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The Iambics of Newfoundland: Notes from an Unknown Shore
In these evocative sketches, stories, and essays, one of our finest observers of the natural world explores the stunning but often dangerously inhospitable island of Newfoundland. Channeling rather than overwhelming his subject, Finch's caring han...
408 pages, Paperback
First published June 19, 2007
15 people are currently reading
169 people want to read
About the author
Robert Finch
76 books34 followersRobert Finch has lived on and written about Cape Cod for forty years. He is the author of six collections of essays and co-editor of The Norton Book of Nature Writing.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 19, 2021
Finch is a naturalist who can really write. I bought this book because I enjoy any well written book about nature and because I had spent some time vacationing with my family in Newfoundland a few summers ago. Of course weather-wise a summer in Newfoundland is like a mild winter most other places. Nonetheless we enjoyed our trip immensely.
The content in this book focuses primarily on the eastern side of Newfoundland. It is equal parts travelogue, Newfoundland history, current events (for the 1990’s), and nature writing. It is high on information content.
Overall the only criticism that I have is the book is too heavy on the travelogue. The minutiae with random people and inconsequential places is not always necessary - especially the chapter on his sailing trip from Massachusetts to Newfoundland. There are a few humorous passages along the way.
4.5 stars. With some rearranging, it would be a five star book as the writing is excellent.
The content in this book focuses primarily on the eastern side of Newfoundland. It is equal parts travelogue, Newfoundland history, current events (for the 1990’s), and nature writing. It is high on information content.
Overall the only criticism that I have is the book is too heavy on the travelogue. The minutiae with random people and inconsequential places is not always necessary - especially the chapter on his sailing trip from Massachusetts to Newfoundland. There are a few humorous passages along the way.
4.5 stars. With some rearranging, it would be a five star book as the writing is excellent.
January 5, 2017
This was like a journey to a place I loved, a place where I was happiest and at one with the land around me and loved my classmates. It still lives in memory, the low ground cover type of blueberries so thick with fruit that you could sit in one spot and fill a bucket.
Robert Fitch has put together his stories of his many visits to Newfoundland over a 10 year period from the 80s into the 90s. They are stories of the land and the people he experiences. My last trip was in the early 80s, so many of the places that I loved are probably now gone to everything but memory because of the grievous harm done by the Canadian government who always seemed to hold disdain for its Maritime Provinces. After they extended the territorial lines to stop the over fishing on the Banks by foreign large fishing factory ships, they allowed Canadian fleets fish out the spawning grounds putting profits before their own people and now the cod are gone most likely never to return, A way of life is gone.
Of course most of the places he visited were not the places of my childhood like Pooch Cove, or Heart's Delight, Peggy's Cove, Torbay, Fortune or the other Out Ports of my childhood. He refers to reports of how it was in St. John's Harbour..."they say...". But I remember the harbour when it was filled with schooners, the sealing fleet, the whaling fleet, and the days the Portuguese fleet would sail in with their square riggers for provisions, their canvas dyed in purples, blue, golds and dusty reds. Most of these ships had no auxiliary engines back then. A day when most goods were hauled by dray horses and men rolled the provisioning in barrels up or down the gang planks of ships. It was a time of dorry fishermen who would face the North Atlantic and come back only when their dorries were full with only inches of their gunnels on seas I would not have been on in a large ship.
Back then there were few motor vehicles, few trucks...they were still novel and belonged to only a few of the wealthy and the Americans, though back then only a few Americans had their cars shipped over as most rarely left Pepperrell AFB. Most my classmates lived in cold water flats often above the stores below. I believe the average wage was about $150./year when the average American wage was $3,500./year...and most fishermen and seamen got paid in credit chits rather than real money.
CJON the only radio station went off the air at 9:30 pm and there was no TV. The last broadcast was the messages sent from ships to inform families where they were, if they had taken refuge from the seas or fog and would not be returning when expected...or who had been seen and where if those ships had no communication. It was as if I had been picked up from the America I knew and set down in a place that was closer to the 1880s.
So for me this was a book of nostalgia, me having more memories of what was than the author knew of tales of that time. To me it was a land of four seasons, a season of sleet, of snow, of fog and a summer like a short cold spring...all with ceaseless biting winds. He heard that St. John's did not have the fogs of the coast lines, but the fogs were fierce heavy ground fogs, due I thing to the smoke particles from all of the wood and kerosene stoves that heated most homes and businesses. I remember walking home from school in fog so dense I couldn't see my feet or the ground and would feel my way home in the dark by keeping one hand stretched to feel the chain link fence of the soccer field in the dip of Carpasion Road the fog coming up to my armpits and occasionally going above my head leaving me to feel my way step by step until I could sense the cement of the sidewalk, as we were one house past that point.
I think it would be a great read even for those who have never been there.
Robert Fitch has put together his stories of his many visits to Newfoundland over a 10 year period from the 80s into the 90s. They are stories of the land and the people he experiences. My last trip was in the early 80s, so many of the places that I loved are probably now gone to everything but memory because of the grievous harm done by the Canadian government who always seemed to hold disdain for its Maritime Provinces. After they extended the territorial lines to stop the over fishing on the Banks by foreign large fishing factory ships, they allowed Canadian fleets fish out the spawning grounds putting profits before their own people and now the cod are gone most likely never to return, A way of life is gone.
Of course most of the places he visited were not the places of my childhood like Pooch Cove, or Heart's Delight, Peggy's Cove, Torbay, Fortune or the other Out Ports of my childhood. He refers to reports of how it was in St. John's Harbour..."they say...". But I remember the harbour when it was filled with schooners, the sealing fleet, the whaling fleet, and the days the Portuguese fleet would sail in with their square riggers for provisions, their canvas dyed in purples, blue, golds and dusty reds. Most of these ships had no auxiliary engines back then. A day when most goods were hauled by dray horses and men rolled the provisioning in barrels up or down the gang planks of ships. It was a time of dorry fishermen who would face the North Atlantic and come back only when their dorries were full with only inches of their gunnels on seas I would not have been on in a large ship.
Back then there were few motor vehicles, few trucks...they were still novel and belonged to only a few of the wealthy and the Americans, though back then only a few Americans had their cars shipped over as most rarely left Pepperrell AFB. Most my classmates lived in cold water flats often above the stores below. I believe the average wage was about $150./year when the average American wage was $3,500./year...and most fishermen and seamen got paid in credit chits rather than real money.
CJON the only radio station went off the air at 9:30 pm and there was no TV. The last broadcast was the messages sent from ships to inform families where they were, if they had taken refuge from the seas or fog and would not be returning when expected...or who had been seen and where if those ships had no communication. It was as if I had been picked up from the America I knew and set down in a place that was closer to the 1880s.
So for me this was a book of nostalgia, me having more memories of what was than the author knew of tales of that time. To me it was a land of four seasons, a season of sleet, of snow, of fog and a summer like a short cold spring...all with ceaseless biting winds. He heard that St. John's did not have the fogs of the coast lines, but the fogs were fierce heavy ground fogs, due I thing to the smoke particles from all of the wood and kerosene stoves that heated most homes and businesses. I remember walking home from school in fog so dense I couldn't see my feet or the ground and would feel my way home in the dark by keeping one hand stretched to feel the chain link fence of the soccer field in the dip of Carpasion Road the fog coming up to my armpits and occasionally going above my head leaving me to feel my way step by step until I could sense the cement of the sidewalk, as we were one house past that point.
I think it would be a great read even for those who have never been there.
July 6, 2022
I read this in preparation for my trip to Newfoundland. Although it recounted his experiences in the 80's and 90's, it still gave me a sense of the geography and culture. His appreciation and observation of both provided personal experiences and an historical perspective. I am eager to see what has changed and what has remained the same.
November 12, 2016
I would of liked it more if he talked about the Inuit culture of Newfoundland, no matter how small, but they were only referenced in the way they were treated in the past. I loved how he captured their way of speaking and their strange turn of phrases
September 25, 2012
Having just visited Newfoundland, I found this book to be an exquisite treat. It gets all those parts of the province spot on! Wonderful writing style.
February 3, 2018
This history of Newfoundland was written by a person who came from away. From what I have learned about the history of this land, he is accurate with his descriptions. He has a nice writing style and a way with words. I almost cried after the chapter on the loss of fishing here. He quotes a person who describes what it was like for people to lose their way of life, their identity. “People here don’t retire and go to Florida. Most wouldn’t want to if they could. They don’t have hobbies. They have their life and their work. To tell someone my father’s age to take up golfing or tennis would make you think they weren’t right in the head, and they mightn’t be. To be able to get up and go out in your boat for some fish was a reason to get out of bed in the morning. It was why they could spend so much time keeping up their boats, mending nets, repairing the stages. It was a way of keeping in touch with their lives, keeping it going.”
I have a deep sorrow and respect for the people of this land. The chapter about the young 20 year old who single-handedly built a stage/shed for fishing in a day was amazing. Then realizing that he would be like his father soon, bent over and aged before his time because of hurting his back and body from hard labor.
Most of the people of Newfoundland are kind, thoughtful, and hard working. They are resourceful and eager to make the best of things. It is a sad story of over-fishing, and government controls, and out-migration. This province has a story to tell; one worth reading. It makes one wonder- will the cod ever return? Will I once again be able to fish off Cape St. Mary?
I have a deep sorrow and respect for the people of this land. The chapter about the young 20 year old who single-handedly built a stage/shed for fishing in a day was amazing. Then realizing that he would be like his father soon, bent over and aged before his time because of hurting his back and body from hard labor.
Most of the people of Newfoundland are kind, thoughtful, and hard working. They are resourceful and eager to make the best of things. It is a sad story of over-fishing, and government controls, and out-migration. This province has a story to tell; one worth reading. It makes one wonder- will the cod ever return? Will I once again be able to fish off Cape St. Mary?
September 29, 2018
I expected this to be another travel journal, but in fact, it was more the tale of a man who fell in love with a place, and wanted to tell the world how it was as he saw it, before it was gone. Certainly, one reads of the place a visitor may travel, but Finch weaves into his essays a history of the people, of the language, and of the place. He spares not the guilty in controversial affairs, but shows his admiration for the craftsmen and the fishing families that call this sometimes dreadful, often magical, place their home.
March 17, 2021
This is a book written by an American for Americans. It could have alternatively been called ‘Canada, isn’t it charming?’. I learned a lot about the fishing industry and about birds native to Newfoundland. The actual descriptions of the islands sounds a lot Like descriptions of the outer Hebrides. None of the descriptions of the people were very flattering.
2021 reading challenge-a book with a travel theme
2021 reading challenge-a book with a travel theme
May 22, 2024
From a rough life of sustenance
To a tough life of fishing bans.
To a tough life of fishing bans.
October 7, 2024
A collection of stories that tell how Newfoundland is unique.
January 3, 2008
What a wonderful book of essays this is. Go out and buy it and read it as soon as possible! I don't read as much non-fiction as I should, but this book is one that all readers who appreciate the craft of writing should read. It is in the same class as Beautiful Swimmers, Medusa and the Snail, and some of John McPhee's stuff. A friend in Maine sent me a clipping from the Portland newspaper with a review of the book and thought that since I love Canada and, especially, the Maritimes, I should give it a try. My wife gave it to me as a Christmas present and I have been savoring it ever since. This is a book that is as close to perfect as it can get. Do you know how some books that you cherish seem to have everything working for them: the right look, feel, heft, smell, and design that seem to all work together in a perfect package that honors the great literature that is contained within the covers? Well, for me, this book is one of those very special books that I will keep forever, and read again and again. I have been to Newfoundland and found it to be very different from the rest of Atlantic Canada; similar to the way that Maine is different from the rest of New England. It's more rugged, more self-sufficient, more insular. We only scratched the surface of Newfoundland on an extended trip through Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick two summers ago. When we found ourselves in Cape Breton, the ferry to Newfoundland beckoned. We thought that we might never have a chance to see it again, so, despite having little vacation time left, we took the 6 hour ferry to Port Aux Basques thinking that we'd spend 2 or 3 days up in NF. On the ferry we met some folks from Halifax who were going up for two weeks and were fretting that they wouldn’t have enough time to see all that they wanted to. When we told them we were only staying 2 days they couldn’t fathom why we‘d spend the money on the ferry ride for such a short visit. We ended up extending that to 4 days after we saw what a wonder the island is. We stayed on the western side of the island in Gros Morne National Park. The people we met on our trip were wonderful ‘salt of the earth“ folks. We were entranced by the unusual accents, and were charmed by the way the waitresses and others called us “M’dears”, “M’darlings”, “M’Loves” and “M’angels.” In NJ diners the waitresses commonly call you “hon” which I always thought was sweet, but Newfoundlanders up the ante. The accents changed from town to town just as Finch describes. Although English is being spoken, we had a very hard time understanding the people. The cadence was odd, and sometimes it sounded to me like they were almost singing something Popeye-ish like: “Yar, yar, yar…” We hiked on the Tablelands, took a boat tour of a fjord, saw moose, three foxes, and ate fresh seafood every night. I ate fried cod tongues for the first time and they came covered in bits of fried pork fat (I think Finch tells us they are called “scrunchions “). Not a necessary enhancement in my opinion, but traditional I guess. Finch’s book focuses mostly on the eastern side of the island which we didn’t have time to visit. But after reading the book I will certainly have to go to St John‘s and the Avalon Peninsula and Signal Hill and all many of the other places Finch writes about. He has been visiting NF for many years and his essays are so well crafted that his love for the people and the land of NF shines through. I will have to investigate Finch’s other books too because he writes so well that I’m convinced that his books about Cape Cod will be treasures to read, just like this one was.
January 4, 2021
I love this land which is why I read this book. And I learned so much about it that I really couldn't learn on the internet or in other books. It's really a travelogue, it put me THERE, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. So I said I loved this land, right? Never been there. Learned about it in 4th grade while living in British Columbia while my dad worked there for a few years and I was enthralled with Newfoundland then and remain so now. The day will come I'll set foot there and when it happens, I want this book with me. Very insightful. And I learned a new word: Iambics - The rhythm of poetry. Beautiful.
August 4, 2011
Finch does a great job of capturing the people and dialect of Newfoundland, but I found it hard to follow his repeated visits over a decade to compare and contrast life in the outports. It was hard to figure out what was happening when, kinda like a Newfoundlander telling a story.
I loved his account of visiting the northern gannet colony at Cape St. Mary's, his walk to find the caribou herd, and his visits with the lighthouse keeper who had relatives in New Bedford.
I give it 3 1/2 caribou.
I loved his account of visiting the northern gannet colony at Cape St. Mary's, his walk to find the caribou herd, and his visits with the lighthouse keeper who had relatives in New Bedford.
I give it 3 1/2 caribou.
May 28, 2008
I can't tell you how fascinating this book was. I had no particular interest in Newfoundland, so not sure why I picked it up, but I was enthralled. Natural history, anthropology, sailing, fishery,travelogue- it's got it all, and it's all beautifully written.
September 1, 2013
Finch does a great job of describing nature, people, and philosophical dilemmas (such as whether man/woman needs immense challenges to live fully). I read his book while traveling in Newfoundland and felt that he really captured the land and the people in a highly sensitive manner.
Read
July 11, 2014I wanted to get into this book. I wanted to enjoy it. I just couldn't. Judging by the reviews here a lot of people loved it. I have enjoyed a great many travel books and non-fiction detailing various places. This one just did not motivate me to keep going.
October 5, 2007
I grew up in Newfoundland. Robert Finch paints a very accurate picture of the outports with his essays, and captures the nuances of the people and their dialect.
January 1, 2009
so far I really like it...
Read
December 30, 2008Absolutely loved it and felt like I was on the journey with the author. True and wonderful glimpses into the people, culture and people of Newfoundland
Currently reading
August 29, 2009I like this book. It's a good attempt to address different audiences--even so--it remains authentic, I think. Highly recommended.
January 10, 2011
Good writing but no tparticuoarly compelling - more like a travelogue?
January 16, 2011
beautiful writing. makes you want to visit there. not compelling reading.
April 20, 2017
I loved reading this book. I could almost hear my grandparents talking to me all the way through.
November 3, 2014
A wide collection of stories from around Newfoundland of the towns and cities and how change is impacting them. Written in the 1980's there is already a sense of it being a world lost.
September 2, 2016
This book is an interesting and informative look at Newfoundland. My geography of that province is much improved after reading this book.
April 20, 2017
Robert Finch spent the better part of a decade during the 1990's visiting Newfoundland with a particular focus on the people there, their stories and developed a profound appreciation for the beauty of their everyday life and vernacular.
Having visited the Rock a couple of years ago, it was really interesting to compare the changes of what I experienced to Robert Finch's descriptions, which were evident on a number of levels, but the charm and timeless nature of Newfoundland and her people still ring true.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend to anyone who has visited this magical place!
Having visited the Rock a couple of years ago, it was really interesting to compare the changes of what I experienced to Robert Finch's descriptions, which were evident on a number of levels, but the charm and timeless nature of Newfoundland and her people still ring true.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend to anyone who has visited this magical place!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews