Ring of Bright Water: Amazon.ca: Gavin Maxwell: Books

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Book that Will Become Part of the Dream of Your Heart, May 12 2004

By	Timothy Davis (Pacifica, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Ring Of Bright Water (Paperback)

Forever after you read A Ring of Bright Water, the beauty, wonder, and humor of this book will gently surface with a ring of bright ripples in the waters of you mind. I am never able to remember this book without simultaneously wanting to laugh and to cry-and always with a sense of awed wonder. This is the true story of Gavin's befriending of otters (or perhaps we should say of the otters' decision to befriend Gavin.) In one scene, on the first night Gavin has one of the otters in his home, the otter carefully watches Gavin get into bed and pull the covers to his chin. The otter then crawls in beside Gavin, lies on its back, and pulls the covers to its own chin. Other scenes describe Gavin's losing efforts to make certain parts of his cottage off limits to otters. Gavin never for the rest of his life produced prose that so translucently coveys the beauty of the waters around his cottage, or the sense of his own evolving life and emotions. Reading this book is giving a gift to yourself. It is one a dozen that I always look for used to give to friends.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Tale of Otters and More, Oct 19 2001

By	Ricky Hunter (New York City, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Ring Of Bright Water (Paperback)

Gavin Maxwell's Ring of Bright Water is a much-deserved classic. It tells the tale of the author's time on the coast of Scotland devoting the first half to his learning to live in this isolated paradise and the second half, slightly better, to his time consecutively with two otters (as well as other creatures, my favourite being the geese). As anyone who loves animals will know, tears will factor into this tale, but never at the expense of the joy and laughter. They are some very funny bits. It would almost be enough to get me to exhange my cats for otters (almost, but not quite enough). Some of the writing is a litte florid at times, particulary the brief section on killer whales, but, otherwise, this is an astounding and beautiful example of nature writing.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect nature book, Jun 7 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Ring Of Bright Water (Paperback)

Despite being a book written 40 years ago, the delightful stories are perfect to read over and over. If you only know it as 'the book about the pet otter', it also has dozens of other little vingettes in it. Marvelous, a classic!

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The classic otter tale...
This book has been a favorite of mine for years. Maxwell exceeds at conveying deep personal emotion, and this book is suffused with the joy he felt during his first few years with... Read more

Published on May 28 1999 by Nungesser

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating! The Western Highlands in all their glory!
A wonderful account of Gavin Maxwell's fascination with the otter. An equally wonderful account of the beauties of the Western Highlands from a perspective rarely... Read more

Published on April 9 1999

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and Charming Reminiscence
Maxwell's "Ring of Bright Water" is not a book about otters alone. It is the story of a man living near the Hebridies and taking up the life of a naturalist. Read more

Published on Aug 24 1998