SOLVED. Juvenile? Philosophical Fantasy story. Two+ creatures of very differing species sail down a river or estuary discovering much about themselves & life in general. Lights of village seen from water at night. Read in late 1950s. [s]

[Dave]

Florence wrote: "Regarding the creation myth stories, could be worth looking into the Chinese zodiac also, there’s a race across a river by all kinds of different animals"

Thanks for these suggestions, Florence, will investigate further - though hoping Messages 47 and 48 hold the key to the kingdom!

[Dave]

Len wrote: "There are two books by Richard Parker (a British author) which are about groups of animals travelling together and published around the right period.

The Penguin Goes Home, Chatto & Windus, 1951
E..."

Len wrote: "There are two books by Richard Parker (a British author) which are about groups of animals travelling together and published around the right period.

The Penguin Goes Home, Chatto & Windus, 1951
E..."

Again, the dates are about right but a quick check pretty well rules both books out. Interestingly, Richard Parker was the name of the tiger in 'Life of Pi' - must have been an intentional connection, I'd have thought. Thanks, anyway.

[Dave]

Len wrote: "There are two books by Richard Parker (a British author) which are about groups of animals travelling together and published around the right period.

The Penguin Goes Home, Chatto & Windus, 1951
E..."

Re. the name Richard Parker, just read this on Wikipedia -

'The name Richard Parker for the tiger was inspired by a character in Edgar Allan Poe's nautical adventure novel "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket" (1838). Richard Parker is a mutineer who is stranded and eventually cannibalized on the hull of an overturned ship, and there is a dog aboard who is named Tiger. Martel also had another occurrence in mind in the famous legal case R v Dudley and Stephens (1884), where a shipwreck again results in the cannibalism of a cabin boy named Richard Parker, this time in a lifeboat. A third Richard Parker drowned in the sinking of The Francis Spaight in 1846, described by author Jack London, and later the cabin boy was cannibalized. "So many victimized Richard Parkers had to mean something", Martel suggested.'

Wow!

[Ky]

Dave, do you have an archive.org account? There is an omnibus edition called The Lobster Books which has The Curious Lobster's Island. If you don't already have it, it's free to sign up and needs only an email. Then you can search for the book and read it to see if it's yours.

[Dave]

Ky wrote: "Dave, do you have an archive.org account? There is an omnibus edition called The Lobster Books which has The Curious Lobster's Island. If you don't already have it, it's free to sign up and needs o..."

Thanks for this, Ky! I'm not sure how - maybe the way you suggest though not good on computers so somewhat hit and miss - but somehow managed to access a little of the second book and my hopes have risen further. Will wait for the hard copy and read it right through to get the full flavour and possible final confirmation! Long time ago and I may not have read the whole thing anyway!

[Dave]

Jon wrote: "Could it be The Lobster Books?

A friendship between a lobster, a badger and a bear."

Well, Jon, have just finished reading "The Curious Lobster" - the first volume of two in the New York Review edition (2018) that I sent for - and am delighted to confirm that you have indeed reunited me with my long-lost book!

I am really grateful to you! It turns out to be every bit as good as I remember - or, rather, half-remember because it had left no trace other than the sketchy impressions I sent to Goodreads exactly 11 months ago. I'd also tried a few years before that, with no success.

This time round there were 55 messages over 2 pages (almost half of them from me, hopefully thanking everyone) with 14 kind people offering suggestions, some more than once. I enjoyed researching them - some great books, even when they weren't mine! My thanks also to the moderator Kris who advised me with the header comment.

I wasn't sure it was the right book to begin with but read it slowly, allowing the wonderful words and delightful illustrations to work their magic. It was a double pleasure, to take the story in as an adult and to find - how to put this without seeming too Proustian? - my younger self somehow walking towards me from the shadows of the past. You see, unlike other childhood books I owned and re-read many times, this one was probably a library book I had to return or risk a fine! I seem to remember trying to borrow it subsequently but someone else had taken it out and I never found it again.

So, to read the book again after so long - around 65 years later, phew! - really was a great thrill. Spooky, actually, and I'm not a big user of such words! Richard Warren Hatch's novel is funny, deep, truthful, affectionate, brilliant on friendship and also very evocative of the natural world - an almost ecological awareness for 1935 - and just the sort of book I like to think would appeal to that open-eyed youngster, me!

Now to read the other volume in the book - "The Curious Lobster's Island" - never read, so it will be interesting to see how that feels by comparison. And, hey, three cheers for Goodreads! This book enquiry feature brings real joy when it works, as I am very pleased to testify today.

Happy reading!

[Jon]

That's great, Dave. I'm glad I could help reunite you with this book. I read a couple of chapters online and agree with your appraisal of it. Lovely writing, kind and wise. Beautiful illustrations too.

[Kris]

Great! Glad you found your book, Dave. Thanks for the update.
The Curious Lobster by Richard W. Hatch

[Rainbowheart]

Yay, super glad this one is solved!

[bookel]

Good to see this was solved, missed seeing it. I just came across an animal series (Catfish Bend https://www.librarything.com/nseries/...) and thought of your post, or indeed if anyone else is looking for them.