Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Rovereto, Keller
Description
How I Came to Know Fish (1974) is Ota Pavel's magical memoir of his childhood in Czechoslovakia. Fishing with his father and his Uncle Prosek - the two finest fishermen in the world - he takes a peaceful pleasure from the rivers and ponds of his country. But when the Nazis invade, his father and two older brothers are sent to concentration camps and Pavel must steal their confiscated fish back from under the noses of the SS to feed his family. With tales of his father's battle to provide for his family both in wealthy freedom and in terrifying persecution, this is one boy's passionate and affecting tale of life, love and fishing.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Sr_Moreno
A very funny and touching memoir of the author's childhood and his experience up to and during the Second World War. The book is made up affectionate anecdotes of all the people who influenced his childhood and is told in an asynchronous manner. Wonderfully written.
LibraryThing member Bookoholic73
This would be a great and interesting narrative of the author´s childhood in any way, but I feel here you get two perks in one. His writing style has an easy flow to it, he has the gift of drawing you in and you can nearly smell the water and share the sensation of a little boy who discovers the
The narrative of the every day life, and the hardships and little victories a jew could have, make this a book that everybody should read, in order to understand better. There are stories such as when the father risks everything in order to provide meat for his older sons before they are to go to concentration camp, or how he empties the pond of all the fish, fish that was meant to go to the Wehrmacht the night before his own transport, where I could hardly breathe and you cannot put the book down at any account before knowing that all will be well.
Pavel is a great example of the great Czech storytellers, next to Čapek and Hrabal, and a joy to read. His love of life, nature and mankind shines through every word, and given what he must have experienced, this is something to admire in deed.
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river and his great love for fishing. But as this is a also Czechoslovakia of the late 30s, and the family is half-jewish, between the pikes, eels and the river itself, many interesting personalities that live on the banks of Pavel´s beloved river Berounka and the adventures of his boysterous and wonderful father, there is also the entry of the Germans and all the persecutions that the family is facing during the war. The narrative of the every day life, and the hardships and little victories a jew could have, make this a book that everybody should read, in order to understand better. There are stories such as when the father risks everything in order to provide meat for his older sons before they are to go to concentration camp, or how he empties the pond of all the fish, fish that was meant to go to the Wehrmacht the night before his own transport, where I could hardly breathe and you cannot put the book down at any account before knowing that all will be well.
Pavel is a great example of the great Czech storytellers, next to Čapek and Hrabal, and a joy to read. His love of life, nature and mankind shines through every word, and given what he must have experienced, this is something to admire in deed.
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Language
Original language
Czech
Original publication date
1974
1971
Physical description
7.09 inches
ISBN
8889767375 / 9788889767375