Customer Reviews

The Fisherman's Son

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was a nerve-wracking rollick through the seas. The writing evoked both fear and seasicksickness as the seas became rougher! It spoke deeply of the quiet hurt of fishermen's wives, the devotion fisherman have to each other, their boats and the ocean, and the ever-present dangers of the sea-faring life. The author used an interesting technique whereby he had two stories going at once--the present going backward and the past going forward. It worked and neither narrative detracted from the other. There were some places in the narrative which needed to be reread in order to be more clearly understood. In addition, there were a few technical words relating to fishing and boating which might have interfered with the reading pleasure of someone not as knowledgeable about maritime life. Nevertheless, this was a story well told and worth reading.

Anyone who enjoyed "Into Thin Air", "Into the Wild" or "The Perfect Storm" will also love this book. I live within a mile of this "fishing village" and was personally involved in the lifestyle of the commercial fisherman and its fascinating characters. This book could easily be non-fiction as the depiction of this dying way of life is factual as well as riveting. Most of the characters I assume are composites of people Mr. Koepf knew, but the man he called "Raisin" was real. His close friends truly did call him Raisin(real name Bill)and he was an incredible human being with a fierce courage I have never known since. He unfortunately died at a young age but those in his close-knit circle of friends never thought of him as disabled, and he was quite willing to aim a rather "salty" tongue-lashing at anyone who tried to treat him as such. Mr. Koepf portrayed him with dead-on accuracy and brought back very welcome memories of a time and friendship with folks I enjoyed very much. I am sure that Bill's sons are very proud to see their father depicted in the way that Mr. Koepf has. His account of Neil's harrowing experiences on the sea are "edge-of-the seat" thrilling but this book is also a very poignant portrayal of Neil's relationship with his father, family and friends. I am sure you will find it fascinating and well worth the read.

Koepf honors two great American traditions in his fine work: the power of the individual personality and the wonder of the ocean.The sea has held a special place in the American imagination. Rarely is an environment captured so completely as Koepf's world of northern California fishermen. As a tribute to the author's storytelling you need not fish or even live by the sea to appreciate this novel. Anyone can appreciate this story of an American family caught in conflict with a world as changeable as coastline weather. The characters stand as proud, moving examples of independence and fortitude. Koepf acutely evokes the mythical, mysterious power of the ocean, in all its beauty, grandeuer, force and terror while avoiding assigning a judgemental or definitive "personality" to it. This book overflows with action, suspense, romance and heartbreak and is tightly woven with simple but evocative prose. In search of a compelling story that continues to haunt after the last page is turned? Read this book.

having grown up and fished half moon bay with my father in the same era as neil, i realize something has changed in the way fathers and sons communicate. to me this is a book about the non verbal glue that holds men together. the only book i can remember reading twice.

Michael Koepf has done an amazing job. This is one of the greatest books I have ever read. Not only is the story amazing but the writing was amazing as well making a combination not seen very much anymore. I recommend this book to anyone who loves good literature!!!

I guess, in many ways, the sea has a powerful influence over the lives of people. Being from Texas, I have only visited the sea - I have never lived by it. This was a fascinating book about people's lives who depend on the sea. During the book, I found myself less concened with the sea and its actions and more involved in the stories of the characters. This book is a story about people and the relationships formed by the sea and because of the sea. The author does a good job of leaving something for the imagination. The story isn't over when the book ends. This, in my mind, is the sign of a great author.

The Fisherman's Son is an unusual mixture of powerful often savage imagry and economical poetic prose. It moves between the brutal practicalities of life and the illusiveness and desires of lost childhood dreams; from the haunting passages of a rescue at sea to the savage killing of the sea lion. So many wonderful and rich adventures at sea, so many lives lost that speak of a time gone by. Hat's off to Mr. Koepf.

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.

The Fisherman's Son was caught because of its cover; it had the coolest one in the pile of books I looked through. Hence, I judged the book by it and was not disappointed. The novel describes the life of a commercial fisherman through the eyes of Neil, the son of one. We go through his childhood, seeing how he becomes a professional fisherman via being a deckhand for his father in tough economic times. As the novel continues the father's love for the sea in good and bad times takes precedence over his marriage and family life; eventually he and his wife are permanently estranged as his mother searches for her own life and meaning at the neglect of her family. Neil's father is both a significant influence and a distant enigma; he belongs to a fishing crew from earlier times, one untouched by the tides of world news. Often father and son are together-alone on the boat, interacting through the daily tasks of fishing but much less through communication. He is, is Neil's words, a "solitary seabird".
For much of the book the sameness of a fishing life comes to the surface; what hooked me and kept my interest is the author's prose and his knowledge: he was a professional fisherman for many years as were members of his immediate family. I have little doubt that some of the harrowing situations on the seas, situations where death could or does come, were based or influenced by real life experiences of the author and his community.
The aspect of the book I would change is that each chapter begins with a few paragraphs on Neil as an adult before delving into his past. He is adrift on a life raft hoping to make it to land or be rescued. While waiting he remembers his past, comprising the novel. These opening paragraphs are not overly effective and add little; the novel stands without them. The voice of Neil remembering without being encumbered by his present danger and uncertainty would serve the story better.
Despite this, the novel works. The fisherman's life isn't for me; but Keoph's skillful rendering of its somber tediousness interspersed with wave-faring danger, of its grim determination to find the next big catch lured me in.

As a ex-commercial salmon fisherman, starting during the same era as the Dad
this book brought back so many memories of fishing.The Author was able to
put into words experiences and thoughts that I could never do.
This is not some ex-fisherman writing memoirs this is a polished writer who certainly must
have lived many of experiences.
john m