Rivers of Shadow, Rivers of Sun: A Fly Fisher's European Journal

Rating:
Summary: An engaging testimony for enthusiastic fly fishers
Review: Illustrated with skillful graphite-pencil drawings by sporting artist Michael Simon, Rivers Of Shadow, Rivers Of Sun: A Fly-Fisher's European Journal is an enraptured account of the joy of fishing by travel writer and expert fly fisherman Norm Zeigler. Blending angling tall tales, history, insightful social commentary, introspective philosophy, and much more to offer a vivid taste of the mental clarity and enjoyment that can come from fly fishing, Rivers Of Shadow, Rivers Of Sun is an engaging testimony for enthusiastic fly fishers and armchair travelers alike.



Rating:
Summary: Thoughts on this book
Review: Thoughts on Rivers of Shadow, Rivers of Sun by Norm Zeigler


People who fish, and in particular fly fish, will like and understand this book as well as those who travel, appreciate architecture and history, enjoy good food and drink as well as those who enjoy an adventure and being with nature. I enjoyed this book for something else - the kind, compassionate and unadorned truth from this very philosophical of a writer. His fishing may take place in fairly shallow waters but his observations of the human plight take place in the deepest fathoms of life.

Fishing becomes a metaphor for all of us who are constantly casting about, trying to lure those elusive rainbows to us. When successful we do as Norm does, we often release them and they are gone unknowest from us forever; others we keep and digest.

Fishing in this book is like other sports - baseball, basketball, football; or skiing, ping pong, or tennis. It is about finding a sense of balance and knowing the direction you are casting your lure, your pitch, the ball, the swing, the rhythm. And the streams the author fishes in are not only the waters of fish but the waters of life where the bottom may be sandy and gravel-like and fairly steadying, or moss slick rocks that can that too quickly remind us all of our own mortality; or easier in the shallows of life than in the depths of it, and, as happened to the author, sometime we are overwhelmed by the rapids in life and go feet up and risk drowning in the real and symbolic waters. Fishing as a sport is also reflective of the common ingredient in other athletic activities that one must have in order to be successful - whether in fishing or in life - endurance. It is not just setting the hook and reeling it in. It is about access and exhaustion in getting there, casting until you are too tired to cast again - and then casting again. Endurance begets suffering and the author suffers the frigid cold until his hands no longer work properly and he suffers the realization of lost hope when no matter what exertion and expertise he has - there are no fish and there will not be any fish for that day. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, creep in the hope of better days.