The Iambics of Newfoundland
Notes from an Unknown Shore
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
For nearly a decade, Robert Finch traveled around the "edge of North America" — the stunning yet seriously inhospitable island of Newfoundland. Here, he chronicles the people, geography, and wildlife of this remote and lovely place. In beautifully written essays, sketches, and stories, Finch roams from verdant valleys to the rocky cliffs of Cape Spear, from Sandy Cove to Squid Tickle, from the steep streets of historic St. John's to the moss–covered tundra of the southern coast. As he describes the land, he brings to life the island's diverse array of characters — newcomers and old–timers, fisherman, hunters, hitchhikers, and children. Most of all, The Iambics of Newfoundland shows readers the island itself — an ancient place tucked between provinces, languages, and cultures — struggling to find a footing in the modern world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Well-known nature writer Finch (The Cape Itself) presents his impressions of Canada's most remote island, drawing a detailed portrait of a harsh but beautiful world and the hardscrabble people who populate it. And a quirky world it is: Newfoundlanders have a language all their own, wherein everyone is addressed as "boy" and towns have names like "Squid Tickle"; visitors are "almost invariably treated with hospitality, though still referred to as a stranger," and even "if a stranger takes up residence in a village, he is a CFA, or come from away"; one Newfoundland town is still a departement of France, and its residents use the language, food and money of the home country while driving about on John Deere tractors rescued from a 1950s ship wreck; Fifty-five lighthouses line the shores of Newfoundland, more than any other North American province or state, fitting for a people whose lives and dreams are driven by fishing. While Finch's skill at capturing the flora, fauna and landscape of a given area is unparalleled, his writerly skill is at its sharpest capturing Newfoundland's children, parents, fishermen and "strangers," and his blossoming friendships with them, that sets his book apart from other fish-out-of-water travelogues. Though far from a traditional guide, anyone curious about "the unknown shore" will find this an exacting, delightful tour.
