The Book of Eels - Patrik Svensson

In November 2018, I had the opportunity to live in Sydney, Australia, for a month. While exploring the city, I stumbled upon the Royal Botanic Garden, and ended up roaming every corner of it. In some parts of the botanical gardens, there are ponds, and in these ponds, there are eels.

The eels are friendly and gentle -- if you put a stick or a finger into the water, they come up and bump it with their head. I think people toss them food. The eels are also adventurous, as noted by some information plaques near the ponds. If one of the ponds is drained (and the eels removed), the eels will return as soon as the pond is refilled, even if the pond is not connected to any other ponds. This is because the eels can travel over land for up to hours at a time, and have an incredible homing instinct driving them to their ponds.

Meeting these eels sent me off on a long tangent of reading about eels. I was fascinated by their complex life cycle, with metamorphosis and adventure juxtaposed with years of sitting nearly perfectly still in one location. Reading about eels was a pleasant diversion, and always left me recharged and ready to tackle my usual non-eel-related work. So, ever since, then, I use "reading about eels" as an analogy for taking some time for myself, to let the mind wander.

Given the positive impact the eel has had on my mental wellbeing, I knew as soon as I saw The Book of Eels that I must have it. It was in the window of Bookbound in Ann Arbor, and a week later it was in my hands.

Reading this book has filled me with deep joy. It alternates, chapter by chapter, between the author's recollection of a childhood spent fishing for eels with his father, and anecdotes and facts about the history of humanity's fascination with this enigmatic creature. The book is moving, charming, educational, and thoroughly satisfying. From how the author's father relished freshly fried eel to how Tisquantum's armfuls of eels saved the pilgrims on the Mayflower, The Book of Eels is filled to the brim with appealing and endearing prose.

At the heart of the book is the idea that the eel is a mystery. If we learned everything there is to know about eels, somehow, they would lose their very eel-ness, the thing that has etched out their special place in human history. With that in mind, I'll avoid sharing any more of the book's details. Take it upon yourself to melt into this book and take your mind on a voyage. Let yourself spend some time reading about eels.