The Fisherman's Son

by Michael Koepf

This elegiac sea story is one of those rare narratives likely to pleasure lovers of adventure and lovers of language alike. With beguilingly modest lyricism, and great attention to detail, Michael Koepf, a commercial fisherman for 19 years, conjures up a world he knows inside and out. Consider, for example, this riff on fishing lures: "Neil's favorites were the hootchi-kootchies attached on short leaders behind large blades of curved metal called 'flashers.' The 'hootchies' hid sharp hooks under colorful plastic hula skirts that resembled tiny octopi and squid. The flashers made circles in the water, and the hootchi-kootchies danced behind them. Neil wondered whether these lures looked like real food to the fish, or did they resemble banners in an underwater carnival, enticing the fish to one last deadly ride?" Every fisherman will recognize the rightness of this description, though few would think to say it quite this way.

In the novel's present, Neil Kruger is taking his own last deadly ride. In the wake of a drug-and-illegal-immigrant landing gone seriously wrong, he's adrift on a life raft. As his hope of rescue waxes and wanes, Neil remembers his father and the whole tightly knit community of salmon fishermen in California's Half Moon Bay in the late 1950s through the 1970s. He remembers his own apprenticeship in the seagoing, fish-killing arts. He evokes the moods, the colors, the smells, the shifting energies and voices of the sea, the fish that run below the boat and fill its pit, the gulls that shriek and feast on entrails, the fundamental loneliness and great loyalty of the "huntsmen" who struggle to survive in a world that increasingly disdains their independence and discounts the product of their routinely death-defying labors. He recalls the stories his father's comrades told each other to pass the time when the Half Moon Bay boats managed to rendezvous for an evening of whiskey and cribbage far out to sea, stories that extend the past back to the earliest decades of the century, told in voices that ring absolutely true. What at first seem like random snapshots ultimately sequence themselves into a convincing narrative. Although the book has been compared to The English Patient, Koepf's style and his structure are simpler and less self-consciously literary than Ondaatje's. There are pages of seafaring action here to make your heart beat faster, moments of loss and betrayal to make it heavy, and, finally, a portrait of time, place, and people so lovingly rendered that you end up grateful to Mr. Koepf for making it. --Joyce Thompson

Genres: Fiction, Book Club

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a small fishing community in the waters off northern California, young Neil Kruger is torn between the sea, represented by his difficult father and the easier life ashore, personified by his mother. At first, the family works and worries together, but as Neil grows and despite promises made to his mother, he is pulled inevitably to the boat. His father needs his help. His mother turns her back on both of them and the family is irrevocably split.

Koepf does a masterful job describing the culture of the immigrant fisherman, who despite their vastly different foreign backgrounds, came together in a tight compact against all comers. They fished together, drank together, told stories together and fought the dangers of the sea and the land together, and not always successfully.

Neil was a rapt student. He feared and admired his father and the other fishermen, he feared and loved the sea. Over the years, conditions inevitably changed. The old men died, the young men took their place, the government began to regulate the catches to preserve the fish. Most of the fisherman couldn't survive on the money they pulled out of the sea, no matter how much they fished or how far the went to find the catch. Some turned to illegal activities to survive and ultimately, this book is the story of how these rock solid, honorable skilled men lost their livelihoods and their special code of ethics.

Koepf has convinced me that he actually was one of these fishermen. His descriptions of the process of fishing are completely authentic. I think he does less well with human interactions. His attempts at foreshadowing were often beyond my understanding. I could tell he was trying to give me a profound insight, but I couldn't tell what it was, exactly. Some of the most important lessons were left fuzzy in my understanding. Maybe it's me.

But all in all, Michael Koepf has written a beautiful book and I am happy to have read it.

[Bowen Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn’t really drawn in to a lot of chapters in this book. Reading this story about the MC’s complicated family dynamics and the business of old school fisherman was one where the message was sometimes your family is where you find the most sense of familiarity and camaraderie, along with strong bonds. There seems to be a strong bond in the plight of fisherman battling against the elements and unknowns of the sea.

In addition, a lot of the dealings with external parties goes to show that fishermen don’t only just battle against the waters, but with other people as well.

Despite some parts of the story that caught my interest, it didn’t grasp my attention enough to tie into some parts of my background being a sailor and some of the familiar habits and lifestyles of these fishermen in the story. I do relate to the bond of these men with those I’ve sailed with and that feeling of mutual understanding when sailing.

2/5

[Tom Gase · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is written beautifully at times, but I felt the story never actually goes anywhere and is a little too predictable. It's about a guy Neil who watches his dad as a fisherman and plans that all he wants to do when he gets older. As he becomes one, he later learns more things about his dad and his mom and the life of always being at sea. While reading I just had Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" stuck in my head the entire time. I liked the description writing from Michael Koepf about the hard work of being a fisherman and when the boat was near the Farallon Islands and Golden Gate Bridge as I live in SF. Not bad, but not great either.

[Christina Metcalf · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exquisitely written, interwoven story that not only details the difficulty of making a living as a commercial fisherman but also beautifully encapsulates a time gone by. Koepf paints a picture of a band of brothers and the honor and bond between them. The story made me nostalgic for a generation and type of man that seems harder and harder to find.

[Marcia Lonteen-Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fisherman's Son is a novel I picked up and scanned at a local library's book sale. For the first quarter it is very slow moving for me, but by the middle the plot intensifies, and by the end I absolutely love it. Neil Kruger is a young boy whose father, Ernie, fishes for a living off the Northern California coast at Half Moon Bay. His mother, Emily, is finally reduced to a job at the local cannery by the family finances. Neil has two younger brother, Paul and the much younger Phillip, and the family is divided by loyalties due to the sea. Emily resents her husband and his job, and Paul has sided with his mother against the hard working Ernie. Surrounding them are hard working, fiercely local fishermen from whom Neil learns many lessons placed throughout the novel. The opening pages reveal Neil drifting alone on a life raft. Little by little the events explaining what happened are unfolded throughout the entire 300 pages. This long reverie in the raft gives Neil time to reminisce about many events in his lifetime as the chronology moves between present and past. As Neil is growing up, the family's life gets harder and money is a constant problem. His mother has to work and is filled with resentment, and the couple rarely talks. Seasons vary, but soon Neil is called upon to assist his father on the boat. At first Neil dislikes this, but before he is conscious of it, he has becomes a fisherman. Lots of time is spent onboard, but Neil finds his father silent and forbidding. However, he also teaches him calmly and patiently all he knows and occasionally calls him "honey." He is a man who shows his feelings through his actions and not his words. Another time with a great catch below, they turn back into a dangerous storm as do the other men to save one of the locals whose boat is caught further out. He learns about friendship and loyalty, and Neil is greatly affected by this camaraderie among these men. As time goes on, Neil notices his father's balance is faltering. This foreshadows the sad end of Ernie's career in the future. Meanwhile the novel intersperses the present plot of Neil on the life raft trying to ration water, keep the raft inflated, pump out the water, and light off his few flares for rescue. Early the reader learns that his brother Paul also has fallen beneath the sea in this wreck that is not fully revealed until near the end. Another incident is when Neil and his friends take out one of the other boats without permission and almost are lost at sea when a storm arises. One of the salient aspects of this is the inclusion of a handicapped boy they call the Raisin. This boy catches fish for the first time while being strapped in his wheelchair and actually saves them by suggesting they use his chair as an anchor when they drift near the treacherous rocks. He remembers later the Raisin becomes a fisherman and hires a Samoan to assist him in his business. Every time Neil sees him, he's smiling with happiness and fulfillment. In the reminiscences an event begins to emerge when Neil is older and has acquired his own fishing boat. This one is told in bits at a time, as is the present life raft dilemma. Neil and Paul begin to transport drugs and must avoid all suspicion. Paul especially seems to want easy money fast without working. In one of the episodes of this storyline they throw rocks at a dead seal lying on the beach as they skirt along the coast to avoid authorities. Such an act of unnecessary violence seems shocking as they laugh with glee. Later they discuss whether the rock hit near its heart and whether it has a soul. This whole image seems to be a metaphor for Neil's life: acting without thinking, acting and reacting without a plan, not valuing life and what he has. As the story draws to a close, the incident culminates in two of the culprits acting with them leave two others behind to increase their own profits. Paul and Neil then trap them in the hold where they examine their haul and shoot at the door to keep them back. They go back and retrieve the other two, and the result is an all out war which results in the ship going down and everything being lost. This novel gains in momentum as it proceeds. I ended it loving everything about it. The author shows such authenticity and artistry in his writing. He writes with great and delicate description and allows the reader to speculate on what is to come. The suspense factor is huge through the second half. I really enjoyed this novel. It's a lifestyle foreign to most, and the force and lure of the sea loom largely throughout the novel. Neil is the classic naive hero who is forced into the life of a fisherman as a young boy without the choice. His thoughts let the reader know his frustration both with his livelihood and his father, a silent, stubborn, hard working mystery of a man. He gets lead astray with his brother and embarks on a total misuse of the job his father so consistently impressed upon him by transporting illegal drugs. As he drifts along interweaving his sordid past with his shipwrecked and castaway present, the reader can feel the regret as well as the respect for a fisherman's hard yet honest life as depicted by his father and his fellow fishermen.

[David Westerhaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not particularly well written, and the story didn’t really feel cohesive. But the thematic ‘father and son’ elements were really well done, and the end made me tear up a bit. Maybe they should write songs about it…

[Jenni K · Rating 4 out of 5]

slow moving book, sometimes the author takes the reader on a slower pace.
A reader to immerse themselves in the fuzzy mind of the character as he navigates being lost at sea and his flashback detailed memories and tale of the sea, fishermen and family life in the Bay Area.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall this was an ok read for me. Its about life of a fisherman and how hard it is to make ends meat. The story jumps between present time and past. In the present time Neil is on a ship wreck waiting to get rescued and slowly it gets revealed what happened. While he is waiting he thinks about his past and the reader follows him through childhood. The book has 10 chapters and each chapter got a little story. It is all about fishing and the ocean is portrayed as something strong and merciless which disappointed me a little bit. Only through the side character of Raisin you can experience also the joy.

It would have been helpful if all the specific terms for the boats, fishing would have been explained or even had some drawings. It was hard to understand how exactly they were working and what was going on but I just read over it. I was also missing the years, once in a while there comes a hint and you know ok now I'm in the 60's and now its the 70's etc. My guess is that the story starts in the 40's-50's and its set in California.

While I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would I could see this one made into a good movie.

[Max Tomlinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Fisherman's Son Michael Koepf tells a story of man versus sea with an authenticity culled from his years spent working commercial fishing boats off of California's scenic and rugged coast around Half Moon Bay. But this finely crafted novel does much more than that. Through well-nuanced characters and vivid scenes that stay with the reader long after the book is finished, we are immersed in a world where the lives of those who farm the ocean are as difficult and perilous as California's waters are beautiful and unmerciful. Here are everyday men and women who continue to be drawn to an ancient livelihood where the rewards are few and transient; hard-won catches rot on docks in disputes with ruthless buyers and once-solid marriages break down despite the best of efforts. Ultimately the protagonist Neil Kruger is forced to make a decision as dangerous as it is inevitable and the reader feels the pull of the sea right along with him, one more time, and is taken to a place far from the safety of land.

[m koepf badnews · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like the Deadliest Catch, this book takes you deeper into the mind of a young fisherman cast adrift on a sea of changing culture that has eroded the traditional values of an American family trying to make a living on the sea. A tour de force with a salty, moral dilemma that Ayn Rand would have easily understood.

[Cape Fisherman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only the second piece of fiction I have read in a decade, I really enjoyed this book. Based on a great deal of fact, Michael Koepf, a former commercial fisherman, knits a tale one can only imagine tells the story of his personal experiences. The love, hate relationship between a father and son as they both learn from each other shadows the lifestyle of fisherman.

[Sherry Tamone · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast read. I loved that this story took place along the California coast from Monterey to Point Arena. I liked the way the author related the memories of the stranded fisherman. The author definitely had first hand knowledge of families of fisherman. I felt like I knew many of these characters from Bodega Bay

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved this book.As a former commercial fisherman I was brought back to all the sights sounds smells and problems of the salmon trolling industry.
It seems so real , described many of the feelings I felt better than I could myself

[krin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gripping book about family and self-discovery. I liked how Neil learned that while his father had flaws, he still had important lessons to impart.

[Heather Jaynes · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was too disjointed for me, and I just don't like fishing. I do like half moon bay though.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

i really wanted to like this book and in some scenes, it was enjoyable and scenic. but it's so weighed down in fishing jargon that it's easy to lose focus.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt the book was really disjointed and a lot of the stuff that was thrown in really didn't advance the story line. I won't read the rest of the series.