Books read in 2018: No. 31 -- Brook Trout and the Writing Life

by Craig Nova

Started: May 18
Finished: May 21

Notes: Trout aren't my thing, me being more of a bass and sunfish kind of guy, but fishing definitely is, and of course I'm a writer by trade. So this book seemed a natural to me, especially as the award-winning author lives only about a half hour from me. All those things considered, I thought I'd take a look at what he had to say, though admittedly I've not read any of his other works.

Mini review: This one turned out not to be for me, which is a shame since the author is a writer and a fisherman, and so am I. However, different types of writers and different types of fishing. I found this one to be too literary in a modern sense, written in an easy-enough-to-follow manner, but quite full of liberal upper-middle-class white male navel gazing. Yes, I realize how dismissive what I just wrote sounds, but it's also the best description I can come to for this book, and I feel less guilty about it as the author is mildly dismissive himself once or twice. This book isn't a pity party, to be fair, but it faux-ruminates upon mostly everyday life with some kind of vague reflection that's kind of, sort of supposed to be almost spiritual, at least illuminating. I found it none of these. Comparing life to fishing and vice versa doesn't take any great philosopher, nor does comparing writing and fishing. While not an awful book, it seemed more for the author than the reader, and as an author myself I'll say that's not necessarily a bad thing, though it doesn't always make it good for the reader. In this case, I was one of those readers.