A novel by Clarke (of Goddard and Clarke fame). This tells the story of a small trout stream. This is really a wonderful little book - and if you have kids - make sure that they read it too. It's modern natural history at its best.

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Product Description

A small, exquisite and supremely moving - and timely - gem of a novel that plays out the lingering and seemingly inevitable death of a small river in the heart of the English countryside...

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81032 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

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Customer Reviews

Perhaps the worst book ever written
I wish I was a better writer and had more time as with limits in both areas I really can't adequately express how bad this book is. What's worse is I read it becasue of the large number of glowing reviews from numerous sources. I'm an angler, naturalist and former professional ecologist and conservationist. As such I have enormous sympathy with the message that Brian Clarke is trying to get across. However, that is part of the problem for me as the book is less a story and more a sermon. As such it is both predictable, limited, turgid and pompous. It fails totally as a novel for the weak story, lack of characterisation or rythym, and poor writing. I feel that people can only have praised it because they like the message rather than as a novel. For me its more an exercise in political correctness than a novel. I was reluctant to give it 1 star as I feel it deserved no stars at all; or maybe they could have negative stars for books like this. A shame really as Brian Clarke can be a great writer at times.

The great environmental novel.
Ever noticed how having children is central to so many of our lives and yet there are almost no songs about it? So it is with novels about the the environment. There are now thousands of non-fiction books on the subject, it's in the media on a daily basis, but there are no really good works of fiction on the subject.
Except this one. It tells the tale of the life of a stream. Much of the book concerns moss, fish and birds. Nearby, a bypass is to be built. Little by little, the life of the stream, which has remained unchanged for years, is changed by human intervention.
There are no villains here. Unless we're all the villains of the piece these days. The damage caused to the life of the stream is unintentional and almost unobserved by humans. But change it does.
It's a parable, of course. As we are doing to the stream, so we are doing to the whole world.
It's wise writing, but an easy read. Teenagers can certainly read and appreciate this book.
And so I warmly recommend this book to you. And hope there will be other books as good as this in days to come.

sensitive and informative
Though perhaps not a literary masterpiece, this book is sensitively and beautifully written by someone who obviously cares about the impact of modern life (greed!!) on the environment. Although the author does not judge anything or anybody, he clearly explains all the minute changes that happen to nature as a result of a new development, many undetected until it is too late. Should we cry when a little, seamingly insignificant stream dies? I certainly did!