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Tarka the Otter
One of the best-loved animal stories of our time.
"Twilight over meadow and water, the eve-star shining above the hill, and Old Nog the heron crying kra-a-ark! as his slow dark wings carried him down to the estuary."
The classic story of an otter living in the Devonshire countryside which captures the feel of life in the wild as seen through the otter's own eyes.
Tarka is born in Owlery Holt, near Canal Bridge on the River Torridge, where he grows up with his mother and sisters, learning to swim and catch fish, and to beware the hunters' cry. His life is one of adventure and play, but soon he must fend for himself, travelling along streams and rivers to the open sea, sometimes with female otters White-tip and Greymuzzle. Always on the run, Tarka has many close shaves until he finally meets his nemesis, the fearsome hound Deadlock.
Henry William Williamson was born in 1895 in Brockley, south-east London. The then semi-rural location provided easy access to the countryside, and he developed a deep love of nature throughout his childhood. He became a prolific author known for his natural and social history novels. He won the Hawthornden Prize for literatrure in 1928 for Tarka the Otter.
"Twilight over meadow and water, the eve-star shining above the hill, and Old Nog the heron crying kra-a-ark! as his slow dark wings carried him down to the estuary."
The classic story of an otter living in the Devonshire countryside which captures the feel of life in the wild as seen through the otter's own eyes.
Tarka is born in Owlery Holt, near Canal Bridge on the River Torridge, where he grows up with his mother and sisters, learning to swim and catch fish, and to beware the hunters' cry. His life is one of adventure and play, but soon he must fend for himself, travelling along streams and rivers to the open sea, sometimes with female otters White-tip and Greymuzzle. Always on the run, Tarka has many close shaves until he finally meets his nemesis, the fearsome hound Deadlock.
Henry William Williamson was born in 1895 in Brockley, south-east London. The then semi-rural location provided easy access to the countryside, and he developed a deep love of nature throughout his childhood. He became a prolific author known for his natural and social history novels. He won the Hawthornden Prize for literatrure in 1928 for Tarka the Otter.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1927
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4208 people want to read
About the author
Henry Williamson
151 books55 followersHenry William Williamson was an English soldier, naturalist, farmer and ruralist writer known for his natural history and social history novels, as well as for his fascist sympathies. He won the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 with his book Tarka the Otter.
Henry Williamson is best known for a tetralogy of four novels which consists of The Beautiful Years (1921), Dandelion Days (1922), The Dream of Fair Women (1924) and The Pathway (1928). These novels are collectively known as The Flax of Dream and they follow the life of Willie Maddison from boyhood to adulthood in a rapidly changing world.
Henry Williamson is best known for a tetralogy of four novels which consists of The Beautiful Years (1921), Dandelion Days (1922), The Dream of Fair Women (1924) and The Pathway (1928). These novels are collectively known as The Flax of Dream and they follow the life of Willie Maddison from boyhood to adulthood in a rapidly changing world.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 255 reviews
June 4, 2018
Q: Why do they call it tarka dhal?
A:
August 21, 2022
This is the most uncompromisingly "animal" of all animal stories, more like a TV nature documentary than a novel. On the one hand, the writing itself is as beautiful as the place it describes: north Devon with its deep wooded valleys and rich farmland, its high moors where wild ponies graze under huge skies, its headland-fringed coast with the tallest sea-cliffs anywhere in England, are lovingly described by a Londoner who came to know every inch of it. But on the other hand, there's no moral, no "lesson", just life in the raw the way it really is for a wild animal: cubs, parents and mates disappear from the narrative and are simply never mentioned again.
It's not a book about hunting. None of its otters die of disease or old age, most are killed and most of those by people - by the otter-hunt, or in gin-traps, or cornered and battered to death as "vermin"; yet Williamson's own attitude was to some extent contradictory. He admired the huntsmen themselves for their knowledge of otters and of Nature in general - he got to know them and followed the hunt himself; but in Tarka he also managed to get down on paper, better than almost anyone else I've read, the numbed outrage I feel at senseless cruelty to animals.
Environmental campaigners such as Rachel Carson have taken inspiration from this book - and, for all I know, Tarka may even have helped to save the otter itself because much has happened since 1927 when it was written. Their numbers declined for decades until otters finally disappeared completely from most of England in the 1960s (due as much to pesticides running into rivers as to hunting) and they even made it into the Red Book as "vulnerable to extinction". But then in 1978 hunting was banned, and in 1981 the landmark Wildlife and Countryside Act was passed into law, with otters as one of the first animals to come under its protection. These days they're making a comeback and the future looks bright.
Tarka isn't really about all that either though, neither about hunting nor conservation; in fact just for once, refreshingly, here we have a novel which isn't about us at all - and I think maybe that at least partly explains its enduring appeal. It's a story in which humans are peripheral figures, absent altogether for much of the time and only periodically erupting into Tarka's life like just another incomprehensible destructive phenomenon, like storms, like bad luck, like winter. And in the interludes we get glimpses of a different Earth (my favourite passage in the book: Tarka and a raven playing together), the way it must have been throughout almost all its history: no "moral", no "point" to it all, just life.
It's not a book about hunting. None of its otters die of disease or old age, most are killed and most of those by people - by the otter-hunt, or in gin-traps, or cornered and battered to death as "vermin"; yet Williamson's own attitude was to some extent contradictory. He admired the huntsmen themselves for their knowledge of otters and of Nature in general - he got to know them and followed the hunt himself; but in Tarka he also managed to get down on paper, better than almost anyone else I've read, the numbed outrage I feel at senseless cruelty to animals.
Environmental campaigners such as Rachel Carson have taken inspiration from this book - and, for all I know, Tarka may even have helped to save the otter itself because much has happened since 1927 when it was written. Their numbers declined for decades until otters finally disappeared completely from most of England in the 1960s (due as much to pesticides running into rivers as to hunting) and they even made it into the Red Book as "vulnerable to extinction". But then in 1978 hunting was banned, and in 1981 the landmark Wildlife and Countryside Act was passed into law, with otters as one of the first animals to come under its protection. These days they're making a comeback and the future looks bright.
Tarka isn't really about all that either though, neither about hunting nor conservation; in fact just for once, refreshingly, here we have a novel which isn't about us at all - and I think maybe that at least partly explains its enduring appeal. It's a story in which humans are peripheral figures, absent altogether for much of the time and only periodically erupting into Tarka's life like just another incomprehensible destructive phenomenon, like storms, like bad luck, like winter. And in the interludes we get glimpses of a different Earth (my favourite passage in the book: Tarka and a raven playing together), the way it must have been throughout almost all its history: no "moral", no "point" to it all, just life.
January 4, 2013
This is the life story of an otter called Tarka that means "Water Wanderer." What I like about this book is that I was able to learn so many things about an animal that I have not seen in the real world. I do not even remember seeing one in a number of zoos, both local and overseas, that I have so far been to.
The writing is simple but there are so many otter-related terms that I had to google or guess while reading. First I thought I would understand the story without looking up for those words but I was continuously lost page after page until I checked and learned that "dog" is how a male otter is called, "bitch" is for female otters and "whelp" or "pup" for baby otter. [You have to understand that there are no otters here in the Philippines.] In those few pages when there where the word "dog" I thought that the otters had a dog in their midst. So, I wondered for a bit, why is the dog not harassing the otter when otters have some resemblance to mice being part of the same family? Lesson: consult the dictionary, K.D. or better yet get a Kindle so you just hover on the word and you'll automatically see its meaning. Maybe, in the next Christmas bonus.
The narration is in the POV of Tarka so it is based on the eye-level and viewpoint of the animal and not those of human being. So, the swamp is a big body of water, the shrub is described as a tree, on ordinary (not rampaging) river is a challenge to cross, etc. It is obvious that Williamson spent a lot of time researching about otters just to make sure that their natural behavior was captured accurately in the story.
At first, I also thought that this was a children's book until I noticed that there is no fantasy element in the story: the animals (otters, seal, rats, fox, owl, etc) have no dialogues. For example, otters yikker and Williamson used the actual sounds of their shrieks or cries in the story like: hompa, hompa, hompa, ik-yang, wuff, wuff, etc that appear in italics in the narrative. Since there are no dialogues, I understand that some readers might find this boring. However, if you read slowly, you would notice some paragraphs or phrases are poetic. According to Wiki, Williamson was first and foremost known as a poet that a novelist.
The story is divided into two parts: the first year and the last year. In the first year, the setting is in the river called River Taw and Tarka's lover is called Greymuzzle. In the second part, the last year, the setting is the other river called River Torridge and Tarka has a new mate White-Tip. The first part is quite boring but the action picks up in the second because of the chase and Tarka's final confrontation of the villain Deadlock. There is even a map that shows the actual place in Devon or Devonshire, a county in England.
Overall, it is a nice reading experience. Learning so many things in just one small cute book. This is not a children's book but the story can be appreciated by readers in all age groups. I particularly recommend this book, however, to all animal lovers especially to those who are fond of exotic or already endangered animals.
The writing is simple but there are so many otter-related terms that I had to google or guess while reading. First I thought I would understand the story without looking up for those words but I was continuously lost page after page until I checked and learned that "dog" is how a male otter is called, "bitch" is for female otters and "whelp" or "pup" for baby otter. [You have to understand that there are no otters here in the Philippines.] In those few pages when there where the word "dog" I thought that the otters had a dog in their midst. So, I wondered for a bit, why is the dog not harassing the otter when otters have some resemblance to mice being part of the same family? Lesson: consult the dictionary, K.D. or better yet get a Kindle so you just hover on the word and you'll automatically see its meaning. Maybe, in the next Christmas bonus.
The narration is in the POV of Tarka so it is based on the eye-level and viewpoint of the animal and not those of human being. So, the swamp is a big body of water, the shrub is described as a tree, on ordinary (not rampaging) river is a challenge to cross, etc. It is obvious that Williamson spent a lot of time researching about otters just to make sure that their natural behavior was captured accurately in the story.
At first, I also thought that this was a children's book until I noticed that there is no fantasy element in the story: the animals (otters, seal, rats, fox, owl, etc) have no dialogues. For example, otters yikker and Williamson used the actual sounds of their shrieks or cries in the story like: hompa, hompa, hompa, ik-yang, wuff, wuff, etc that appear in italics in the narrative. Since there are no dialogues, I understand that some readers might find this boring. However, if you read slowly, you would notice some paragraphs or phrases are poetic. According to Wiki, Williamson was first and foremost known as a poet that a novelist.
The story is divided into two parts: the first year and the last year. In the first year, the setting is in the river called River Taw and Tarka's lover is called Greymuzzle. In the second part, the last year, the setting is the other river called River Torridge and Tarka has a new mate White-Tip. The first part is quite boring but the action picks up in the second because of the chase and Tarka's final confrontation of the villain Deadlock. There is even a map that shows the actual place in Devon or Devonshire, a county in England.
Overall, it is a nice reading experience. Learning so many things in just one small cute book. This is not a children's book but the story can be appreciated by readers in all age groups. I particularly recommend this book, however, to all animal lovers especially to those who are fond of exotic or already endangered animals.
August 23, 2009
An un-sentimental book about an otter - and about hunting otters.
In this remarkable book, we follow Tarka the Otter through his entire life. We are there from his first to his last breath, through the joys and trials of his life, struggling through the harshest of winters, his life alone and with other otters, as a cub and as a grown otter with cubs of his own.
This is a hard book to rate. It follows the life of an animal but without trying to explain the animal with human feelings while still recognising that animals can feel happy about seeing each other, can protect their cubs and grieve when they loose one and how they play with each other - but it also shows how a female otter just leaves her cubs without another thought when they're old enough and an interesting male passes by. Even though our sympathy clearly lies with Tarka, he never feels truly known - he plays with his cub, but we get no descriptions of father feelings. He is truly a wild animal. There is no anthropomorphism in this book - and it stands the stronger because of this.
The book vividly describes how men and dogs hunt otters for hours on end, how men use traps to catch otters (and other animals) and how animals can bite off limbs to escape from traps. It's not a nice book to read - as exemplified with this sentence about a female otter caught in a trap in the water: "Iron in the water sinks, and however long cubs call her, a bitch otter cannot swim with three legs for ever."(191) It shows how man is cruel and nature is harsh and although it was unpleasant to read about otters dying in many different ways, it was still a very good book. Only thing dragging it down is a bit too much description of the nature and especially birds and their feeding habits, otherwise I would have given it 4 stars - even though I have no intentions of ever reading it again. It should be required reading for hunters!
In this remarkable book, we follow Tarka the Otter through his entire life. We are there from his first to his last breath, through the joys and trials of his life, struggling through the harshest of winters, his life alone and with other otters, as a cub and as a grown otter with cubs of his own.
This is a hard book to rate. It follows the life of an animal but without trying to explain the animal with human feelings while still recognising that animals can feel happy about seeing each other, can protect their cubs and grieve when they loose one and how they play with each other - but it also shows how a female otter just leaves her cubs without another thought when they're old enough and an interesting male passes by. Even though our sympathy clearly lies with Tarka, he never feels truly known - he plays with his cub, but we get no descriptions of father feelings. He is truly a wild animal. There is no anthropomorphism in this book - and it stands the stronger because of this.
The book vividly describes how men and dogs hunt otters for hours on end, how men use traps to catch otters (and other animals) and how animals can bite off limbs to escape from traps. It's not a nice book to read - as exemplified with this sentence about a female otter caught in a trap in the water: "Iron in the water sinks, and however long cubs call her, a bitch otter cannot swim with three legs for ever."(191) It shows how man is cruel and nature is harsh and although it was unpleasant to read about otters dying in many different ways, it was still a very good book. Only thing dragging it down is a bit too much description of the nature and especially birds and their feeding habits, otherwise I would have given it 4 stars - even though I have no intentions of ever reading it again. It should be required reading for hunters!
April 23, 2023
"Pity acts through the imagination, the higher light of the world, and imagination arises from the world of things, as a rainbow from the sun."
Starting with his birth, the book takes us almost day by day through Tarka's life — learning to swim and fish, wrestling and sliding down riverbanks with his sisters and mother, before heading off alone to find himself a mate, around the estuaries of Devon.
This is one of the best known nature novels but its not a sanitised Disneyesque nature. There is beauty is everywhere but there is also danger everywhere. Everything tries to eat everything else and the local farmers and water-bailiffs hunt otters, which they see as vermin. The sub-title of the novel, 'His Joyful Water-Life and Death' , tells us what the inevitable ending will be but beforehand gives a highly realistic insight into an otter’s life, its joys and perils. Williamson spent years tramping the riverways of Devon studying otters so whilst this is fiction its based on fact and close observation.
The writing is beautiful, in particular when Tarka was in the water, I could almost visualise it. Its sometime easy to think of otters as cute fish eating creatures but we mustn't forget that they are carnivores that will eat birds, frogs and other mammals as well. The book was first published in 1927 and thankfully attitudes have changed and despite the ending is neither sad nor depressing. It's a classic for a reason. My only real grumble was the constant use of local slang for many of the creatures that featured, whilst he initially tells us what the proper name is when they reoccurred later on I had forgotten it. The glossary could have been more expansive I felt.
“Time flowed with the sunlight of the still green place. The summer drake-flies, whose wings were as the most delicate transparent leaves, hatched from their cases on the water and danced over the shadowed surface.”
Starting with his birth, the book takes us almost day by day through Tarka's life — learning to swim and fish, wrestling and sliding down riverbanks with his sisters and mother, before heading off alone to find himself a mate, around the estuaries of Devon.
This is one of the best known nature novels but its not a sanitised Disneyesque nature. There is beauty is everywhere but there is also danger everywhere. Everything tries to eat everything else and the local farmers and water-bailiffs hunt otters, which they see as vermin. The sub-title of the novel, 'His Joyful Water-Life and Death' , tells us what the inevitable ending will be but beforehand gives a highly realistic insight into an otter’s life, its joys and perils. Williamson spent years tramping the riverways of Devon studying otters so whilst this is fiction its based on fact and close observation.
The writing is beautiful, in particular when Tarka was in the water, I could almost visualise it. Its sometime easy to think of otters as cute fish eating creatures but we mustn't forget that they are carnivores that will eat birds, frogs and other mammals as well. The book was first published in 1927 and thankfully attitudes have changed and despite the ending is neither sad nor depressing. It's a classic for a reason. My only real grumble was the constant use of local slang for many of the creatures that featured, whilst he initially tells us what the proper name is when they reoccurred later on I had forgotten it. The glossary could have been more expansive I felt.
“Time flowed with the sunlight of the still green place. The summer drake-flies, whose wings were as the most delicate transparent leaves, hatched from their cases on the water and danced over the shadowed surface.”
July 10, 2016
I listened to a audio version of this book, and even though I'm not sure, I suspect it may have been an abridged version. One thing is certain, it was narrated by someone I have nothing but respect for, David Attenborough. He was the presenter of almost all the greatest nature programs that I watched on TV as a kid. The fact that he is still at it, and doing good work is pretty amazing.
The reason I bring up Attenborough's nature shows is simple, listening to this book was a bit like watching one of them without any pictures. Williamson's story is fiction that sounds, and feels like non fiction. He doesn't go with the human in animal form that is so often the case in stories like this, but a animal in animal form, and to me it is all the better for it. It is fascinating to listen to. There is a lot of drama in Tarka's life, but the story is down to earth.
Now I think I have to try to find a print copy of this book, because I suspect this version may have been abridged, and I would like to read it as it was originally published.
The reason I bring up Attenborough's nature shows is simple, listening to this book was a bit like watching one of them without any pictures. Williamson's story is fiction that sounds, and feels like non fiction. He doesn't go with the human in animal form that is so often the case in stories like this, but a animal in animal form, and to me it is all the better for it. It is fascinating to listen to. There is a lot of drama in Tarka's life, but the story is down to earth.
Now I think I have to try to find a print copy of this book, because I suspect this version may have been abridged, and I would like to read it as it was originally published.
March 19, 2021
Published in 1927, Tarka the Otter is widely regarded as a classic. Reading it to my son, I came to agree with that opinion. Beautifully written, it is peppered with unfamiliar vocabulary. A great learning experience, therefore, but perhaps best read with a dictionary (or Google) to hand. Unlike many animal stories aimed at children, this is *not* anthropomorphic. It is very much 'nature red in tooth and claw'. And that includes us. It is very filmic and, in many ways, felt like reading a wildlife documentary.
The cruelty of human beings towards other animals is exposed. It is presented uncritically, but not in a celebratory fashion either. More matter-of-fact. I was shocked to learn that otter hunting did not cease in this country until 1978, although I suppose that given fox hunting went on for far longer, I oughtn't to be. It was never banned, however. Hunters voluntarily stopped when it became apparent from the ever declining population that the species was at serious risk of being classified as endangered. To me, hunting for so-called sport is morally repugnant, so I am very glad this particular hunting no longer happens in the UK and that otter numbers have more or less recovered.
This book will make you both sad and angry. Or, at any rate, it ought to. Readers should also be aware that the ending is tragic. Tissues may be required and especially sensitive folk may find it painful and difficult, and perhaps want to avoid reading it. The scenes of animal cruelty are set against the beautiful Devonian countryside and that, somehow, makes them seem worse by contrast. If your child is reading this independently, then please make sure you're available to answer questions/ go through the issues with them. I think some children, too, will find this too distressing to read. Very much worth reading, but steel yourself for anguish. And if it motivates you to donate to the RSPCA or similar, then that, I think, is all to the good. Recommended, but with the above caveats firmly in place.
The cruelty of human beings towards other animals is exposed. It is presented uncritically, but not in a celebratory fashion either. More matter-of-fact. I was shocked to learn that otter hunting did not cease in this country until 1978, although I suppose that given fox hunting went on for far longer, I oughtn't to be. It was never banned, however. Hunters voluntarily stopped when it became apparent from the ever declining population that the species was at serious risk of being classified as endangered. To me, hunting for so-called sport is morally repugnant, so I am very glad this particular hunting no longer happens in the UK and that otter numbers have more or less recovered.
This book will make you both sad and angry. Or, at any rate, it ought to. Readers should also be aware that the ending is tragic. Tissues may be required and especially sensitive folk may find it painful and difficult, and perhaps want to avoid reading it. The scenes of animal cruelty are set against the beautiful Devonian countryside and that, somehow, makes them seem worse by contrast. If your child is reading this independently, then please make sure you're available to answer questions/ go through the issues with them. I think some children, too, will find this too distressing to read. Very much worth reading, but steel yourself for anguish. And if it motivates you to donate to the RSPCA or similar, then that, I think, is all to the good. Recommended, but with the above caveats firmly in place.
January 30, 2015
Tarka the Otter is written in a very realistic way which doesn't humanize the animals. The language is beautiful and - not being a native speaker - I also learned lots of new words. Once I realized that by dogs, bitches and cubs the otters were meant and not actual dogs I also understood what was going on!
Thsi book is often called a children's book but I surely wouldn't have liked it as a child. In spite of all the positive things mentioned above it was still all in all quite boring.
Thsi book is often called a children's book but I surely wouldn't have liked it as a child. In spite of all the positive things mentioned above it was still all in all quite boring.
March 12, 2017
I acknowledge that this book is a classic of its kind, and that HW must have put in huge efforts, and was passionate about writing 'the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth' - his deliberate aim and ambition, as it says in the foreword 'How the Book came to be Written' by Eleanor Graham. I am glad that it was a success for him, and cannot deny the beauty and attested accuracy of some of his descriptions. For a naturalist, it must be a joy, and certainly at times I was deeply impressed, and loved the illustrations by CF Tunnicliffe, who also illustrated the Ladybird classics What to Look for in Spring/Summer/Autumn and Winter, which I treasure. However, I recall that I tried to read it once when I was a child, and found it boring, and as an adult I have to confess I found it a long slog, and continued to read more from a sense of duty in honouring the author's hard work than from enjoyment.
May 30, 2024
Not really my cup of tea. Took a while to work out what some of the wording meant but managed to get the gist after a while. Thought the descriptions of the habitats were wonderful but also found some scenes to be surprisingly violent in nature. I'm not a fan of hunting descriptions.
May 26, 2025
Tarka the Otter. What a story. The life of a male otter, from the time he was born until he dies, with all the playful fun of an otter as well as the deadly dangers from hunters and their hounds and traps.
The story is told from an emotionally neutral narrator, almost as if one were scientifically observing nature. It's rich in detail; it feels like you are right there in the rural part of 1920s England, swimming, catching fish, finding a mate, caring for cubs, evading the jaws of a snarling hound.
No doubt about this one. A fabulous five-star read. A book everyone should read.
If I'd looked up (and been able to find a definition for) every word I didn't know, I'd be reading this book the rest of the year, I think. Here are a few of the words (along with a bit of the other text) I didn't know from the early pages:
Sere reeds...Salmon and peal from the sea...Voles...Alder and sallow grew on its banks...Musical over many stretches of shillet...Straying from the wood beyond the mill-leat...His holt was in the weir-pool...At dimmity it flew down the right bank of the river...Seeds of charlock...A ream passed under the stone bridge...Where a gin was never tilled and a gun was never fired...The nightjar returned...He yikkered in his anger...His mother, tissing through her teeth...The pair of cole-tits that had a nest...Like brown thong-weed...Hound-taint from a high yelping throat...A dozen hounds were giving tongue...Chiffchaffs flitted through honeysuckle bines...The shock-headed flowers of the yellow goat’s beard...A grey wagtail skipped airily over the sky-gleams of the brook...Paler than kingcups...Her rudder dripping wet behind her...Here burred the bumblebees...The grunting vuz-peg...At dimpsey she heard the blackbirds...The breaking of rank florets and umbels...They came to a bog tract where curlew and snipe lived...
I gradually began to be able to read along fairly well, figuring out nature words and onomatopoeia from the context, almost the way you gradually learn to read in another language. I can't think of another book I have read in the past ten years that had more beautiful language.
A completely delightful read.
The story is told from an emotionally neutral narrator, almost as if one were scientifically observing nature. It's rich in detail; it feels like you are right there in the rural part of 1920s England, swimming, catching fish, finding a mate, caring for cubs, evading the jaws of a snarling hound.
No doubt about this one. A fabulous five-star read. A book everyone should read.
If I'd looked up (and been able to find a definition for) every word I didn't know, I'd be reading this book the rest of the year, I think. Here are a few of the words (along with a bit of the other text) I didn't know from the early pages:
Sere reeds...Salmon and peal from the sea...Voles...Alder and sallow grew on its banks...Musical over many stretches of shillet...Straying from the wood beyond the mill-leat...His holt was in the weir-pool...At dimmity it flew down the right bank of the river...Seeds of charlock...A ream passed under the stone bridge...Where a gin was never tilled and a gun was never fired...The nightjar returned...He yikkered in his anger...His mother, tissing through her teeth...The pair of cole-tits that had a nest...Like brown thong-weed...Hound-taint from a high yelping throat...A dozen hounds were giving tongue...Chiffchaffs flitted through honeysuckle bines...The shock-headed flowers of the yellow goat’s beard...A grey wagtail skipped airily over the sky-gleams of the brook...Paler than kingcups...Her rudder dripping wet behind her...Here burred the bumblebees...The grunting vuz-peg...At dimpsey she heard the blackbirds...The breaking of rank florets and umbels...They came to a bog tract where curlew and snipe lived...
I gradually began to be able to read along fairly well, figuring out nature words and onomatopoeia from the context, almost the way you gradually learn to read in another language. I can't think of another book I have read in the past ten years that had more beautiful language.
A completely delightful read.
May 19, 2017
This is one of my favourite novels.
When I was a school student it was a set text, presumably because it's about an animal and children are supposed to like animal stories. In fact, none of us kids could understand it properly. "Tarka" is definitely a novel for adults - and especially for those few adults who thrill to read the English language when it is employed by a literary genius.
I have re-read "Tarka" several times since leaving school, and each time discovered more aspects of it which support my view that Henry Williamson was a brilliant writer.
In January 2016 my wife and I did a tour of the countryside in which this marvellous novel is set, visiting (among other places) Henry Williamson's writing hut at Ox's Cross. If any other Henry fans reading this wish to do likewise, I suggest you try to obtain a little book by Trevor Beer called "Tarka Country Explored" (2004, North Devon Books, Bideford, ISBN 095 28645-1-7).
When I was a school student it was a set text, presumably because it's about an animal and children are supposed to like animal stories. In fact, none of us kids could understand it properly. "Tarka" is definitely a novel for adults - and especially for those few adults who thrill to read the English language when it is employed by a literary genius.
I have re-read "Tarka" several times since leaving school, and each time discovered more aspects of it which support my view that Henry Williamson was a brilliant writer.
In January 2016 my wife and I did a tour of the countryside in which this marvellous novel is set, visiting (among other places) Henry Williamson's writing hut at Ox's Cross. If any other Henry fans reading this wish to do likewise, I suggest you try to obtain a little book by Trevor Beer called "Tarka Country Explored" (2004, North Devon Books, Bideford, ISBN 095 28645-1-7).
October 3, 2008
This book follows the life of an otter called Tarka. As he grows up from a young cub, we are drawn into his fascinating adventures in the rivers of North Devon. Every detail of his life is described in wonderful detail - from hunting for food to searching for his long-lost mate, from bathing on riverside boulders to escaping from the jaws of angry hounds. Such is our attachment to him by the end of the book that the sad ending is a bitter pill to swallow. Tarka the Otter has an extremely descriptive narrative and Henry Williamson pays great attention to the detail of the natural world.
August 18, 2011
Finished on the day that it was announced that otters had been spotted in Kent. This was the last county that these creatures had yet to return to since they were nearly wiped out in the 1970's. Great news as it means the rivers are heathier and it's an indication of what can be done.
April 2, 2021
Well, if you like otters you might want to read this. The nature writing is wonderful. However, otters die in it.
December 3, 2017
A memorable story of a Devonshire otter and the otter hunting that went on until otters almost died out in Britain in the 1970s.
Unlike some animal story authors, Williamson was as realistic as possible and doesn't have the otters talking to each other in words, so there's virtually no dialogue (just a few hunters shouting to each other). This makes it a slow and sometimes eye-glazing read.
But there are some lovely descriptions of the Devon countryside and waters, and I think this is one I'll keep, because I might like to read it again sometime.
Unlike some animal story authors, Williamson was as realistic as possible and doesn't have the otters talking to each other in words, so there's virtually no dialogue (just a few hunters shouting to each other). This makes it a slow and sometimes eye-glazing read.
But there are some lovely descriptions of the Devon countryside and waters, and I think this is one I'll keep, because I might like to read it again sometime.
April 24, 2021
I love books about animals. This one was pretty good, the result of the author wandering around Devon watching otters and other wildlife for a few years. With no human intrusion at all, though, the narrative can get a little tedious at times. How many ways can you describe the same goddamn scene over and over again? Luckily, the titular varmint runs into trouble through the auspices of the local (human) hunters' club that likes to hound out otters and freakin' exterminate them. Is it any wonder the author ended up being both a Hitler admirer and British Fascist?
Ends in a climactic, vicious battle between Tarka and a dog called Deadlock which Williamson should've taken closer to heart.
Ends in a climactic, vicious battle between Tarka and a dog called Deadlock which Williamson should've taken closer to heart.
August 6, 2021
What an utterly wonderful book.
Similar to the wild novels of Jack London this book is told from the perspective of an animal. in this case an Otter in the rivers of Devon. There is almost no dialogue from humans. It is simply the tale of an Otter and his struggle to survive.
This book really brings to life the wild places of old England. I enjoyed every moment of this and i'll probably read it again in a couple of years. It's that good.
Similar to the wild novels of Jack London this book is told from the perspective of an animal. in this case an Otter in the rivers of Devon. There is almost no dialogue from humans. It is simply the tale of an Otter and his struggle to survive.
This book really brings to life the wild places of old England. I enjoyed every moment of this and i'll probably read it again in a couple of years. It's that good.
September 23, 2024
anyone who likes nature writing otter read this
June 8, 2019
It does immerse you in the world of the otter
August 11, 2020
A well described nature study narration on the life of an otter in north Devon, England, in the 1920s.
dnf-partly-read
October 12, 2025DNF after two chapters/page 38.
I bought this book many years ago purely because I thought the cover was beautiful and I like otters, without knowing much about it. Unfortunately, this classic is not for me. I don't like natural writing very much, so I found it quite boring.
I bought this book many years ago purely because I thought the cover was beautiful and I like otters, without knowing much about it. Unfortunately, this classic is not for me. I don't like natural writing very much, so I found it quite boring.
May 10, 2016
3.5
This book took me back to a particular moment when I was little, in front of the TV, watching a documentary about orcas. After that one I decided that I didn’t like documentaries. There you are watching the beauty of an orca for half an hour, soft slow music in the background, beautiful footage of the killer whale floating effortlessly in the vivid blue, beauty and grace; getting all emotional when she gives birth and melting over her offspring… and then just like that the overall mood of the documentary changes and suddenly the orca turns into a ruthless killer, devouring a sweet little innocent seal who was doing nothing but minding his own business. Pleading eyes. Blood everywhere. No, I didn’t like documentaries at all. This went on throughout my childhood years; if someone at home was watching a documentary, I left the room. Time went by and so did that innocence. Slowly I started seeing sense in the fatidic circle of life.
Tarka the Otter is about the sense in all that but also about that which doesn’t make sense. For most of the book we get to see what life is about for an otter. In this case, the life of Tarka (meaning Little Water Wanderer or Wandering as Water). His life as an offspring, depending on his mother, and soon enough his adventures and challenges as an adult. You understand why his mother eventually leaves him and why he has to tear a rabbit or a bird into pieces. You understand why sometimes Tarka is the one who is hunted down. You understand all that. But then man comes along, and all of a sudden Tarka’s life is threatened by the senseless and for the life of me, I will never understand that…
Williamson left me speechless, I couldn’t believe all the attention to detail. A great observer for sure, his writing – a means of transportation. The rawness reminded me of McCormac’s The Road. If not a feast for the senses, it is one of awareness for sure. He managed to write a whole book about the life of an otter, day after day, without making it sound like a monotonous recurrent episode. My senses became sharper. I swam and played and hunted with Tarka and I became to love him.
This book took me back to a particular moment when I was little, in front of the TV, watching a documentary about orcas. After that one I decided that I didn’t like documentaries. There you are watching the beauty of an orca for half an hour, soft slow music in the background, beautiful footage of the killer whale floating effortlessly in the vivid blue, beauty and grace; getting all emotional when she gives birth and melting over her offspring… and then just like that the overall mood of the documentary changes and suddenly the orca turns into a ruthless killer, devouring a sweet little innocent seal who was doing nothing but minding his own business. Pleading eyes. Blood everywhere. No, I didn’t like documentaries at all. This went on throughout my childhood years; if someone at home was watching a documentary, I left the room. Time went by and so did that innocence. Slowly I started seeing sense in the fatidic circle of life.
Tarka the Otter is about the sense in all that but also about that which doesn’t make sense. For most of the book we get to see what life is about for an otter. In this case, the life of Tarka (meaning Little Water Wanderer or Wandering as Water). His life as an offspring, depending on his mother, and soon enough his adventures and challenges as an adult. You understand why his mother eventually leaves him and why he has to tear a rabbit or a bird into pieces. You understand why sometimes Tarka is the one who is hunted down. You understand all that. But then man comes along, and all of a sudden Tarka’s life is threatened by the senseless and for the life of me, I will never understand that…
Williamson left me speechless, I couldn’t believe all the attention to detail. A great observer for sure, his writing – a means of transportation. The rawness reminded me of McCormac’s The Road. If not a feast for the senses, it is one of awareness for sure. He managed to write a whole book about the life of an otter, day after day, without making it sound like a monotonous recurrent episode. My senses became sharper. I swam and played and hunted with Tarka and I became to love him.
October 30, 2012
I first read this book sometime in my early teen years and although I didn't remember the details I never forgot the story. Originally written in the late 1920's, it tells the story of the life of a brave and intelligent little otter named Tarka. In re-reading it I was surprised by how unsentimental it was - it dealt with the life of the otter in a factual but not un-emotional way. The reader cannot help but feel empathy for Tarka as he is constantly harried by man and dog, but also joy as he finds delight in his world and plays. The author's grasp of the natural environment and the cycle of life in that portion of Devon is quite remarkable and so well communicated. Likewise, his collection and recording of the old dialects (now lost to antiquity) is a window into a by-gone time. This book, now more than 80 years old, has stood the test of time well and deserves to be read. For me, its impact on my imagination almost 50 years ago, which caused me to find and re-read it, is a testament to its lasting value to the world of literature.
November 23, 2020
A beautiful, poetic book. I thought I had read this as a child, but I was remembering TV programs about tame otters frolicking in a bath tub. That is NOT this book. This book is not for children. It is a detailed rendering of the life of a completely wild otter, written from the perspective of the otter and in beautiful prose that is very descriptive and poetic. Every encounter with humans is dangerous and painful, until the final terrifying description of the exhausting hunt of Tarka to his death. This is now one of my favorite books. Just don’t expect an easy read.
Postscript: I loved this book so much I immediately reread it - something I hardly ever do (too many books, not enough time!) - but I wanted to experience the language again. The descriptions of the English countryside are delicious, even though everything must be very different now, almost one hundred years since the writing.
I LOVE this book.
Postscript: I loved this book so much I immediately reread it - something I hardly ever do (too many books, not enough time!) - but I wanted to experience the language again. The descriptions of the English countryside are delicious, even though everything must be very different now, almost one hundred years since the writing.
I LOVE this book.
November 8, 2011
I learned something important to me from reading this book: even if it focuses on your favorite animal, that doesn't mean you'll enjoy it. This may have been great fiction in the year it was written, but now it falls flat. For me at least. You could turn the book to any random page and probably nothing would be happening. There were few characters and they weren't well-developed or interesting...probably because they're feral animals. I felt a little pity at the ending, but it certainly wasn't much. The only up-side to this book was that it had wonderful descriptions of nature and its inhabitants. The made-up words were also very cool. But still, very little plot, characters, depth, etc. Also of note: location on map where Tarka was was written in the margins, with a map near the beginning. That was cool. And illustrations every now and then are great.
February 23, 2015
This is not The Wind in the Willows (another of my favorite books for different reasons) or Watership Down (another). Naturalistic. It's not animals as people like WIW. Bloodier and less romantic than WD. Almost reads like poetic non-fiction. The book is so loved in the County of Devon that there is (or was until recently) a train called the Tarka Express that ran through the country of the two rivers.
There are many editions; one recent one has many photographs of the sites mentioned.
There are many editions; one recent one has many photographs of the sites mentioned.
September 22, 2009
A timeless book that shows life through the eyes of an Otter, Tarka, in the beautiful Devon countryside. I remember not liking the ending of this book and refusing to ever read it again, however I think it is one I shall try and revisit.
August 5, 2020
I read this immediately after, and because of The Peregrine. Both are ostensibly about their animal protagonists but what's consistent in both is an underlying commentary about the humans that are observing them. Tarka is much more adventurous and battle after battles rages through forest, froth and foam. Williamson's prose is brilliant and rife with inventive language that is explained in the post-script. I might suggest reading that first because the reader will come across many words that are either remnants of local languages or contemporary inventions. The creativity is appreciated and adds to the intensity of the experience. This is one of those reads that offers a little something for a variety of readers. Fans of great prose, nature fiction, word-nerds and NYRB fan-boys like myself will all enjoy this. I've read some reviews that call it dull - I do not agree at all but it does require patience and good attention to detail. Williamson does a great job of introducing subtle commentary on the nature of man, the history of England and the sport of hunting with restraint and measured skill. For example - many of the animals are given names. Why? I'd venture a guess in the form of a greater juxtaposition between man and animal. Hunting dogs are differentiated also by name and detailed description. Herons, Owls, seals and Otters are also granted unique sobriquets. There is a charm to this naming and it makes me think of my old lessons on de Saussure's semiotics. If we can peal back the layers of signification to reveal a greater understanding of the real essence of things to result in a more profound understanding in terms of epistemology and phenomenology we can appreciate in greater detail what Williamson has done here. This is both a threnody and paen to a time gone when otters and porpoises shared the waters with men on more equal terms. Williamson doesn't so much judge his subjects in man's terms but instead lets the impact of time and nature unfold before us. In this regard he shows a great sapience to man, his readers, and the creatures that he skillfully observes in this great book. NYRB scores again.
July 17, 2022
A bitter sweet book, surmises the Great Brithish wildlife as it was and what it may be again, given the chance.
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