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Nessie: Seven years in search of the monster
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September 6, 2022This book, long out of print, is a fascinating artifact of one of the odder, more colorful episodes in the history of Loch Ness. It's written by Frank Searle, a man who made enemies of essentially every other Loch Ness researcher, and whose photos were exposed as frauds. The specific photo that did him in is actually in this book -- some sharp-eyed folks discovered that it was an altered picture using a postcard of a Brontosaurus that was sold in the area. Even the most credulous Nessie enthusiasts since the late '70s/early '80s haven't leapt to his defense. He would end up leaving the loch a few years after this book was published, after a bombing(!) incident that fortunately didn't harm anyone, and for which he was never officially charged, but which demolished any remaining goodwill he might have had.
The book is a quick read, despite its rambling, digressive style. Searle comes across as completely tiresome, an egotistic, misogynistic blowhard of a man who is constantly talking about how many people come to see him, how thorough his work is, and how much he knows. Although he seems to have a soft spot for Constance Whyte, she's close to the only Loch Ness researcher he mentions favorably. He has utter contempt for the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau and a bottomless well of snide remarks for the Academy of Applied Sciences team, and somehow manages to go the whole book without referencing Tim Dinsdale at all (although we hear more than anyone could want to know about his unsuccessful battle with the county council to get a location and funding for his proposed information center).
And yet, although absolutely none of the information in the book should be taken seriously, it's an interesting view into the public persona of a known hoaxer. Plenty of people have discussed Searle's legacy at length -- and at least one biography has been written, although to my knowledge it's never been published -- but it's fascinating to read his own words on the subject.
There are also several digressive passages about the geography of the loch, local businesses that were operating in the 1970s, and legends of the area. I can't assess his reliability on any of those fronts, but they were some of the more interesting parts of the book to me.
I knew what I was getting into before I started this book; as such, I haven't given it a star rating, because that seems not to apply here. If you want to know anything even quasi-factual about the Loch Ness Monster, I can't possibly recommend this book, but if you're interested in the social history of the Loch Ness phenomenon, it's a bizarrely intriguing curio.
The book is a quick read, despite its rambling, digressive style. Searle comes across as completely tiresome, an egotistic, misogynistic blowhard of a man who is constantly talking about how many people come to see him, how thorough his work is, and how much he knows. Although he seems to have a soft spot for Constance Whyte, she's close to the only Loch Ness researcher he mentions favorably. He has utter contempt for the Loch Ness Investigation Bureau and a bottomless well of snide remarks for the Academy of Applied Sciences team, and somehow manages to go the whole book without referencing Tim Dinsdale at all (although we hear more than anyone could want to know about his unsuccessful battle with the county council to get a location and funding for his proposed information center).
And yet, although absolutely none of the information in the book should be taken seriously, it's an interesting view into the public persona of a known hoaxer. Plenty of people have discussed Searle's legacy at length -- and at least one biography has been written, although to my knowledge it's never been published -- but it's fascinating to read his own words on the subject.
There are also several digressive passages about the geography of the loch, local businesses that were operating in the 1970s, and legends of the area. I can't assess his reliability on any of those fronts, but they were some of the more interesting parts of the book to me.
I knew what I was getting into before I started this book; as such, I haven't given it a star rating, because that seems not to apply here. If you want to know anything even quasi-factual about the Loch Ness Monster, I can't possibly recommend this book, but if you're interested in the social history of the Loch Ness phenomenon, it's a bizarrely intriguing curio.
June 24, 2022
Surprisingly informative and not at all like some other books I’ve read on the Loch Ness Monster. Definitely worth a read if you’re interested in the Loch Ness.
August 21, 2024
After reading In the Wake of the Sea-Serpents (which was explicitly mentioned in this book actually), I thought it would be particularly interesting to read an account of such things from a far less scientific perspective. While that other book came across as distinctly unscientific (based on the fact that it says that sea serpents are real, for example) one realises that there are much deeper layers of unscientificness than that. Ultimately, kind of crazy.
My copy appears to be signed. Wow.
He always seems to be living with a female student and eventually at the end he says (not a direct quote but like almost even) "seems like there are always young attractive women (who make coffee) interested in Nessie though I sort of wish it was men because men are better" - not sure what's up with like that
Also I think he said that if he was offered £40000 to catch Nessie in a year then he would do it but with a bit of an implication that he might need to kill the Nessie to do so, but he is sure that he couild do it? I can't actually find it though now? Actually this book was really crazy the more I think about it. I really really wish I had been able to see the documentary about these Nessie hunters that was on at the cinema I was at on Sunday but it seems they didn't receive the film when they expected to and it had to be cancelled :/ looks like frank searle plays quite a prominent role there and also looks like he is worse than he appears in the book (which, I mean, yeah, obviously people tend to appear worse based on news stories about them than they do in books that they write about how talented and good they themselves are but this one didn'treally make him look good as it is).
My copy appears to be signed. Wow.
He always seems to be living with a female student and eventually at the end he says (not a direct quote but like almost even) "seems like there are always young attractive women (who make coffee) interested in Nessie though I sort of wish it was men because men are better" - not sure what's up with like that
Also I think he said that if he was offered £40000 to catch Nessie in a year then he would do it but with a bit of an implication that he might need to kill the Nessie to do so, but he is sure that he couild do it? I can't actually find it though now? Actually this book was really crazy the more I think about it. I really really wish I had been able to see the documentary about these Nessie hunters that was on at the cinema I was at on Sunday but it seems they didn't receive the film when they expected to and it had to be cancelled :/ looks like frank searle plays quite a prominent role there and also looks like he is worse than he appears in the book (which, I mean, yeah, obviously people tend to appear worse based on news stories about them than they do in books that they write about how talented and good they themselves are but this one didn'treally make him look good as it is).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews