Simon's review
Cod by Mark Kurlansky
This is a loo-book and it's perfect.
It's also utterly sane and explains why international fishing policy has resulted in a seemingly unchanged 'fish-finger' (fish stick for Americans) for the last fifty years even tho' the unfortunate source-creature has flipped from ocean to ocean, species to species and depth to depth. Poor old cod is a small part of this changing piscine biomass and this is his story.
Kurlansky explains the history of cod and he's an anecdotalist of the best kind. Some reasons to read:
1. Thought a big fish was that ten pounder Uncle Jack pulled up last summer in Maine? Read about how BIG cod used to be and why things have changed.
2. What was the connection between cod, rum and slavery? Or (perhaps a stretch) ... no cod, no triangle trade, no slavery, no civil war? No rum ? Yikes!
3. Why people in Iceland used to love 'sausages' made from fish entrails and fish livers.
4. Cod-related slang in jazz and reggae.
5. How the Basques sailed to Nort...more
It's also utterly sane and explains why international fishing policy has resulted in a seemingly unchanged 'fish-finger' (fish stick for Americans) for the last fifty years even tho' the unfortunate source-creature has flipped from ocean to ocean, species to species and depth to depth. Poor old cod is a small part of this changing piscine biomass and this is his story.
Kurlansky explains the history of cod and he's an anecdotalist of the best kind. Some reasons to read:
1. Thought a big fish was that ten pounder Uncle Jack pulled up last summer in Maine? Read about how BIG cod used to be and why things have changed.
2. What was the connection between cod, rum and slavery? Or (perhaps a stretch) ... no cod, no triangle trade, no slavery, no civil war? No rum ? Yikes!
3. Why people in Iceland used to love 'sausages' made from fish entrails and fish livers.
4. Cod-related slang in jazz and reggae.
5. How the Basques sailed to Nort...more
