Alexander Schwab is a very good writer, as those who have read
his earlier work Hook Line and Thinker will know. But the real
charm of Dear Jim is as much in the observation the thinking and
the unembellished wit that Schwab shares with his readers as it is
in the polished but uncluttered prose. Having read fishing books
for more than half a century, I can hardly expect to be surprised
by something completely new. This book caught me off balance. No,
it would be fairer to say that it knocked me for six with its
clarity and its wonderful insight into the psyche of people who
fish and of people who don't understand why so many of us do go
fishing.
Read this book. You will learn a little about fishing, rather
more about some intriguing fishing venues, quite a lot about the
mind of Alex Schwab; and, if the book affects you in the way it
did me, you may perhaps learn a lot also about yourself and your
own attitude to angling (and hence about life, if not the
universe and everything).
Particularly enjoyable are the many anecdotes, some funny,
others deeply thought provoking, that illustrate the point the
author makes so persuasively.
And what is that point? Well, what is the point of angling? The
challenge? The anticipation? The fish? Not always... perhaps not
often. But always potentially there is the beauty of it all, and
Alexander Schwab brings this out so well both in his writing and
in the remarkable photography that illuminates the text.
I am so glad I read this book, and I most heartily recommend it
to all who think about their fishing, its traditions and its
possibilities in the future.
Pat O'Reilly |
