The title of our book this month was intriguing. It apparently refers to the meat of the Greenland Shark, which is toxic, and without proper preparation, consumption can lead to symptoms similar to drunkenness. One member of our group thought that it was because the main characters in the book were drunk with the prospect of catching a Greenland shark. Or was it because they were often quite drunk? The book undoubtedly had the longest subtitle of any of our previous books – “ The Art of Catching a Large Shark from a Tiny Rubber Dinghy in a Big Ocean”. No difficulty, then, in guessing what our book was about! But there is much more filling the 290 pages than just the story of catching a shark. It is a goldmine of interesting facts; a tale with a peppering of asides that could have been drawn from Wikipedia.
Once again, because of COVID-19 regulations, our meeting was held on a video conferencing platform. The proposer of the book, ensconced in his cottage some 100 miles away in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, reminded us of the “normal times” before “lockdown” when he had gone on a cruise to Norway some 7 months earlier to see the Northern Lights and had sought some background reading on the Lofoten Islands. He had greatly enjoyed the book and as he had worked there in the past, he had some knowledge of the country. The author’s reminiscences about classical antiquity, tales of the sea, past gods, wildlife etc. had been enlightening to our reader. Whilst working in Norway, he had also owned a small boat, which wasn’t without its dangers. Some distance from land, the engine cut out and as his companion attempted to start the troublesome engine it dislodged from the transom. Instinctively, our host leapt to the stern, grabbing the engine before it sank to the bottom of the sea to a watery grave.
The author, Morten Strøksnes, was an award-winning writer and journalist from the remote community of Kirknes on the northern tip of Norway where most of the population stays in small isolated communities on the steep coastline. In 2018 the book had been awarded the Edward Stanford Wanderlust Adventure Travel Book of the Year and has been translated into 24 languages. One of our group, joining us by video from Sweden had experienced difficulty in obtaining a hard copy of the book, only receiving it from the US after some weeks of ordering. He wasn’t sure whether it was available in Swedish in which he is fluent. He had recently spoken with a young Norwegian colleague who had been surprised it had been translated into English and even more surprised that a Scottish book group was reading it.
The majority of the book group had enjoyed the book. It was written in an easy journalistic style. The numerous factual asides on sharks, whales, squid, climate change, pollution, Norwegian lifestyle, myths, legends, cuisine, and much more, intrigued many of the group. More than one member was moved to go and check some of the references. One had subsequently learnt a great deal about 16th century maps and sea creatures, which he enthusiastically passed on to his family. Some, however, found that there were too many asides and gratuitous facts, which were a distraction. One member had a love hate relationship with the book; enjoying the relationship between the two men, their patience but being irritated by the excessive facts.
For some the holistic nature of the book was enjoyable and refreshing, with its links to nature, spirituality and history. There were several Scottish references, such as the sacrifice of a Highland Bull for shark bait and Robert Louis Stevenson’s family of lighthouse builders who were responsible for all 97 lighthouses built along the Scottish coast in a 150 year period.
One member observed that the book was part science and part literary analysis, with plenty of marine biology but also several literary references such as Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick” and Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, and mentions of Edgar Allan Poe, George Orwell and of course R.L. Stevenson. He also felt that the book had quite a Hemingwayesque feel.
One member enjoyed the author playing around with the contrast between sharks and whales. Many writers refer to one or the other species but the author considers both and their interaction, the sharks being the ruffians whilst the whales are the bourgeoisie.
There were mixed views on what seemed a rather pointless and fruitless exercise. An angling member, however, enjoyed the spiritual relationship with the sea, which was similar to that experienced by many anglers. This lead to a discussion about why men have this desire to do strange things like catching fish. It is time consuming, expensive and often unproductive. Is it a throw back to man the hunter? Why are we here led to thoughts of existentialism? A golfing member had always thought that golf was a pretty pointless activity but realised that to many people angling was equally pointless, in that having spent ages trying to catch a fish, one threw it back.
One member had visited Norway numerous times and enjoyed the references to some of the bizarre culinary delights the Norwegians prepare. He felt that the maps provided could have been more detailed and some photographs of the Lofoten Islands and communities would have enhanced the read. Some members had resorted to Google maps or Wikipedia to obtain more information.
Another member however disliked the book, as he preferred his books to be entertaining, have a good story and plot, and not be educational. He thought the book was too different to what we normally read and had too much information. He had recollections of his childhood when he would be wakened early by his father and hauled out of bed to go fishing, where barely a word was uttered for the rest of the day. This was reflected in the book where the main characters barely converse. There was comment that women feature little in the book with only brief mentions of Hugo’s wife and daughter.
There was criticism of their irresponsibility when setting out cod fishing in an unseaworthy iced-up and leaking “floating coffin”. They were lucky to survive when the boat became overloaded with cod and the weather deteriorated. Later the author goes diving with Hugo’s daughter but becoming separated from her, gets swept away in the current of the Moskstraumen, the “navel of the sea” and eventually wakens up exhausted on a rocky beach near an abandoned fishing village.
The relationship between the author and his friend Hugo was often strained and tense, and the long spells where not a lot happened reminded one member of “Waiting for Godot.” The process of catching the shark takes forever and in the end the shark isn’t even landed. Maybe, we thought, the book is more about the process of the journey rather than the result.
Despite this, there are episodes of humour which relieve the tension, such as Morten’s irritation to the radio being on. Hugo prefers to work with the radio turned full up. When Hugo leaves the room, Morten immediately turns the volume down which creates even more tension. Hugo also tells the story about a boat packed with people from around the world on a whale safari off the island of Andøya who were subjected to the sight of whalers harpooning a minke whale. They would, however, remember the scene for the rest of their lives.
The history of whaling when 200 million whales were killed between 1870s and 1970s almost leading to extinction of some species was horrifying. The description of the industrial process and the cruel and frenetic slaughtering was nauseating. Scandinavians may have a reputation for being ardent environmentalists but the Norwegian and Icelandic history of the destruction of marine life indicates otherwise. Iceland and Japan continue to kill whales, some ostensibly for research purposes. Norway objected to the global ban on whaling and has resumed full-blown commercial whaling, killing more than three times that of Iceland and Japan. There was comment that Norway’s environmental credentials weren’t that “squeaky-clean”. In addition to its whaling industry, the country’s wealth is based on the less than sustainable North Sea oil.
This led on to discussion about humans doing irreparable damage to nature and the world. Our Swedish member who works for the European Environmental Agency strongly believes that we need to get the message across.
Most thought that the ending was a bit of an anti-climax and were incensed and distressed that the shark may have experienced a lingering and unpleasant death thanks to their exploits. One person thought it was the worst ending of a book he’d ever experienced. We had hoped that the author would have offered a moral to the story. However, another member felt on reflection that the image of the shark escaping with a large hook in its mouth and a long length of heavy chain hanging from it would linger long in the memory, and could be seen as a disturbing symbol of the damage that man casually does to the natural world.
The proposer had read the book twice and had gained much from the second reading, not being distracted by whether the elusive shark would be caught. Profiting from giving books a second reading has been a common experience from some of our members. Perhaps there’s a moral here.
Towards the end of our discussion, one member returned to the title of the book. We had recently read “On the Black Hill”, which was described as a story about identical twin farmers in rural Wales. The title and description didn’t exactly make the book jump off the shelf but we were surprised how much we had enjoyed the book. “Shark Drunk” was a far more intriguing title with a rather bizarre subject and was felt to be a great selling point. What’s in a name?
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