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The People of the Sea: Journey in Search of the Seal Legend (Canongate Classics)
 
 
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The People of the Sea: Journey in Search of the Seal Legend (Canongate Classics) (Paperback)

by David Thomson (Author), Stewart Sanderson (Introduction) "OF ALL THE HOUSES THAT I REMEMBER WITH LOVE the house called Tigh na Rosan is the sweetest smelling and the brightest ..." (more)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd; New edition edition (Jun 1996)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0862415500
  • ISBN-13: 978-0862415501
  • Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 12.7 x 1.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,328,235 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

This is a record of a journey in search of the man-seal legends of the Celts. David Thomson's travels in the Gaelic world of the Hebrides and the West coast of Ireland brought him into contact with a people whose association wth the sea and its fertile lore runs deep. These simple people were gifted with the most ancient storytelling arts. They told of men rescued by seals in stormy seas, of babies suckled by seal-mothers, and of men who took seal-women for wives - stories centuries old, handed down to them by their forefathers. From an early age, David Thomson was fascinated by the mysterious interaction between man and the sea. In the Selkie legends, he found the perfect expression of the Celtic world where truth and fiction intertwine. In his journey through Scotland and Ireland, he found the world of man and the world of the seals to be inseparable. This book reconstructs an integrated vioew of man and nature as an interdependent whole. David Thomson won the McVitie's Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year in the 1987 and the NCR Book Award for non-fiction in 1988.
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OF ALL THE HOUSES THAT I REMEMBER WITH LOVE the house called Tigh na Rosan is the sweetest smelling and the brightest. Read the first page
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars as haunting as the cry of a seal, 1 Aug 2002
This review is from: The People Of The Sea: Celtic Legends And Myths: Celtic Tales of the Seal-folk (Canongate Classics) (Paperback)
Anyone who has any sort of feeling for tradition, stories and mystery, basically all the things that are going down the drain in our increasingly urban culutre, will love this book. I bought the book for the seal legends, but what fascinated me even more was the careful story-telling (no word too much said)and the beautiful, often sad episodes spun around the legends themselves. Thomson's writing is evocative and such a lot is to be gained from what he doesn't say. An absolute must for anyone who would prefer to be doing something useful in life rather than sit in the city at a suit-and-tie job.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars evokes both seal-lore and the people who hand it down, 7 May 2001
This review is from: The People Of The Sea: Celtic Legends And Myths: Celtic Tales of the Seal-folk (Canongate Classics) (Paperback)
I saw Seamus Heaney's intro in the paper and bought the book: it has lived up to his praise. You get a picture of the hospitality, generosity and way with words of the people on the remote Atlantic coasts of Scotland and Ireland in the times before TV took over from storytelling. You also hear how the seals, selchies, can assume human form, rescue fisherman, and many wonderful things besides.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Best book of all time!, 10 Nov 2009
By M. A. Feely "Michael Feely" (Sheffield, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The People Of The Sea: Celtic Legends And Myths: Celtic Tales of the Seal-folk (Canongate Classics) (Paperback)
This book is quite simply the best book I have ever read. Although Thompson tells these tales as if he is simply the observer, it is his deep understanding of the culture and mind set of those people he is writing about which is reflected in his writing style. He is able to express in a few words that which most others cannot express in a lifetime of writing. Perhaps even more than Robin Flower, Thompson demonstrates his love and respect for a knowledge, wisdom and culture that has been passed down over many generations . He was rewarded with a wonderful collection of tales that would not normaly be shared outside of the small communities that most peole will never encounter. Even more private than other aspects of the culture, such as traditional music and song, these tales are a great gift which he shares with those with ears to hear. Like traditional music, this writing gives an insight into the treasure buried beneath the mindless comercialism of pop culture on one hand and the arrogance of "high brow" culture on the other. Read this and make your own mind up.
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