lobstering – ~*LunaSea*~

Gilbert, Elizabeth. Stern Men. Read by Allyson Ryan. Books on Tape, 2008.

Reason read: a book about Maine in honor of me trying to get home for Thanksgiving.

I found myself stuck after reading Stern Men. I could not describe it to people the way that I wanted to. It is and it isn’t a story about two warring lobstering communities, battling over the same Maine waters for the same lobsters. Taking place on two fictional islands, Fort Niles and Courne Haven, twenty miles out to sea and only separated by a narrow channel, that plotline seemed plausible enough (especially if you know anything about Matinicus Island). Lobster wars are definitely part of the story, but these battles are not significant enough to drive the main storyline. More transparently, Stern Men is the story of eighteen-year-old Ruth Thomas. She is a Fort Niles resident, newly returned to the island after completing high school at a boarding school in Delaware. She has returned to the island unsure of her next steps. She fakes her feelings towards lobstering despite it being her father’s profession. She will not let anyone dictate her future, especially the wealthy Ellis family who have a hold on Fort Niles. She is ambivalent towards most things until she meets silent lobsterman, Owen Wishnell, from Courne Haven.
I would say the community of Fort Niles is the best part of Stern Men. Mrs. Pommeroy, the woman who took Ruth in when her parents were divorcing; Mrs. Pommeroy’s twin sons, sweet Simon, who wants to create a Fort Niles museum, and cranky Angus, the toughest and meanest lobsterman in all of Maine – to name a few.

Confessional: whenever I read about a Maine island, I always compare it to Monhegan. It doesn’t matter if the island is fictional or real, I still stack up the story against Monhegan and its community. Monhegan is only ten miles out to sea and takes an hour to get to. Fictional Fort Niles and Courne are twenty miles out to sea and take four hours to get to. Interesting. Monhegan’s largest wildlife is the muskrat. Somehow fox have landed on Fort Niles and Courne. How did they get there? As an aside, Monhegan is mentioned very briefly in Stern Men. Maybe I am too close to the particular subject of warring lobstermen. My island went to battle with an adjacent island and it got so heated both parties ended up in court. The end result was a mandate that Monhegan’s lobstermen cannot fish beyond a two-mile radius. That also means the rest of Maine cannot come within those two miles for their lobsters.]

Author fact: Gilbert has been compared to Dickens, Emerson, Austen, Tyler, Irving, Heller, Elkin, and Hoffman!

Book trivia: Stern Men is Gilbert’s first novel.

BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “The Maine Chance” (p 135). Pearl uses a lot of cute titles for each chapter but I have to admit this one was lost on me. I had to look it up to discover that there was a 1969 television drama called “The Main Chance.” Oh.

Corson, Trevor. The Secret Life of Lobsters. New York: Harper Collins, 2004.

Reason read: Rockland, Maine holds a Lobster Festival every year during the first week of August. I have been once.

I originally put off reading The Secret Life of Lobsters thinking it was going to be bogged down with dry research statistics. Instead, I found a warm, and humorous yet fact-filled account of not only the life of lobsters but of the men who make their livelihood trying to catch them, Corson included. Chapters alternate between scientists and their research and lobstermen of Little Cranberry Island, Maine, and their struggle to farm the sea. There were things I knew (the cod is the biggest natural predator of lobsters and lobster is loaded with sodium) and lots more I didn’t know, like there are 52 species of Crustacea and the sex life of a lobster is brutal!

Confessional: I grew up eating lobster like it was chicken. Every so often my father would barter welding services for a few pounds of lobster for “his girls” while he himself couldn’t touch the stuff (allergic), so the entire time I was reading The Secret Life of Lobsters I was willing myself to not make comparisons to Monhegan’s way of life.

Quotes I just had to quote, “The problem was that the male lobster appeared not to have a penis” (p 46), and “Quite possibly, lobsters were sensing each other and sending signals – “I beat you up last night, remember?” or “Would you liketo mate with me, I’m about to undress?” – by pissing in each other’s faces” (p 196).

Author fact: Corson is a marine biologist and a third generation lobersterman so he knows his stuff!

Book trivia: The Secret Life of Lobsters does not contain any photographs or maps. I was bummed not to see the latter. It would have been fun to track some of the places Corson mentioned.

Nancy said: Pearl says Secret Life of Lobsters is about “what’s known, and not, about the lobster…” (Book Lust To Go p 135).

BookLust Twist: from book Lust To Go in the chapter called “The Maine Chance” (p 135).