Body of Water: A Sage, a Seeker, and the World’s Most Elusive Fish by Chris Dombrowski
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This was a GREAT book – even if one is not into fly fishing or fishing at all. There’s a depth to the stories that are shared – an arc, if you will. I learned more about the Bahamas, bone-fish and the history of the place, the people who live there and make their livelihood guiding. In addition, Chris’s writing is dense – I often would find myself needing to take a break from reading to consider what it was he was getting at. There was beauty in the writing, as well.
Chris plays a little geographic travel with this as he will compare fly fish guiding in Montana, where he does this, to guiding in the Bahamas. He also attempts to touch on how very wealthy people buy land in order to preserve it and keep it from having resources exploited. It’s a mixed bag in a sense – in that if government won’t do it, then perhaps those with means can, will and should (?).
Near then end his writing goes deep with the ideas of presence, longevity, dreams, and what makes a life worthwhile. There’s an existential element to the book that captures more than one can see and/or experience.
His ability to convey the depth of the lives of the people in this book is exceptional. It doesn’t make me want to go there (to the Bahamas), but makes me want to be more present and aware of my current circumstances. Traveling there would be wonderful I imagine, but that’s not the point of this book. The point is presence, clarity and understanding. I highly recommend this book.