Customer Reviews

The People of the Sea: A Journey in Search of the Seal Legend

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This is one of the most marvelous (in all senses of the word) reading experiences I've had in a long time. Thomson's book was originally published in the 1950's, but had fallen out of print and was resurrected through the efforts of Seamus Heaney, a friend of the author's who also provides a very helpful introduction. As a child, Thomson became fascinated by legends of seals who transform themselves into human beings (or vice versa), and in pursuit of this interest he traveled into remote areas of Scotland and Ireland where these legends were still part of the living folk tradition. But in the 1940's the tradition was dying out: the educational system pressured children to speak English rather than Gaelic, and listening to the radio had superseded traditional entertainments such as storytelling. Thomson's chapters depict a way of life that was already disappearing; he conveys not only the stories themselves but the entire "flavor" of the storytelling -- the people who tell them, the phraseology they use, their audiences, and the smoky cottages and fishy seaside shacks where the stories are told. His summary of the seal legends is fascinating, but the greatest pleasure of the book, for me, was its evocation of the world in which the legends arose. I can't recommend this book highly enough. (Suggested listening to accompany the final chapter: "The Song of the Seals" from Matt Molloy's album "Shadows on Stone.")

I first came across this book in Ireland during the late 70's. It has become one of my very favorites. I've given copies to people and at one time gave away my last one to a writer who also wrote Selkie tales. Fortunately, I was able to get more.

As I read the book I feel as though I'm right there with him...the look, the feel, the smell of the air, the ground, inside the homes...he captured it perfectly.

I can't agree with those who complain that it didn't give enough information---. It's one of those things that people don't talk about with outsiders....and there may even be concerns that to talk about it would cause harm in some way---either to them or the Selkies. The fact that he was able to glean as much info as he did is a tribute to the trust the people felt towards him.

I'm so thankful that he made this/these treck(s) and documented as much as he did---even though the tales were being lost even at that time.

There's a great scene in the movie Local Hero, where the scientest gal is either getting into or coming out of the water; at one point the camera passes across her feet and her toes are quite webbed. It's just a visual, nobody says anything or has any reaction to it and if one didn't have the Selkie background it wouldn't have made much sense.

I was fifteen when I first read this book, in 1967. I had never heard any of the Selchie legends, and I was completely enchanted by them, and by Thomson's writing. He doesn't just retell these tales; he finds those people who still tell them, and lets them speak for themselves. We hear about how they lived then, and how they live now, showing how beautiful some of the old ways were, and how sad their loss is. I have re-read it many times since and, as I get older, I find more in it that speaks to me. It should be impossible to feel nostalgia for something you have never experienced, but Thomson has managed to fill me with that emotion. I'm thrilled that it is back in print again (my copy is worn thin!) and that the celebrated poet Seamus Heaney has written the new foreword.

A charming book with a telling title. In The People of the Sea, Thomson recounts many evenings on the more remote coasts of the British Isles in the first half of the twentieth century.

While he is chasing stories about his little obsession (folklore of the grey seal -- one "people of the sea"), a modern reader may be more fascinated by the fishermen, ferrymen, farmers and families that he meets as he drops in on these rugged coastal backwaters. (A second "people of the sea").

While Thomson listens to an intriguing variety of old stories (some ancient and glorious and others more like the urban myths so much discussed today), the people he meets are amazed at his occasional mentions of modern conveniences like gas stoves.

He meets people who live by peat fires and paraffin lamps. They fish from rowed boats of tarred cloth. There are no telephones, televisions and people still entertain each other with stories.

If you enjoy this book, you might find almost as good a look at fairy tales in context between the covers of a more recent book: Meeting the Other Crowd.

I have to say that I was disappointed with this book. It seems less about the legends about the selkie folk and more about what the author thinks he might feel about such legends---it feels removed, remote, uncommitted. If he was really on search for the truth behind the stories, he didn't seem to be searching very hard, and he didn't seem to share his results particularly successfully, and I never really felt touched by any sense of Celtic other-worldliness---and that's what I was hoping for and waiting for. The introduction by Seamus Heaney was, alas, the best part of the book...

Read the book. It's one of the best I've ever found. It will haunt your forever.

I was thrilled when I finally got hold of a copy of this book, but it disappointed me bitterly. I don't understand why the other reviewers are raving about it. It's actually very tedious.