streamthought

An Angler's Explorations, 1998.

Thomas Dunne Books  ISBN 0-312-18594-4

Thoughtful, contemplative and always observant, Jerry Dennis does a wonderful job depicting what's important to true flyfishermen, what binds them together.

His essays range from asking "Why Fish?" (can we ever really answer this?) to discussing what makes good fishing buddies to tying your own flies. Fishing travelogue takes you to the Chilean Andes for giant trout and to Iceland for Atlantic Salmon.

But it is in those essays where he combines a wisdom acquired from nature with a sense of the inevitableness of ageing where Dennis excels. The "River Home" and the "Music Out There" explore what it means to be human, finite and transient. "I passed the decade of my twenties in motion, living no place for long...Now beginning my forties I find it strange and heartening to feel at home on this earth at last".

Nostalgia sells, particularly to the kind of person who finds solace on a quiet river and is starting to reflect on his life. Although Dennis plays this card it does not detract from his theme of renewal through returning to a home. In any case what's wrong with a little bit of nostalgia?

 A warm and optimistic read.