Night Fishing: Stingrays, Goya and the singular life

by Vicki Hastrich

'Deft, ambitious, tender and humane, Night Fishing is the most breathtakingly original memoir you will ever read. In this "natural history" of the author herself, we travel gently through childhood and family, grief, love and solitude - and her spellbinding twin obsessions with art and the natural world. It is the work of a questing, roving intellect and a rare humility, and Hastrich's sheer joy in language infuses the whole with a deliciously sly, intelligent humour. I'd liken her to an antipodean Annie Dillard with a fishing rod in one hand and the whole of western art history in the other - except there simply is no other writer like Hastrich. This book will tell you things you never knew about your world and yourself, and you will never forget it. Night Fishing is a masterpiece, and Vicki Hastrich is a world-class writer.' - Charlotte Wood, author of The Natural Way of Things

Vicki Hastrich takes the reader on a stunning voyage through her writer's life and across her chosen patch: the private byways of Brisbane Water, north of Sydney, where she has spent much of her life.

Hastrich fuses her intimate, loving knowledge of a tiny arena of Australia's natural world with the grand influence of ideas from throughout civilisation - from the baroque to the American Western, and artists as diverse as Zane Grey, Tiepolo and Goya - to create a truly original and deeply pleasurable collection.

Night Fishing unfolds as a series of expeditions or essays, undertaken in the spirit of the philosopher scientist. All the while, slowly, thoughtfully, Hastrich reveals the ordinary and remarkable detail of her life, from her childhood by the sea to her life as a camera operator for the ABC, as a historian and amateur marine biologist, and as a single woman exploring her small stretch of water.

The result is entirely new, entirely fresh and profoundly captivating. Night Fishing is a tonic for those of us who have forgotten how to slow down, how to look around, how to be part of our natural world. It will take its place alongside classics of observation and nature by David Malouf, Tim Winton and Annie Dillard.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Art, Short Stories

166 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2019

Reviews

[Michael Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essays on life, art and especially place - Hastrich writes beautifully about the little patch of water she knows and loves and on the power of paying attention to the natural world.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

*thank you to Allen & Unwin for an ARC of this book*

3 stars.

While this is not one of my usual genres that I read, I wanted to give it a go. I found this book to be more interesting and entertaining than I had expected. But because this book wasn't really my kind and the subject not one that I had read much about in the past, I did find bits to be a bit boring for me. It was just the simple fact that I wasn't as interested in some topics more so than it being badly written because I do believe that this was very well told collection of personal essays that flowed together to create a truely good story. And even though it wasn't really for me, I found myself getting lost in parts of it because it grapped my attention and ran with it.

I liked the author's style of writing. It was easy to follow and had a touch of humor in it. The parts I liked the most were the ones where she described her childhood and all that took place in that time. Where she speaks about the Taronga Zoo also interested me as I know of that Zoo but have never been. I had no idea of what it was like inside and the history of it I found to be a fascinating read. Her job as a photographer and her detailed account of doing that job gave me a glimpse into a world that I have been interested in for a while.

This book isn't full of what I will call, positive life history experiences. It also has a deeper dark side of it. Especially when it comes to her family. I found those reads to be covered in grief and could actually feel the heartache. Which is something only a good storyteller can do.

This story is full of life's ups and downs and written in a way that it's an honest, fast and good, read. It has a lightness to it that makes it easy to sink into the story which is something that I appreciate.

If you find the topic of this to be one you enjoy, then I really think this would be a book you need to grab a hold of. It is worth reading.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of those brilliant surprise reads that you pick up, not expecting to be blown away but sit there, after turning a page, ruminating on what you've just experienced.
It's a beautifully rendered memoir to float through. I imagined myself transported to a window seat in a holiday home, by the water, every time I pick this up.
Adored it. Want to pick it up again and start all over.
I can imagine this as a great gift for someone for their holiday home, it sitting on a shelf like a buried treasure just waiting for the next unsuspecting guest to experience it and be blown away.
Highly recommended.
I'll be reading it again and I'll look out for more of Vicki Hastrich's writing.

Thanks A&U for the opportunity to read & review this uncorrected proof.

[Sharah McConville · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. Night Fishing is a collection of essays by Australian author Vicki Hastrich. There are several stories about Vicki's time spent on the water while at a holiday house, North of Sydney. Other stories are about her family, memories of childhood and the struggle to write another work of fiction. I enjoyed the chapter about Ferdinand Hastrich, Vicki's Pa from Germany. Thanks to Allen & Unwin for my ARC.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a amazingly magical memoir; told as a series of essays, it resonates in the mind's ear, vividly real. The separate essays are almost like small self portraits embellished with jewels of natural images. They are introspective and contemplative, tender and occasionally very Australian, in a way rather unique among the books I have read.

The writing is stunningly lovely in a timeless sort of way: The subject matter ranges from personal family experiences, to dreamy vivid descriptions of Riley's Bay, North of Sydney, which would appear to be the authors heart home. Next we may encounter a boat show, a description of night fishing, an anecdote from the authors time as a camera operator for ABC. Musings on Van Gogh or Margaret Olley jostle with references to Galileo and Zane Grey.

The essays are each one of them delightful to read, because they are so diverse and so very well done. Not a single essay lakes grace and humanity. Not a single one lacks meaning and humour. As I can't review each essay I will just mention a couple, chosen at random from all the many memorable moments; one is the story of Uncle Ev, who got PTSD in WWI and was brought out bush by his father until he was able to face the world again, the essay is intertwined with Goya, and how he understood the images of war and uncle Ev's history is cunningly entwined with the authors childhood landscape.

That I think is the real magic behind many of the essays; they intertwine childhood with middle age, the peace of being out on the water with the arguably violent activity that is fishing. The love and fascination of the natural environment with the intellectual curiosity about tides and the world. The observations of the water and it's inhabitants certainly kept me spellbound. And the funny personal anecdotes many me laugh.

In 'The History of Lawn Mowing' there is a slow rolling rumination on History; how the indigenous history of the area was whitewashed out during the authors childhood, how now the indigenous knowledge and languages are coming back into society and how it enriches the area. There is an insightful commentary on the weight and complexity of living with personal history, explored through a historic settlers house and family. How objects replete with history and personal meaning can bind you up and imprison you - I certainly related to that one quite deeply.

As must be quite obvious, I really loved this book. Despite the fact that I can be suspicious of 'literature' for it's own sake. Despite the fact that I do not often read short stories, or collections of essays: This being because usually I read quite fast and short stories don't last long enough to hold my attention. The irony here is that this book took me a long time to read (though I have no doubt I will be re-reading). Each essay is so individual and so unique that I wanted time between them, to digest, to enjoy the images they left with me. It was quite an in depth and meaningful reading experience, not to be hurried despite wanting to gulp them all down.

Should you read it? Do I recommend it to you? Almost certainly yes!

I think these essays will appeal to a great many people, people who love good writing for it's own sake, people who enjoy well crafted essays. People who love the outdoors and are fascinated by Australia and it's waterways, certainly!

It might take some people a while to get into the pace of the writing; it is worth lingering over, worth taking the time to get the nuances of. For those who are impatient readers, who like moving fast through the plot - it might take you some time and effort to slow down to the pace of the seasons and the tides, which is the pace of this novel. It is time I cannot enough recommend spending.

Now, I also noticed that this is being compared to Tim Winton's writing (In fact, that is one of the things that drew me to it as I love Winton's writing). It is and it isn't, I did not find this book as gritty as that comparison would suggest, though it does have in common an amazing ability to look at the natural world and to allow the reader to see, through the authors eyes, the magic of the small common elements of nature, that are so easy to take for granted but so very rewarding to look at when we are reminded to do so.

A deeply original, captivating glimpse in to the magical, real world. This is one of the best books I have read this year.

With many thanks to Allen & Unwin for this advance reading copy, in return for an honest opinion.

[Pip Snort · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not into fishing, but Vicki Hastrich's writing is so powerfully evocative and filled with quiet delight, that it is easy to imagine that I am and moreover to enjoy her delight as if it were my own. Beautifully written reflections on nature art and life, Ms Hastrich taps into our need to observe closely, think deeply and mine wisdom from the fabric of our world.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not something a would normally read, witch is often the case when assigned reading for uni. But while the content isn’t something I’m drawn to hastrich’s writing is beautiful, funny and engaging.

[Renee Hermansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Allen and Unwin for my ARC of this book.

This was not a style of book I would normally read but having recently started reading again I love reading anything.

I love fishing and that part of the book I really enjoyed. Also loved the section of her ABC filming career and her childhood memories. Some parts I found a bit harder to keep my attention.

It was written well though and I am sure many others would enjoy this book and it's style. It shared childhhood, grief, family and solitude and does it well.

[The Bookshop Umina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't read many memoirs or a great deal of non-fiction in general, but this was a captivating series of essays and reflections. The writing was considered and skilful and I enjoyed the little details captured, particularly of the waterways that I know well.
Highly recommended as a holiday read for someone who enjoys good writing and the water.
#allen&unwin

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of essays that have elements of memoir, although there is no over-arching structure to tie them together. ...What does tie the collection together is, as the title suggests, the theme of fishing and water, although many of the stories are more discursive, taking in literature and history.

I always find it hard to review short stories, and I guess that books of essays fall into the same category. Explaining them makes them sound flat and trite: they are better read on the page rather than in a review. I do confess to becoming a little bored of the fish, but I loved the sunlight that suffuses her memories of childhood and a treasured place. I liked that when starting a story, you were not ever quite sure where you were going to end up. And I loved her eye, that was caught by the beauty of the ordinary, and the way that her writing captured it so sharply that you could see it too.

For a more detailed review, please visit
https://residentjudge.com/2020/05/05/...

[Jenny Esots · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is all in the mix. Memoir and analysis, essays and a sense of wonder, reflections and regrets (I have had a few, then again too few to mention).
The author has combined my two favourite genres of writing (memoir & essay) - so this was a real treat to delve into.
As with all memoirs there are elements I identify with and others that are completely foreign.
I have never been or will be a boat person - the experience of being on the water is not my happy place, unlike the author - who describes all sorts of memories and fascinations. But the examination of 'night fishing' brings forth so many different ways of seeking and looking.
Vicki Hastrich is a collector of images - with a self professed inclination to framing those images. She is harsh critic of herself - there is plenty of self blame about an unfinished novel and self-describes herself as a perpetual amateur. She is singular, self contained and obsessive. Her prose is just so evocative and at times entirely wistful. As with any new 'find' I hope to hear more from this author.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not particularly into fishing and nor have I ever visited the byways of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast of New South Wales (although from a hydrological point-of-view, it sounds like my kind of place), and yet, I identified with much of Vicki Hastrich's memoir, Night Fishing .

Essays covering a range of topics from stingrays and aquariums to the acquisition of a bathyscope and her grandfather's welding business, are loosely linked to fishing and Hastrich's trips to the family holiday house on an inlet near Woy Woy. Each essay is overlaid with Hastrich's elegant observations about family, nature, and writing and the result is cohesive and deeply pleasing.

At night, tucked in bed and daubed with calamine lotion, we listened to the parents having a few beers in the kitchen and playing cards; the cheerful noise of friends.

Some essays relate wholly to the theme of fishing - for example, a superb account of the glitzy Sydney Boat Show is late in the book, after the reader has already grown to love the Squid, Hastrich's '...bashed and bomby' fibreglass dinghy, perfectly suited for puttering around the estuaries.

In the title essay, Night Fishing, Hastrich describes the disorientation she felt being in her boat at night when she knows every inch of the coastline by day. The essay touches on a theme that runs through much of the collection - that what is in plain sight '...is often the most mysterious and astonishing'.

Some essays are unexpected but certainly not out of place - in The History of Lawn Mowing, Hastrich considers shell middens and the impact of white settlement (our asbestos garbage mixed with fragments of mollusc shells), and the writing legacy of author Georgia Blain. She bobs from one idea to the next in a gentle rhythm, her observations attentive. Likewise, in The Nature of Words, Hastrich explores the history of Roget's Thesaurus and the importance of Indigenous languages, framing her thoughts within the idea of taxonomy, order and disorder.

Peter Mark Roget was born in London. His father was Swiss - hence the surname, which, as an Australian child of the suburbs, I've never felt entirely confident pronouncing. The year was 1779. Less than a decade before, Lieutenant James Cook had dropped the anchor of the Endeavour into the shallow waters of Botany Bay, an act which would eventually lead to the disruption and destruction of many of the continent's original languages.

My favourite essay, The Tomb of Human Curiosity, describes a fishing outing Hastrich planned with her brother, Rog. It's a special trip - the first time they're experiencing low tide on the water and, given the estuaries and mudflats, timing of their trip had to be exact.

From the bar at the ocean mouth through to the broadwater upstream, the water pours through channels, past sandbars and mangrove islands, into bays deep and shallow, repeatedly squeezing and spreading between landforms. My brother and I find the movements fascinating. How could we not, having both, as children, daydreamed on wharves, watching the current slide by, forever making then undoing itself in paisley whorls.

They discover a 'meadow' of ribbon sea grass and, perched in the Squid, she says of the grass -

They bend over at the surface, but wherever tiny edges pierce the surface tension, light catches, so that we sit in an acre of sparkles.

In describing what they see, Hastrich also captures her relationship with her brother - small gestures, snatches of conversation, companionable silences say so much about their shared understanding and love for where they are.

There were moments in this quiet, reflective book that gave me sharp stabs of nostalgia - her love of her holiday house (not the house per se, but the place) mirrored my feelings about the fibro shack at McCrae that dominated 43 of my summers. I grieve everything associated with it, most particularly the time with my grandparents and cousins.

Likewise, Hastrich's mention of the alternative 'rules' kids have under the watch of fathers on holiday - their cavalier approach to driving the boat and fishing 'the hole' matched my memories of my dad taking me 'out the back' of the surf, where the thrilling swell of the ocean heaved my floating body up and down.

The images of childhood are mythic, steering thought and lives in ways not always easy to discern.

Some people avoid memoirs because they are perceived as a platform for self-indulgence - this memoir does the opposite and Hastrich has delivered a book that tells her story (exquisitely) and yet is firmly outward looking.

I spent hours looking. At the mullet, the jellies, the sunlight ladders, the eddies. At toadfish going about their obsequious snooping.

4/5 Superb.

[Alex Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of essays slowly building into an interesting and very different memoir. Very well written, with a strong connection to place (near Gosford NSW) and with a very personal view into an interesting person's thoughts and feelings, it is quite enjoyable in a way that isn't quite voyeuristic, but more like overhearing and listening sympathetically to an interesting and somewhat intimate conversation in a pub. Quite interesting.

[Philip Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if I had thought to articulate in advance my expectations of this book, I’m sure ‘Night Fishing’ would still have surprised me. In structure it’s a series of entertaining and thought-provoking essays. These spring from life in an old family holiday shack up Gosford way. They may start on the NSW Central Coast, but they ripple far and wide, geographically and thematically. It’s beautifully written, in turns evocative and thoughtful. Highly recommended.

[Alib · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eclectic mix of insights into the author’s life and interests - lots to think about and some lovely watery scenes to remember (like Susan Duncan’s books) I bought it for the nature aspect - I always thought of fishing as rather anti-nature but in this book the fishing is respectful of nature and she does try to look at rather than just kill the fish!

[Melville Proust · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book from the get go, and then it grew on me more. Well observed, well located, well written. Moving and insightful. I’d never heard of the author but will look out for more of her writing.

[Zenobia Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

This compelling personal essay collection frames the author's connection to the ocean, to family, and to herself in clear, luminous language. 🐠

[Nic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lovely writing. Unsure how this book chanced upon me. I read to page 68. Might return to this someday.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading is my compass and this book was a needle pointing me out of a deep, dark hole.
One of those serendipitous reads where everything fell in line with my own thoughts and art making practice. Goya, the Baroque, Cy Twombly, David Hockney, looking through frames.....it was all there. And the love of place and the marine world. That was the most important thing. To remember that relationship to place and how it grounds you. Especially when your home is on fire.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

So beautiful. Thoughts on belonging and connection to place. And fishing. Many thumbs up.

[Ian Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

NIGHT FISHING BY Vicki Hastrich - Allen and Unwin
Review by Ian Smith
Say whatever you may about this volume, it’s different! You can’t help but think that some time in her youth, Vicki got on a pogo stick and never quite dismounted. The book bounces from place to place, from topic to topic. Most often there’s no warning so flow isn’t its strong suit, but let that not put you off.
I can imagine her waking in the middle of the night, reaching for a writing implement and heading off on a tangent; something I quite often do myself. Her copy of Roget’s Thesaurus is well thumbed, to which a chapter is devoted, but, all roads lead to the Central Coast of N.S.W. and fishing, which also includes much about the shacks she’s resided in there as well.
Topics such as fishing at Woy Woy out of a crowded holiday shack to Tiepolo’s masterpiece in Wurzburg and working as a cameraman at a Perth AFL match are thrown randomly into the mix like a left over soup. Artists, such as Pollock, Goya, Hockney, et al get a mention but, if you don’t like fishing or, more importantly, the philosophy of fishing then you might struggle to find something to entertain you.
Though I found her prose at times entertaining, might I boldly suggest that she’s a waffler, heading off constantly on different tangents so that, for me, I kept waiting for something to happen and, though it did in a way, I felt disappointed more often than not that it wasn’t more fulfilling.
I was curious as to her relationships with males or females but, other than wanting a handsome fisherman of her imagination, there’s really nothing. Vicki is into herself, to which her hiring a camera and taking 113 photos of herself sleeping should come as no surprise. Despite which, there are no photographs whatsoever in this book.
I liken Vicki to flotsam on the ocean, drifting everywhere, never really arriving until the tides take her back to the shack; and that’s about it really.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartfelt, thoughtful, clever - a book to keep handy and delve back into over time. The author writes in an engaging and very honest way linking personal stories with her observations about art and history in such a way that suddenly makes perfect sense and also prompts further, deeper thought into each essay. Each story builds on the last, but could easily stand alone. Reading this book is like having a long meandering conversation with a smart, well read friend. Perhaps while fishing. Not a book to be guzzled down like cheap chocolate, savour it piece by piece over a few days ... or as long as you can resist.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy memoirs as a genre so I found Night Fishing a touching and engaging book. Each chapter is more an essay and covers a huge range of topics. My favourite would have to be My Life and the Frame. I needed to read it twice as it was such an eye opening read. To me, this book needs to be read slowly. Put it down, think about it what you have read and read on at a later time.

Thank you Allen & Unwin for my copy.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning, if unexpected memoir about connections to places and times in the author's life, including holidays north of Sydney. Though I'm not a fisher, Vicki's connection to the water drew me in. My copy contains little torn pieces of paper throughout, marking my favourite pages, paragraphs and collections of words. So many visceral gems. Loving it.

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Set predominantly in the Brisbane Waters area I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed this as much without having lived in the area for some time, but the writing brought the beauty of the area back to me very easily