By Gavin Maxwell.
The 'Ring of Bright Water' was one of those titles which always held a certain allure to me in my earlier years. It was often quoted as a classic by adults when I was a child and happened to mention I liked otters. Actually otters were, and are my favourite animal of all. They are beautiful, funny and apparently eternally cheerful. They can swim better than most fish and to my delight I've seen them do so in the view tank at Aqua Freshwater Aquarium in Silkeborg.
These books detail the life of a Scottish naturalist and author who in the 1950's and 60's looked after and raised a number of otters in Scotland. The books start well with Maxwell's first otter Mijbil being adopted in southern Iraq and eventually arriving in Scotland, but the otters gradually move into the background as the books progress and they become more about the hard life of the author who seems to struggle against great adversity. I was hoping the books might be as inspiring and charming as otters themselves are, but rather I found them to be a bit depressing in my current state of mind.
3/5
1 comment:
My family used to holiday in Galloway and had a summer cottage on the same stretch of coast as Maxwell. I don't rember seeing any otters but there is a lovely stretch of river with a bronze otter statue in the middle of it not far from the drovers road.
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