските обитатели общуват помежду си. И той ни дава различни примери за това. Още в начало на книгата той ни подготвя за едно морско приключение, в което са важни и вкусът, и мирисът, и звукът на океана. Особено звукът. Според Франсоа, чрез него опознаваме света на морето много по-добре. И той дава много различни примери като започнем от общуването между китовете, песните на мидите пектен и стигнем до пръдните на херингите. Да, правилно прочетохте. Те не са за подценяване, а още по-интересна е историята как за малко, тези пръдни, са щели да предизвикат война между Русия и Швеция.
В книгата Франсоа още ни разказва за змиорката Оле, живяла 150 години в кладенец, за рибите чистачи, които са си направили един своеобразен подводен салон за красота и за морските чудовища от приказките, които се оказват много реални. Просто нямаме морския змейове, а имаме риба гребло.
Освен наистина чудати факти за морските обитатели, примесени с шеговитото писане на автора, в тази книга може да намерите и сериозни научни изследвания. На мен ми направиха силно впечатление последните научни изследвания за коралите, които леко наподобяват на нас, както и разбрах, че зеленушката, може да си сменя пола постоянно. Интересни факти има още за змиорките, омарите, мидите, всякакви риби и разбира се за сардините.
Определено ви препоръчвам тази книга, но и засега съм доста доволен и от поредицата. С удоволствие ще си купя и другите излезли книги от нея, защото попадам на много добре написани книги, които ми дават обща информация, но не ми натежават ни най-малко.
May 6, 2024
Once you get over the title (which sounds like one of the less interesting episodes of "The French Chef"), this is a fascinating book, full of often unbelievable information that is alternately hopeful, infuriating and overall amazing, and makes this a solid recommend for any lovers of sealife and nature in general.
The hopeful includes some of the (admittedly way too late) steps we are taking to protect the oceans and their rapidly declining resources, as well as some of the new biomimetic technologies that are being developed based on the wildy divergent streams down which oceanic evolution has led. But these positives are ultimately dwarfed by the inexorable, apocalyptic and largely irrevocable damage we are doing to the seas and - by immediate extension - the whole planet; including (but by no means limited to) overfishing, sea warming, and bottom trawl fishing, which can destroy in minutes total ecosystems which took thousands of years to evolve, and which will likely never be replaced.
But my usual cranky ranting aside, this is a truly marvelous book in the literal sense of the word. Just a few examples of the fantastical things you will learn:
• How the legend of the "Golden Fleece" is based on the "silk" of the giant pen shell*
• Why lobsters eat their own shells
• How whales and octopuses share knowledge and experience
• How and why herring communicate by farting
• How spiny dogfish have the longest gestation period of any animal
• Why putting an eel in a well will make him live forever
…and so much more. You'll also read the heartbreaking story of the world's loneliest whale, and a convincing argument of how humans are evolving into at least a semi-aquatic species, (probably a good thing, considering rising sea levels).
Much like watching the new BBC series "Prehistoric Planet," this is all riveting stuff - but after every chapter/episode you come away wondering HOW DO THEY KNOW THESE THINGS?
Like all such books, this is best read in brief spurts rather than straight through, since there is just so much here to digest. My one critique would be that French author Bill François comes across as just a bit too, well, French; beginning and ending most chapters with just a little too much poetic musing…but that is a MINOR compliant, and many readers may really enjoy that stuff. Me, I just want to get back underwater…
NOTE: Such is the unpredictability of the publishing industry. This book came out just three months after Patrik Svensson’s equally-delightful The Book of Eels, but for some reason that book became an international bestseller with over 18,000 GR ratings, while this one barely clocks in at over 1,000. But trust me - anyone who enjoyed Eels will find Sardines just as - if not more - fascinating.
* Sadly, the giant pen shell is also critically endangered, due to a climate change-related parasite which invades the animal's digestive tract and prevents the shell from closing.
The hopeful includes some of the (admittedly way too late) steps we are taking to protect the oceans and their rapidly declining resources, as well as some of the new biomimetic technologies that are being developed based on the wildy divergent streams down which oceanic evolution has led. But these positives are ultimately dwarfed by the inexorable, apocalyptic and largely irrevocable damage we are doing to the seas and - by immediate extension - the whole planet; including (but by no means limited to) overfishing, sea warming, and bottom trawl fishing, which can destroy in minutes total ecosystems which took thousands of years to evolve, and which will likely never be replaced.
But my usual cranky ranting aside, this is a truly marvelous book in the literal sense of the word. Just a few examples of the fantastical things you will learn:
• How the legend of the "Golden Fleece" is based on the "silk" of the giant pen shell*
• Why lobsters eat their own shells
• How whales and octopuses share knowledge and experience
• How and why herring communicate by farting
• How spiny dogfish have the longest gestation period of any animal
• Why putting an eel in a well will make him live forever
…and so much more. You'll also read the heartbreaking story of the world's loneliest whale, and a convincing argument of how humans are evolving into at least a semi-aquatic species, (probably a good thing, considering rising sea levels).
Much like watching the new BBC series "Prehistoric Planet," this is all riveting stuff - but after every chapter/episode you come away wondering HOW DO THEY KNOW THESE THINGS?
Like all such books, this is best read in brief spurts rather than straight through, since there is just so much here to digest. My one critique would be that French author Bill François comes across as just a bit too, well, French; beginning and ending most chapters with just a little too much poetic musing…but that is a MINOR compliant, and many readers may really enjoy that stuff. Me, I just want to get back underwater…
NOTE: Such is the unpredictability of the publishing industry. This book came out just three months after Patrik Svensson’s equally-delightful The Book of Eels, but for some reason that book became an international bestseller with over 18,000 GR ratings, while this one barely clocks in at over 1,000. But trust me - anyone who enjoyed Eels will find Sardines just as - if not more - fascinating.
* Sadly, the giant pen shell is also critically endangered, due to a climate change-related parasite which invades the animal's digestive tract and prevents the shell from closing.
March 14, 2023
*Re-read March 2023 - remains a simple, passionate declaration of love for the ocean. A very enjoyable read.
Original review: This was a lovely book written in a rather simple, naive manner.
Francois vocalizes his love of the ocean and his admiration for all the creatures of the deep with an innocent but contagious enthusiasm.
The facts he provides are interesting and captivating, with plenty of snippets of information about aquatic species.
I love that Francois has never lost his childhood eagerness and passion for a subject that needs its advocates.
A great book.
Original review: This was a lovely book written in a rather simple, naive manner.
Francois vocalizes his love of the ocean and his admiration for all the creatures of the deep with an innocent but contagious enthusiasm.
The facts he provides are interesting and captivating, with plenty of snippets of information about aquatic species.
I love that Francois has never lost his childhood eagerness and passion for a subject that needs its advocates.
A great book.
December 21, 2021
Przy tej książce doświadczyłam czegoś niesamowitego, co naprawdę zdarza się tylko kilka razy w życiu - przy każdej stronie modliłam się w duchu: "Klaud, niech uda ci się to zapamiętać!". Tyle tu ciekawostek, tyle niezwykłych informacji, że chłonięcie ich to za mało - chciałoby się jeszcze pozostawić je w głowie, by sypać rybimi anegdotami jak z rękawa i by zaskakiwać innych ciekawostkami, o jakich nie słyszymy w szkole.
Bardzo polubiłam tę książkę - napisaną lekko, ze szczyptą humoru, ultraciekawą i absolutnie niepowtarzalną. Z przyjemnością będę do niej wracać, aby któregoś dnia powiedzieć, że "cholera, naprawdę wszystko z niej zapamiętałam!".
Bardzo polubiłam tę książkę - napisaną lekko, ze szczyptą humoru, ultraciekawą i absolutnie niepowtarzalną. Z przyjemnością będę do niej wracać, aby któregoś dnia powiedzieć, że "cholera, naprawdę wszystko z niej zapamiętałam!".
June 25, 2021
https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/...
**
I read an ARC from the publisher, which I am quite thankful for. This also means I’m not allowed to quote any of it, which is a shame, because this is some really beautiful writing!! Well done to the translator, as well.
I thought this would be focused on sardine, but it is not. This book attempts to touch on all aspects of marine life. (See a sample word count below.)
Things I learned:
* There are lots of smells in the ocean, and fish have an excellent sense of smell.
* Similarly, fish (including shellfish) make lots of noise, much as birds & insects are constantly chirping in the trees.
* Fish scales grow in concentric rings just like the rings on a tree trunk.
* Cross-species communication (such as between a grouper and a moray eel, who collaborate when hunting reef fish) is not uncommon.
* Nacre inside an oyster shell is unpigmented; the visible colors are due to the structure of the crystals that make up the shell, which cause the sunlight to reflect & refract.
* (this one is probably just my own ignorance) A periwinkle is a snail! I’ve always thought it was like a coquina snail. I guess I was confused because the coquinas I see in NJ are periwinkle-colored, so I just assumed the true periwinkle animal was a close cousin.
* Lobster was not always viewed as a tasty delicacy; 200 years ago it was relegated to prisoner food in NJ. No one else wanted to eat it due to its resemblance to its arachnid cousins. (I looked this one up to verify, and it's true, but I could find no connection with NJ state prisons in particular. Most sites refer to Maine, Massachusetts, or New England. I think this French author maybe was confused about which state was NJ? None of the sites say the aversion was due the lobsters' insect appearance, so I think that's author fabrication.)
* When Columbus set sail on his famous voyage of “discovery,” his ship holds were filled with dried “stock fish” (cod) caught by Basque fishermen off-shore of ... the Americas.
* Remora were used for fishing (they would be attached to a line and released in the open water, and would then attach themselves to a larger fish, thus allowing the person to haul in the larger fish).
* Tuna never stop swimming, and in fact they cannot breathe if they do not swim. Tuna are warm-blooded! A young tuna can cross the Atlantic in 60 days.
I didn’t really love how each chapter started with a bullet point list of items that will be discussed in that chapter (Ex: “in which whales exchange song lyrics”) - it was cheesy, and felt like a weird attempt to make this book seem like a textbook. I also didn’t warm to the author’s occasionally cheeky attitude. (If you like Bill Bryson, you will probably love this book!!)
There is some kooky "science" (not backed up at all by any scientific fact) in here which I could have done without. The first idea was interesting, but they keep coming, and I started to wonder why, and - even worse - I started to wonder if the other surprising facts in this book were truly factual.
* humans are hairless because we evolved as coastal aquatic hunters.
* eels travel all the way to the Sargasso to spawn because they didn't notice how far it had gotten due to continental drift.
* the giant oarfish can predict earthquakes.
Word count:
sardine - 86
anchovy - 27
tuna - 95
dolphin - 38
whale - 103
jellyfish - 16
shark - 30
clam - 7
mussel - 10
lobster - 20
In the end, this is a lovely book that failed to charm me.
**
I read an ARC from the publisher, which I am quite thankful for. This also means I’m not allowed to quote any of it, which is a shame, because this is some really beautiful writing!! Well done to the translator, as well.
I thought this would be focused on sardine, but it is not. This book attempts to touch on all aspects of marine life. (See a sample word count below.)
Things I learned:
* There are lots of smells in the ocean, and fish have an excellent sense of smell.
* Similarly, fish (including shellfish) make lots of noise, much as birds & insects are constantly chirping in the trees.
* Fish scales grow in concentric rings just like the rings on a tree trunk.
* Cross-species communication (such as between a grouper and a moray eel, who collaborate when hunting reef fish) is not uncommon.
* Nacre inside an oyster shell is unpigmented; the visible colors are due to the structure of the crystals that make up the shell, which cause the sunlight to reflect & refract.
* (this one is probably just my own ignorance) A periwinkle is a snail! I’ve always thought it was like a coquina snail. I guess I was confused because the coquinas I see in NJ are periwinkle-colored, so I just assumed the true periwinkle animal was a close cousin.
* Lobster was not always viewed as a tasty delicacy; 200 years ago it was relegated to prisoner food in NJ. No one else wanted to eat it due to its resemblance to its arachnid cousins. (I looked this one up to verify, and it's true, but I could find no connection with NJ state prisons in particular. Most sites refer to Maine, Massachusetts, or New England. I think this French author maybe was confused about which state was NJ? None of the sites say the aversion was due the lobsters' insect appearance, so I think that's author fabrication.)
* When Columbus set sail on his famous voyage of “discovery,” his ship holds were filled with dried “stock fish” (cod) caught by Basque fishermen off-shore of ... the Americas.
* Remora were used for fishing (they would be attached to a line and released in the open water, and would then attach themselves to a larger fish, thus allowing the person to haul in the larger fish).
* Tuna never stop swimming, and in fact they cannot breathe if they do not swim. Tuna are warm-blooded! A young tuna can cross the Atlantic in 60 days.
I didn’t really love how each chapter started with a bullet point list of items that will be discussed in that chapter (Ex: “in which whales exchange song lyrics”) - it was cheesy, and felt like a weird attempt to make this book seem like a textbook. I also didn’t warm to the author’s occasionally cheeky attitude. (If you like Bill Bryson, you will probably love this book!!)
There is some kooky "science" (not backed up at all by any scientific fact) in here which I could have done without. The first idea was interesting, but they keep coming, and I started to wonder why, and - even worse - I started to wonder if the other surprising facts in this book were truly factual.
* humans are hairless because we evolved as coastal aquatic hunters.
* eels travel all the way to the Sargasso to spawn because they didn't notice how far it had gotten due to continental drift.
* the giant oarfish can predict earthquakes.
Word count:
sardine - 86
anchovy - 27
tuna - 95
dolphin - 38
whale - 103
jellyfish - 16
shark - 30
clam - 7
mussel - 10
lobster - 20
In the end, this is a lovely book that failed to charm me.
September 11, 2022
Нежен разказ за морските обитатели, изпълнен с доста факти и огорчение от човешкото нехайство към морските богатства. Като че ли авторът ми се стори малко прекалено сдържан откъм емоции в един момент, но предполагам, че се дължи на желанието му да бъде обективен.
July 8, 2021
I read What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins and became fascinated by everything that "our underwater cousins" know, see, hear, and feel that we don't typically give them credit for. Fish, fishes to Jonathan Balcombe, are much more complex and interesting than the people who hunt and eat them understand. When someone reached out to me about reading Eloquence of the Sardine based on my review of What a Fish Knows, I was really excited and jumped at the chance.
Bill Francois' approach of a similar subject is very different from Balcombe's. Francois also starts his book with a childhood anecdote, letting the reader know why and how he became interested in diving deeper (ha!) into the world of fish, but from there, Francois' book is much more fluid and poetic. The personal touches throughout the book are much more personal and contain more emotion and impression than science. I say this because every detail Francois gives the reader about underwater life is told with such excitement and passion. He doesn't go in depth about any one creature. He focuses more on some than others (like the sardine, the tuna, and the remora, for example), but the book mostly contains snapshots that show us how interesting, exciting, and spectacular our "underwater cousins" are. There's also a choppier narrative involved since Francois goes back and forth, sometimes smoothly, often not, between stories in his own life and experiences and parallels with sea creatures and their stories.
I don't mind the switches back and forth even when they are a little choppy because Francois' passion and gentleness towards sea life is so palpable. I also like that Francois involves commentary on humans and their society in his book, such as a passage that really spoke to me towards the end of the book about communication, another one earlier about the "metro, boulot, dodo" (subway, work, sleep) daily grind that humans get trapped in, and a very moving passage at the end about the stories we tell and share and the stories of the sea and its creatures. The greatest message for me is that we should respect the sea and its living creatures because we're all part of the same picture. We used to have deeper relationships and understandings, but we've lost those connections because of industrialization, mostly, and we become disconnected from the world around us. But if we regain our respect for all life, even and especially life we don't understand, we'll have a much richer experience all around.
Overall, Francois tells some really interesting stories about sea creatures. He makes great connections and parallels to humans and their above-sea world, and he conveys scientific knowledge in such a way that it feels more personal than clinical. One of his accounts (Old Tom) brought tears to my eyes, and others made me talk out loud, responding as I read with frustration at the way marine life is treated or with fascination at how awesome God's creation is.
I strongly recommend this book if you're already a marine life lover or if you'd like to learn more about the weird and interesting things that go on under the sea.
Just a note that this book is an English translation of a French book, and I do feel like some things would be better in the original (stylistically, especially, but other things like the word play between tune and tuna, which is much more nuanced in the French ton and thon).
Thank you to NetGalley for offering me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Bill Francois' approach of a similar subject is very different from Balcombe's. Francois also starts his book with a childhood anecdote, letting the reader know why and how he became interested in diving deeper (ha!) into the world of fish, but from there, Francois' book is much more fluid and poetic. The personal touches throughout the book are much more personal and contain more emotion and impression than science. I say this because every detail Francois gives the reader about underwater life is told with such excitement and passion. He doesn't go in depth about any one creature. He focuses more on some than others (like the sardine, the tuna, and the remora, for example), but the book mostly contains snapshots that show us how interesting, exciting, and spectacular our "underwater cousins" are. There's also a choppier narrative involved since Francois goes back and forth, sometimes smoothly, often not, between stories in his own life and experiences and parallels with sea creatures and their stories.
I don't mind the switches back and forth even when they are a little choppy because Francois' passion and gentleness towards sea life is so palpable. I also like that Francois involves commentary on humans and their society in his book, such as a passage that really spoke to me towards the end of the book about communication, another one earlier about the "metro, boulot, dodo" (subway, work, sleep) daily grind that humans get trapped in, and a very moving passage at the end about the stories we tell and share and the stories of the sea and its creatures. The greatest message for me is that we should respect the sea and its living creatures because we're all part of the same picture. We used to have deeper relationships and understandings, but we've lost those connections because of industrialization, mostly, and we become disconnected from the world around us. But if we regain our respect for all life, even and especially life we don't understand, we'll have a much richer experience all around.
Overall, Francois tells some really interesting stories about sea creatures. He makes great connections and parallels to humans and their above-sea world, and he conveys scientific knowledge in such a way that it feels more personal than clinical. One of his accounts (Old Tom) brought tears to my eyes, and others made me talk out loud, responding as I read with frustration at the way marine life is treated or with fascination at how awesome God's creation is.
I strongly recommend this book if you're already a marine life lover or if you'd like to learn more about the weird and interesting things that go on under the sea.
Just a note that this book is an English translation of a French book, and I do feel like some things would be better in the original (stylistically, especially, but other things like the word play between tune and tuna, which is much more nuanced in the French ton and thon).
Thank you to NetGalley for offering me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
January 25, 2023
War ein schönes, lehrreiches Buch über unterschätzte Meeresbewohnende. Mir waren es zum Teil sogar zu viele Tiere, wodurch ich einen Information Overload hatte 🥲 Ich hoffe, dass langfristig zumindest ein Bruchteil davon hängen bleibt 😅
February 27, 2024
Absolutely delightful!
The vibrant compelling language, and whimsical stories of the sea, all of which are juxtaposed against the realities of modern fishing practices and climate change, informs and entertains as it inspires you to want to protect our aquatic friends.
The vibrant compelling language, and whimsical stories of the sea, all of which are juxtaposed against the realities of modern fishing practices and climate change, informs and entertains as it inspires you to want to protect our aquatic friends.
January 9, 2021
Was für ein tolles Buch! Obwohl ich nicht wirklich ein Wassermensch bin, hab ich richtig Lust bekommen im Meer tauchen zu gehen und genauer hinzuhören! Mir wurde wieder bewusst wie wenig wir über die Welt unter Wasser tatsächlich wissen - weil wir für das Leben in ihr nicht gemacht sind und nicht verstehen können, wie eine Kommunikation funktionieren kann (abgesehen von den Walgesängen die wir hören können). Macht Spaß und Lust auf meer! (Pun intended ;)
May 19, 2021
A brilliant take on life under the surface of the sea. His perspective is both refreshing and reverent. You will have a new appreciation for sea life, and how we should protect it. It is NOT remotely preachy or political in any way. This book will make you say WOW, it will teach you things you never knew, it will make you laugh and it will give you goosebumps. His tales are very authentic, and that truth comes through in his writing.
July 31, 2023
Não consigo conviver com erros crassos num livro sobre ciência: afirmar que a história da vida tem 3,5 milhões de anos ou traduzir diretamente do francês e chamar hipocampos aos cavalos marinhos. Como não li a versão original, quero acreditar que o problema esteja na tradução e numa revisão menos cuidadosa.
De qualquer forma, não gostei da forma como o autor quis falar de tudo sem nunca aprofundar nada. Faz lembrar as secções que os jornais tinham antigamente nos suplementos de fim de semana: “Sabia que …?”.
De qualquer forma, não gostei da forma como o autor quis falar de tudo sem nunca aprofundar nada. Faz lembrar as secções que os jornais tinham antigamente nos suplementos de fim de semana: “Sabia que …?”.
February 20, 2024
Ocena:4⭐️
Format:papier
O jeżu szumiący ile to trawo ?! Czytałam ten tytuł wieeeeki!
Nie mogłam się totalnie wbić w tą książkę, byłam pewna ze to będzie DNF, a tu proszę niespodzianka. W końcu się przyłożyłam, usiadłam i zaczęłam czytać na poważnie i okazało się, że to bardzo fajna książka o przyrodzie jest! Świetnie opowiedziana historia o morzach, oceanach, rzekach i zbiornikach wodnych No i oczywiście o różnych ich lokatorach. Przystępna, miła, uświadamiająca i edukująca. Warto
Format:papier
O jeżu szumiący ile to trawo ?! Czytałam ten tytuł wieeeeki!
Nie mogłam się totalnie wbić w tą książkę, byłam pewna ze to będzie DNF, a tu proszę niespodzianka. W końcu się przyłożyłam, usiadłam i zaczęłam czytać na poważnie i okazało się, że to bardzo fajna książka o przyrodzie jest! Świetnie opowiedziana historia o morzach, oceanach, rzekach i zbiornikach wodnych No i oczywiście o różnych ich lokatorach. Przystępna, miła, uświadamiająca i edukująca. Warto
January 22, 2022
You might also enjoy:
✱ Under the Sea Wind
✱ The Sea Around Us
✱ The Edge of the Sea
✱ Seaweed Chronicles: A World at the Water’s Edge
✱ Waiting for Aphrodite
✱ Eat Like a Fish
✱ The Founding Fish
✱ Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food
✱ Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World
✱ Kings of the Yukon
✱ The Unnatural History of the Sea
✱ The Seabird's Cry
✱ Strange Harvests: The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects
✱ Under the Sea Wind
✱ The Sea Around Us
✱ The Edge of the Sea
✱ Seaweed Chronicles: A World at the Water’s Edge
✱ Waiting for Aphrodite
✱ Eat Like a Fish
✱ The Founding Fish
✱ Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food
✱ Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World
✱ Kings of the Yukon
✱ The Unnatural History of the Sea
✱ The Seabird's Cry
✱ Strange Harvests: The Hidden Histories of Seven Natural Objects
October 16, 2021
I really struggled with this book. To the extent that I couldn’t finish the last 30 pages - which is a real shame. I battled through it, dreading picking it up to read just to get it over with as I live by the motto of finishing what you’ve started. Sadly, this just simply wasn’t possible with this one and has been the only book I have ever read that I haven’t been able to finish. The themes were all of the place and I really disliked the writing style. I have nothing against an enthusiast or non-expert writing about something they have a passion for - but sadly the lack of expertise really shone through and the book was more of a personal account rather than anything else which wasn’t what I was expecting at all. A really poor read and sadly, very disappointing. The cover is beautiful, and the concept has a lot of potential, but the author just didn’t take me on the journey I was hoping for.
December 22, 2022
Not me crying into this book about sardines at 1am last night
I’m also ceaselessly amazed at how frequently I pull at my deeply ingrained fish knowledge acquired from playing hundreds of hours of animal crossing (GameCube edition) as a kid, like who could have guessed the impact of that lasting education ?? But yeah anyway, I wasn’t planning to ever eat fish again in my life but now I definitely will not
I’m also ceaselessly amazed at how frequently I pull at my deeply ingrained fish knowledge acquired from playing hundreds of hours of animal crossing (GameCube edition) as a kid, like who could have guessed the impact of that lasting education ?? But yeah anyway, I wasn’t planning to ever eat fish again in my life but now I definitely will not
February 24, 2023
A curious little book. “Extraordinary encounters beneath the sea” is a bit of a stretch. I’ve always been intrigued by learning about the sea though, so much of it is unexplored and the dynamics between human and nature are always more amplified out in the ocean it seems.
For that reason I had high hopes for this book. I think what I struggled with most was that the key message was - the ocean (fish) tell us stories and we need to listen. It’s a little broad for me, touching on conservation, biology, history, the works. Which would have been okay if the chapters were given a little bit more structure I think- it was a little scattered. I felt bad though because in the epilogue the author describes the nuances and complexity of this type of writing- highlighting his own concerns in writing this book that I definitely saw throughout.
The last criticism I’ll say is that throughout the book, the personification of fish and the ocean is just a little too much for me.. it’s oddly intimate. Anyways, a pleasant read, it’s always fun to read something that you can just tell is the authors entire life’s passion put into words. And I am always fascinating by conversations regarding nature and human society and where those overlap or unnaturally contrast which is where this book did satisfy.
My greatest takeaway from this book is the role of passing down knowledge and how critical it has been and continues to be for human society. Octopus are the smartest creatures on earth but the adults die when the babies are born after having diligently protected the eggs, meaning there is no transmission of knowledge between generations. Similarly this book touches on indigenous knowledge and relationships with sea life that have all but been lost over time, replaced with modern fishing practices and relationships with the sea. For better or for worse it’s something to consider, the ways we either cling to past knowledge, abandon it completely, or use it as a foundation for future exploration.
For that reason I had high hopes for this book. I think what I struggled with most was that the key message was - the ocean (fish) tell us stories and we need to listen. It’s a little broad for me, touching on conservation, biology, history, the works. Which would have been okay if the chapters were given a little bit more structure I think- it was a little scattered. I felt bad though because in the epilogue the author describes the nuances and complexity of this type of writing- highlighting his own concerns in writing this book that I definitely saw throughout.
The last criticism I’ll say is that throughout the book, the personification of fish and the ocean is just a little too much for me.. it’s oddly intimate. Anyways, a pleasant read, it’s always fun to read something that you can just tell is the authors entire life’s passion put into words. And I am always fascinating by conversations regarding nature and human society and where those overlap or unnaturally contrast which is where this book did satisfy.
My greatest takeaway from this book is the role of passing down knowledge and how critical it has been and continues to be for human society. Octopus are the smartest creatures on earth but the adults die when the babies are born after having diligently protected the eggs, meaning there is no transmission of knowledge between generations. Similarly this book touches on indigenous knowledge and relationships with sea life that have all but been lost over time, replaced with modern fishing practices and relationships with the sea. For better or for worse it’s something to consider, the ways we either cling to past knowledge, abandon it completely, or use it as a foundation for future exploration.
January 18, 2022
So Bryan and I did an unintentional buddy-read for this book this week. There were so many fascinating snippets in such a short amount of time, that I was constantly interrupting my reading to tell him about them until he finally just decided to pick the book up himself. Of course, this book contains quasi-fascinating stories about sea creatures, or else he probably never would have picked it up, but that man loves him some animals.
This tiny book is a mix of facts about sea life, cultural myths and anecdotes about sea life as well as the author's personal recollection and reflection on his relationship to the sea and all that it contains. I'll be honest and say that the author's recollection and reflections were a bit too verbose for me and I found myself wanting less of that. It seemed like he was trying to highlight his skills as a writer and it came across as a tad grandiose to me. As far as the stories though, there were some that I feel like we didn't get enough information on to really appreciate. If I were to describe the author's style of writing as stream-of-consciousness, I would do so with the caveat that it wasn't all that fluid. Thoughts and stories seemed to jump and skip around a bit which left me feeling like I was missing things at times.
Overall though, if you're looking for a quick little primer on some interesting facts about some not-so-interesting fish (sardines, mackerel, herring, tuna, eels etc.), I would recommend this book for you. It got Bryan to read, so I call it a win.
This tiny book is a mix of facts about sea life, cultural myths and anecdotes about sea life as well as the author's personal recollection and reflection on his relationship to the sea and all that it contains. I'll be honest and say that the author's recollection and reflections were a bit too verbose for me and I found myself wanting less of that. It seemed like he was trying to highlight his skills as a writer and it came across as a tad grandiose to me. As far as the stories though, there were some that I feel like we didn't get enough information on to really appreciate. If I were to describe the author's style of writing as stream-of-consciousness, I would do so with the caveat that it wasn't all that fluid. Thoughts and stories seemed to jump and skip around a bit which left me feeling like I was missing things at times.
Overall though, if you're looking for a quick little primer on some interesting facts about some not-so-interesting fish (sardines, mackerel, herring, tuna, eels etc.), I would recommend this book for you. It got Bryan to read, so I call it a win.
July 19, 2022
Έμεινα έκπληκτος διαβάζοντας αυτό το βιβλίο. Όντας fun των ντοκιμαντέρ, έλεγα δεν μπορεί, τι μπορεί να αναφέρει εδώ παραπάνω; Κι όμως ο συγγραφέας σε βάζει να δεις τον κόσμο από μια άλλη οπτική που μόνο μυθιστορηματικά μπορεί να γίνει και έτσι νιώθεις το άγχος της σαρδέλας και του τόνου, την ευφυΐα της φάλαινας και του δελφινιού, τον πόνο του γαύρου … και γενικά μπορώ να αραδιάσω μια μεγάλη λίστα συναισθημάτων εδώ.. Τέλος περιέχει και κάποιες ανέκδοτες ιστορίες και κάποιους προβληματισμούς που πραγματικά το κάνουν must read. Σίγουρα μετά από αυτό το βιβλίο, οι βουτιές μου στην θάλασσα θα έχουν άλλο σκοπό, ύφος και βάθος, αναγνωρίζοντας λίγο καλύτερα τη Σοφία αυτών των πλασμάτων.
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«Η θάλασσα είναι γεμάτη ήχους, περισσότερο και απ’ τον αέρα μέσα στον οποίο ζούμε. Ο ήχος είναι μια δόνηση της ύλης. Το νερό, πιο πυκνό απ’ τον αέρα, δονείται καλύτερα κι επομένως μεταφέρει τον ήχο καλύτερα. Μέσα στο νερό, ο ήχος ταξιδεύει πιο μακριά από το φως και διανύει χιλιόμετρα δίχως να εξασθενεί. Έτσι, λοιπόν, στη φωνή της θάλασσας μπερδεύονται ήχοι που έρχονται από μακριά, που δεν βλέπουμε τους πομπούς τους.»
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«Η θάλασσα είναι γεμάτη ήχους, περισσότερο και απ’ τον αέρα μέσα στον οποίο ζούμε. Ο ήχος είναι μια δόνηση της ύλης. Το νερό, πιο πυκνό απ’ τον αέρα, δονείται καλύτερα κι επομένως μεταφέρει τον ήχο καλύτερα. Μέσα στο νερό, ο ήχος ταξιδεύει πιο μακριά από το φως και διανύει χιλιόμετρα δίχως να εξασθενεί. Έτσι, λοιπόν, στη φωνή της θάλασσας μπερδεύονται ήχοι που έρχονται από μακριά, που δεν βλέπουμε τους πομπούς τους.»
September 29, 2023
Een heel leuk boek over het zeeleven, gaat over verschillende vissen en hun bijzondere eigenschappen en hun banden met mensen.
1 super bizar voorbeeld: de platvis begint zijn leven met een oog aan elke kant van het hoofd, tijdens de ontwikkeling verplaatst het ene oog naar de andere kant van het hoofd waardoor ze beiden aan 1 kant zitten. Daardoor is de vis genoodzaakt een 2-dimensionaal leven te leven op de bodem van de zee. Als dit soort verhalen je ook enthousiast maken, zeker lezen!
1 super bizar voorbeeld: de platvis begint zijn leven met een oog aan elke kant van het hoofd, tijdens de ontwikkeling verplaatst het ene oog naar de andere kant van het hoofd waardoor ze beiden aan 1 kant zitten. Daardoor is de vis genoodzaakt een 2-dimensionaal leven te leven op de bodem van de zee. Als dit soort verhalen je ook enthousiast maken, zeker lezen!
January 22, 2022
Um livro demasiado pequeno para o interesse que gera acerca da vida marítima!
Histórias curiosas sobre os habitantes dos "nossos" mares, de como (sobre)viveram com os homens e como essa ligação se quebrou com o tempo e interesses distintos.
Quanto mais evoluímos, mais ignorantes ficamos...
Histórias curiosas sobre os habitantes dos "nossos" mares, de como (sobre)viveram com os homens e como essa ligação se quebrou com o tempo e interesses distintos.
Quanto mais evoluímos, mais ignorantes ficamos...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 219 reviews