<![CDATA[Gould's Book of Fish]]>

false <![CDATA[Gould's Book of Fish]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166585881m/14236.jpg 14236 18 Gould's Book of Fish, an extraordinary work of fact-based fiction by Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan (Death of a River Guide) is a journey through the fringe madness of Down Under colonialism. Set during the 1830s in a hellish island prison colony off the Tasmanian coast, the novel plucks a real-life thief and prisoner, English forger William Buelow Gould, from the pages of history to act as protagonist-narrator. Through Gould's unique capacity to blend hyperbole, hyperrealism, and self-effacing honesty, the reader acquires a shockingly clear picture of daily torment on the island. Yet more remarkable is Gould's portrait of bizarre ambitions among prison authorities to further principles of art and science amidst so much misery. Key to such plans is Gould's talent as a painter and illustrator. The compound's surgeon, nursing hopes of publishing a definitive guide to the island's fish, leans heavily on Gould's ability to record the taxonomy of various species. Though Gould accommodates his masters, the manuscript, in his hands, becomes testimony to their perverse dreams of civilization and his own quick-witted survival instincts. Throughout, Flanagan never loses the well-imagined voice of Gould's candor or the character's dense descriptive powers, talents that translate into a thrilling text that reads like a blend of Melville and Burgess. --Tom Keogh 1237057 1998 Gould's Book of Fish total:438|5:139|4:143|3:89|2:37|1:30| 438 1638 692 98 5 3 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Thu Sep 06 15:11:21 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 06 15:18:36 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 3 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun May 13 15:22:17 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 02 19:03:27 -0700 2007
This is the second book in the past month (following Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist) where I've felt like the illustrious critics writing the glowing reviews that grace the jacket are like traders playing the futures market. There's no denying that Flanagan has gre...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu May 31 17:54:30 -0700 2007 Thu May 31 17:56:07 -0700 2007

“Can a man become a fish?” Billy Gould asks in the final pages, which is a question which seems to encompass the entire book, in that it has been the question underneath the surface the entire time. To dispatch one of th...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Mar 14 17:48:58 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 18 06:33:48 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Wed Oct 24 08:43:14 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 24 08:43:14 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 0 false false Sun May 10 14:00:40 -0700 2009 Sun May 10 14:00:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jun 22 07:48:38 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 08:02:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Feb 12 08:50:43 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 08:50:43 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 19:18:16 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 12:01:35 -0800 2009
1. Just power through the first chapter. It is really just a prologue and only serves to set up the idea that the following story may or may not be true. Aside from that, it is largely pointless.

2. You may not ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon May 10 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Fri May 08 15:46:57 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 13:06:08 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Mar 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Feb 28 21:00:47 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 21 20:03:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Tue Jul 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 01:20:26 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 01:25:09 -0700 2009 I really cannot recommend, but it will remain in my library as a talking point that i am sure i will refer t...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Oct 27 06:22:26 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 06:22:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Sat Nov 10 09:46:14 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 10 11:39:06 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 08:00:20 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 25 06:36:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Sep 27 16:48:10 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 18:24:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jun 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 18:46:54 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 18:49:27 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 10:01:14 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 10:05:26 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Sun Jul 01 23:13:31 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 06 23:16:37 -0700 2007 I REALLY, really liked the first chapter, but since then, the author has changed narrators, I don't like it so much. :(

I like the way he concludes all the of the chapters too, but skipping the in between parts seems like cheating. Too bad the m...more...]]> 1 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Oct 06 17:08:59 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 17:10:57 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=14236