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Return to the River
Return to the River tells the life story of one of the great Chinook Salmon, observed with the trained eye of a naturalist and recorded with a novelist's narrative skill.
248 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1942
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 12, 2015
“But there’s a word you moderns use a whole lot – rhythm. And that’s what you’ve taught me, the rhythms of life in small places like this, even if I can’t grasp them in the wider places. From algae to plankton, to insects to fish, from diatom to daphne to stonefly to fish again. From there to the birds and animals, finally man. And it all starts from decay, chemicals, bacteria. And goes back there. I like it.” - Senator Evans, from ‘Return To The River’.
Roderick Haig-Brown, is an internationally acclaimed Canadian writer who is famous for his works on ichthyology – fish science – and wildlife. He may belong to that rare breed of writers who despite being masters in their genre - and highly revered by the enthusiasts of that particular niche subject area - are rarely familiar for the general mass of readers. He was an avid sportsman and an angler himself with a personal interest in the importance of environmental conservation and this can be seen in his literary works.
‘Return To The River’, is a rich and picturesque account of the life history of the ‘Chinook Salmon’ told from the viewpoint of a single fish. Haig-Brown observes and narrates a dramatic tale which inspects every phase of the ‘Chinook Run’, one of the greatest event’s in nature with vivid imagination and great detail. He wrote ‘Return To The River’, after settling down with his wife on the banks of Campbell River, British Columbia – often touted as the "the Salmon Capital of the World" – and this book is entirely based on his sights and personal observations and the reader can notice the immense fascination that Haig-Brown has on the amazing life-cycle of Salmon and the nature that surrounds him.
This book is not a dry scientific description describing the ‘Chinook Salmons’ & the ‘Salmon Run’. Haig-Brown is a clever author who chose to write this fascinating piece of natural history in the form of a gripping novel focusing on the life of a single fish while taking the reader through the entire sweep of the Salmon migration – from the hatching, the feeding, the seaward migration and return to the place of birth after a perilous journey for breeding – with astonishing accuracy. Haig-Brown cleverly intertwines the lives of the human characters in the book with the life-cycle of the Salmon while illuminating the reader with a charming account of nature at work. The characters of ‘Senator Evans’ - a contemplative angler and a politician who is concerned with conservation– and ‘Don Gunner’ – a research scientist – who both are concerned and who work for preserving the salmon-run on the Campbell River represents the author’s angle on environmental conservation.
I was lucky to come across a 1946 copy of this book with a rare book vendor a few years back and it has a special place in my library. ‘Return To The River’ is a chronicle of accurate natural history rendered as an easy to read absorbing story and is a highly recommended book for those with a remote interest in nature and wild life.
Roderick Haig-Brown, is an internationally acclaimed Canadian writer who is famous for his works on ichthyology – fish science – and wildlife. He may belong to that rare breed of writers who despite being masters in their genre - and highly revered by the enthusiasts of that particular niche subject area - are rarely familiar for the general mass of readers. He was an avid sportsman and an angler himself with a personal interest in the importance of environmental conservation and this can be seen in his literary works.
‘Return To The River’, is a rich and picturesque account of the life history of the ‘Chinook Salmon’ told from the viewpoint of a single fish. Haig-Brown observes and narrates a dramatic tale which inspects every phase of the ‘Chinook Run’, one of the greatest event’s in nature with vivid imagination and great detail. He wrote ‘Return To The River’, after settling down with his wife on the banks of Campbell River, British Columbia – often touted as the "the Salmon Capital of the World" – and this book is entirely based on his sights and personal observations and the reader can notice the immense fascination that Haig-Brown has on the amazing life-cycle of Salmon and the nature that surrounds him.
This book is not a dry scientific description describing the ‘Chinook Salmons’ & the ‘Salmon Run’. Haig-Brown is a clever author who chose to write this fascinating piece of natural history in the form of a gripping novel focusing on the life of a single fish while taking the reader through the entire sweep of the Salmon migration – from the hatching, the feeding, the seaward migration and return to the place of birth after a perilous journey for breeding – with astonishing accuracy. Haig-Brown cleverly intertwines the lives of the human characters in the book with the life-cycle of the Salmon while illuminating the reader with a charming account of nature at work. The characters of ‘Senator Evans’ - a contemplative angler and a politician who is concerned with conservation– and ‘Don Gunner’ – a research scientist – who both are concerned and who work for preserving the salmon-run on the Campbell River represents the author’s angle on environmental conservation.
I was lucky to come across a 1946 copy of this book with a rare book vendor a few years back and it has a special place in my library. ‘Return To The River’ is a chronicle of accurate natural history rendered as an easy to read absorbing story and is a highly recommended book for those with a remote interest in nature and wild life.
July 19, 2009
Roderick Haig-Brown was born in England, but spent much of his adult life on the west coast, in British Columbia. He was a serious fisherman, and understood at a time when it was not "politically correct" the importance of preserving the resource of salmon and steelhead that populated the rivers at the time he wrote this book-if I'm not mistaken, just before world war II.
The book describes the life journey of a salmon, from its days as a young smolt, through its run to, and life in, the sea, and back up the river again. A wonderful story of the cycle of life for these great fish.
The book describes the life journey of a salmon, from its days as a young smolt, through its run to, and life in, the sea, and back up the river again. A wonderful story of the cycle of life for these great fish.
August 8, 2024
words flow like the River
A mixture of poetry, science and the close observation of nature that drew me in 65 years ago when i first read this book, and captured me again.
A mixture of poetry, science and the close observation of nature that drew me in 65 years ago when i first read this book, and captured me again.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews