- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Atlantic Books (1 April 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1848871325
- ISBN-13: 978-1848871328
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 15.2 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 293,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Blood Knots: Of Fathers, Friendship and Fishing
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Product Description
Review
'A beautifully-crafted story... I was transfixed... completely absorbed by Jenning's stilled, naturalist's eye as he waited by dark canals and chuckling chalk streams for that flash of beauty, while on that other plane, above the water, the ugly chaos of life waited to resume its infernal narrative.' -- Nicholas Crane
'An exceptional book. More than simply a memoir of angling, it is in fact a book about history and war, about affection and loss, memory and place. Written in precise, beautiful language... it is in the finest traditions of both nature and memoir writing - in short, it is a classic - a book that will be read for a long time, and treasured.' -- Esther Woolfson
'A strange, original, haunting book, I will never pass a stream or a canal without remembering it.'
--Lynn Barber
'An exceptional book. More than simply a memoir of angling, it is in fact a book about history and war, about affection and loss, memory and place. Written in precise, beautiful language... it is in the finest traditions of both nature and memoir writing - in short, it is a classic - a book that will be read for a long time, and treasured.' -- Esther Woolfson
'A strange, original, haunting book, I will never pass a stream or a canal without remembering it.'
--Lynn Barber
Product Description
With this dark and dramatic memoir of an angler's life, Luke Jennings' new book places him in the front rank of British natural history writers. As a child in the 1960s, Luke Jennings was fascinated by the rivers and lakes around his Sussex home. Beneath their surfaces, it seemed to him, waited alien and mysterious worlds. With library books as his guide, he applied himself to the task of learning to fish. His progress was slow, and for years he caught nothing. But then a series of teachers presented themselves, including an inspirational young intelligence officer, from whom he learnt stealth, deception and the art of the dry fly. So began an enlightening but often dark-shadowed journey of discovery. It would lead to bright streams and wild country, but would end with his mentor's capture, torture and execution by the IRA. "Blood Knots" is about angling, about great fish caught and lost, but it is also about friendship, honour and coming of age. As an adult, Jennings has sought out lost and secretive waterways, probing waters 'as deep as England' at dead of night in search of giant pike. The quest, as always, is for more than the living quarry. For only by searching far beneath the surface, Jennings suggests in this most moving and thought-provoking of memoirs, can you connect with your own deep history.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
My wife suggested to me that I read this book as she had heard it on Radio 4's book of the week.I have not fished since my teenage years but she thought that it would appeal to me as it was about the countryside and growing up in the 50's and 60's as I had.What a wonderfully evocative book.I was sent reeling back to my childhood and happy halycon days in the meadows near my home.I can quite honestly say that I have never enjoyed a book as much as this one.The Robert Nairac interest is fascinating and keeps cropping up during the book and keeps you transfixed to every page.I suggest that every male of a certain age reads this to put some perspective into life.A truly worthwhile read.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a town-bred female with a severely limited interest in fishing or falconry I wasn't exactly target market for Blood Knots but I devoured this beautifully written book in two sittings. I was constantly beguiled by Jennings's love affair with the English countryside, gripped by the psychodrama at play between the fisherman and his quarry and moved by this tender and persuasive exploration of relationships between boys and their fathers, friends and teachers. Anyone bewildered (or infuriated) by the male ability to collect, collate and obsess will learn not just to understand how a grown man can be so passionate about his hobbies but even to share a little of that passion. You see England's fisherman from a train window, draped in waterproofs, flanked by Thermos flasks and assume their minds are a blank. Jennings teaches you otherwise.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
One to set beside Applin's Philandering Angler. Any fisher who grew up in the 50's & 60's will realate to the backdrop of the fishing tales - the war, kids freedom's etc. However this story has a haunting twist that affected me deeply. Athread throughout the book is the spector of Robert Nairac. We leap from the delights and tranqulity of fishing, to the brutal ending of Nairac, a man as English as the sole of this book. A must read
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Beautiful
A fantastic fishing book, beautifully crafted, with a sombre, weary tone that is enchanting. It took me to the very heart of how the fisherman experiences and loves fishing - that... Read more
Published 5 months ago by James Blackman
Fascinating
Based around fishing, this superbly written book touches on so much more. To this reader, the interwoven story of Robert Nairac provides the most poignant and interesting aspect... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. Neil Horner
Marvellous
Anyone who when young felt the urge, the atavistic compulsion, to go fishing, will not be able to put this book down. I know because I was that person.
Published 9 months ago by spentgnat
Loved it
About fishing, about friendship, about childhood. Nothing in it that you can pin down, maybe that's why it is so damn good. I read it in one sitting. Great book. Read more
Published 10 months ago by J. Reynolds
An utterly enchanting read
I came across this book when I was looking for books on Capt Robert Nairac and after reading all the postive reveiws I thought I would give this a try - and I am so very glad I... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mrs. TK Ellis
Blood Knots
A wonderful book - a cross between Richard Jeffries and Henry Williamson. I gave a copy also to my brother, a keen fly fisherman who thought it the best fishing book he had ever... Read more
Published 11 months ago by specs
Don't fish just read
Not a fisherman but this book is captivating. Heard the ref to 15-19th Kings Royal Hussars which was my fathers regiment so got it for that. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Muffin
Memories of the past,vision of the future.
If you are of a certain age, the references will spark up a whole host of memories, if not then it will be educational on how life was. Read more
Published 16 months ago by D. P. Ibison
A thoroughly good read
This book is so enjoyable that I read it in just three days - unusual for me as I count myself as a slow reader. Read more
Published 22 months ago by March Hare
A great read
Based on a Spectator review I bought Blood Knots for two friends.Their wives told me that they had not seen such enthusiastic reading for years.
Published 22 months ago by Tom in Devon
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