Customer Reviews

Tilting, Newfoundland

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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A wonderful portrait of a small fishing village through examination of its buildings and - especially! - words of inhabitants. Also interesting to see how a small town deals with encroaching effects of globalization and the dramatic effects of large-scale commercial overfishing on their main livelihood - so pertinent to small villages the world over. They have explored some interesting political/economic alternatives to becoming a tourist destination, through consciousness-raising of the locals through film and cooperatives. Well-written, engrossing, intelligent and enjoyable.

I love ths book. I have been to Tilting and every time I pick up the book I am reminded of wonderful people, a beautiful place and an earlier, simpler way of life. Unfortunately this is fading and the older people in the book are passing. Four older men from the town have died since September 2010 and with them their stories and memories. Thankfully much of that is captured in this wonderful book. They still move houses, have gardens in Oliver's cove, raise amazing potatoes etc but this will probably be the last generation to do so. The young, like so many places in Newfoundland, have to leave their homes "to make a wage."

Every architect and student of architecture should have this book, if only for the exquisite drawings. That the text is profound and the study methodology impeccable only adds to the delight.

Peter Henry

This is an excellent study of a Newfoundland outport, a type of community that existed for 300 years, then suddenly disappeared in the 1950s under Premier Joey Smallwood's brainstorm to consolidate the out port fisheries and make them more "efficient". Fortunately, Robert Mellin an architect from Montreal, had the foresight to document this endangered way of life over a 20 year period and record his research in this excellent book. He carefully describes the traditional skills and crafts of an isolated Newfoundland fishing community for our pleasure and for posterity.