The New York Times Book Review - Ben Goldfarb
Just as the eel glides between freshwater and salt, Svensson's book swims in the seas of both natural history and memoir. Svensson's father took the young Patrik eel fishing often, and their beautifully rendered nocturnal outings have the feel of occult ritual…
From the Publisher
A masterful narrative that is part memoir and part scientific detective story.” — Smithsonian Magazine, “10 Best Science Books of the Year”
“A beguiling chronicle.” — Nautilus
“Svensson has, quite stunningly, discovered in the natural and human history of the European eel a metaphor for his father’s life and a way to explore questions of knowledge, belief and faith.” — Washington Post
“Captivating . . . shot through with electric current. The book’s deadpan title perhaps undercuts its depth and complexity. Yes, this is a book about eels, those uncanny creatures, but in Svensson’s capable hands it is also a book about obsession and mystery, about faith and science, and about the limits of knowledge . . . Like Annie Dillard and Rachel Carson, Svensson knows the best nature writing is done with emotion and drive.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Fascinating.” — What's Jordana Reading, Summer Reads
"Enthralling." — Colorado Springs Gazette
“Nature writing at its finest. Svensson's memories of eel fishing with his father speak to the intersection of life and science, and add to its heart.” — Shelf Awareness
“Blending a wonderfully evocative and succinct timeline of scientific discoveries about eels with a memoir of his changing relationship with his father, Svensson has produced an extremely readable book on a fish that all have heard of but few (on our side of the pond) have actually seen.” — Booklist
“An unusual and beguiling guide to an unusual and beguiling animal. . . . Svensson’s book, like its subject, is a strange beast: a creature of metamorphosis, a shape-shifter that moves among realms. It is a book of natural history, and a memoir about a son and his father. It is also an exploration of literature and religion and custom, and what it means to live in a world full of questions we can’t always answer.” — The New Yorker
“As much a boon to my mental life as a blow to my social one. For weeks after reading I found myself cornering people at parties to obliterate them with a machine-gun spray of eel facts. But according to The Book of Eels, I’m not alone in my eelmania. . . . If you don’t think of yourself as someone who might enjoy meditating on eel glory, well, I didn’t either, and here I am transcribing my encounter for publication.” — New York magazine
“Captivating . . . The Book of Eels is, in the end, not really about eels but about life itself.” — Wall Street Journal
“Poses questions about philosophy, the metaphysical, and the spiritual, as well as scientific issues, in a way that will stir readers. This beautifully crafted book challenges us not only to understand eels but our own selves. Highly recommended.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“Svensson . . . melds the personal and scientific in this captivating look at the European eel. . . . Nature-loving readers will be enthralled by [his] fascinating zoological odyssey.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Inspires readers to see eels in a whole new way.” — Los Angeles Times, “21 New and Classic Books to Keep You in Touch with the Natural World”
“An account of the mysterious life of eels that also serves as a meditation on consciousness, faith, time, light and darkness, and life and death. . . . an intriguing natural history . . . that sheds as much light on humans as on eels.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Without a doubt, the most delicious natural history book of the decade. Svensson’s prose effortlessly undulates between his own personal experience and a thousand years of scientific inquiry. But it’s his call to conservation—not just of this noble eel but of our memories both personal and cultural—that truly elevates this remarkably poignant work.” — Mark Siddall, Curator and Professor, American Museum of Natural History
“A wonderful read. The story of the eel is one of the most fascinating on the planet, but equally fascinating is the story Patrik Svensson tells so well here about the mysteries of being.” — Bernd Heinrich, author of Mind of the Raven
“With lyricism and sharp clarity, Patrik Svensson lets us in on the secret dream-like world of the eel. As we move deeper into a book that intertwines beautiful nature writing with a moving memoir of a quiet father and a loyal son—as well as healthy doses of philosophical thought from Aristotle to Freud—we get to know one of Earth's most unknowable creatures and revel in a life so different than our own.” — David Gessner, author of All the Wild That Remains
“What an amazing book. About eels! — a haunting and extraordinary creature. Patrik Svensson explores both their mystery and the science that has brought them into focus in the last few decades and made them seem a vivid indicator species for the health of our planet.”
— Robert Hass, author of Summer Snow
Shelf Awareness
Nature writing at its finest. Svensson's memories of eel fishing with his father speak to the intersection of life and science, and add to its heart.
What's Jordana Reading
Fascinating.
New York magazine
As much a boon to my mental life as a blow to my social one. For weeks after reading I found myself cornering people at parties to obliterate them with a machine-gun spray of eel facts. But according to The Book of Eels, I’m not alone in my eelmania. . . . If you don’t think of yourself as someone who might enjoy meditating on eel glory, well, I didn’t either, and here I am transcribing my encounter for publication.
Booklist
Blending a wonderfully evocative and succinct timeline of scientific discoveries about eels with a memoir of his changing relationship with his father, Svensson has produced an extremely readable book on a fish that all have heard of but few (on our side of the pond) have actually seen.
Washington Post
Svensson has, quite stunningly, discovered in the natural and human history of the European eel a metaphor for his father’s life and a way to explore questions of knowledge, belief and faith.
Colorado Springs Gazette
"Enthralling."
The New Yorker
An unusual and beguiling guide to an unusual and beguiling animal. . . . Svensson’s book, like its subject, is a strange beast: a creature of metamorphosis, a shape-shifter that moves among realms. It is a book of natural history, and a memoir about a son and his father. It is also an exploration of literature and religion and custom, and what it means to live in a world full of questions we can’t always answer.
Nautilus
A beguiling chronicle.
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Captivating . . . shot through with electric current. The book’s deadpan title perhaps undercuts its depth and complexity. Yes, this is a book about eels, those uncanny creatures, but in Svensson’s capable hands it is also a book about obsession and mystery, about faith and science, and about the limits of knowledge . . . Like Annie Dillard and Rachel Carson, Svensson knows the best nature writing is done with emotion and drive.
Smithsonian Magazine
A masterful narrative that is part memoir and part scientific detective story.
Booklist
Blending a wonderfully evocative and succinct timeline of scientific discoveries about eels with a memoir of his changing relationship with his father, Svensson has produced an extremely readable book on a fish that all have heard of but few (on our side of the pond) have actually seen.
The New Yorker
An unusual and beguiling guide to an unusual and beguiling animal. . . . Svensson’s book, like its subject, is a strange beast: a creature of metamorphosis, a shape-shifter that moves among realms. It is a book of natural history, and a memoir about a son and his father. It is also an exploration of literature and religion and custom, and what it means to live in a world full of questions we can’t always answer.
Washington Post
Svensson has, quite stunningly, discovered in the natural and human history of the European eel a metaphor for his father’s life and a way to explore questions of knowledge, belief and faith.
David Gessner
With lyricism and sharp clarity, Patrik Svensson lets us in on the secret dream-like world of the eel. As we move deeper into a book that intertwines beautiful nature writing with a moving memoir of a quiet father and a loyal son—as well as healthy doses of philosophical thought from Aristotle to Freud—we get to know one of Earth's most unknowable creatures and revel in a life so different than our own.
|Los Angeles Times
Inspires readers to see eels in a whole new way.
Robert Hass
What an amazing book. About eels! — a haunting and extraordinary creature. Patrik Svensson explores both their mystery and the science that has brought them into focus in the last few decades and made them seem a vivid indicator species for the health of our planet.”
Bernd Heinrich
A wonderful read. The story of the eel is one of the most fascinating on the planet, but equally fascinating is the story Patrik Svensson tells so well here about the mysteries of being.
Mark Siddall
Without a doubt, the most delicious natural history book of the decade. Svensson’s prose effortlessly undulates between his own personal experience and a thousand years of scientific inquiry. But it’s his call to conservation—not just of this noble eel but of our memories both personal and cultural—that truly elevates this remarkably poignant work.
Wall Street Journal
Captivating . . . The Book of Eels is, in the end, not really about eels but about life itself.
Los Angeles Times
Inspires readers to see eels in a whole new way.
Wall Street Journal
Captivating . . . The Book of Eels is, in the end, not really about eels but about life itself.
Robert Haas
What an amazing book. About eels! — a haunting and extraordinary creature. Patrik Svennson explores both their mystery and the science that has brought them into focus in the last few decades and made them seem a vivid indicator species for the health of our planet.”
Kirkus Reviews
2020-03-01
An account of the mysterious life of eels that also serves as a meditation on consciousness, faith, time, light and darkness, and life and death.
In addition to an intriguing natural history, Swedish journalist Svensson includes a highly personal account of his relationship with his father. The author alternates eel-focused chapters with those about his father, a man obsessed with fishing for this elusive creature. “I can’t recall us ever talking about anything other than eels and how to best catch them, down there by the stream,” he writes. “I can’t remember us speaking at all….Because we were in…a place whose nature was best enjoyed in silence.” Throughout, Svensson, whose beat is not biology but art and culture, fills his account with people: Aristotle, who thought eels emerged live from mud, “like a slithering, enigmatic miracle”; Freud, who as a teenage biologist spent months in Trieste, Italy, peering through a microscope searching vainly for eel testes; Johannes Schmidt, who for two decades tracked thousands of eels, looking for their breeding grounds. After recounting the details of the eel life cycle, the author turns to the eel in literature—e.g., in the Bible, Rachel Carson’s Under the Sea Wind, and Günter Grass’ The Tin Drum—and history. He notes that the Puritans would likely not have survived without eels, and he explores Sweden’s “eel coast” (what it once was and how it has changed), how eel fishing became embroiled in the Northern Irish conflict, and the importance of eel fishing to the Basque separatist movement. The apparent return to life of a dead eel leads Svensson to a consideration of faith and the inherent message of miracles. He warns that if we are to save this fascinating creature from extinction, we must continue to study it. His book is a highly readable place to begin learning.
Unsentimental nature writing that sheds as much light on humans as on eels.
