Sunday, April 10, 2011

Don't know what to get or give for Easter or Pessach?


How about a book? A book about sharks?

The best shark books I have read in many years, if not ever, are, by far, Ila France-Porcher's new publication and Dean Crawford's slim, unassuming oeuvre.

As a photographer, I believe it is difficult to convey the (almost) indescribable fascination of sharks other than with an image. But, of course, I say that because I am not a skilled craftsman of words. Ila and Dean are.



Tiger shark emerging from the depth of the Indian Ocean.
Photo: Wolfgang Leander (2008)
Click to enlarge


When a writer combines passion, knowledge, and talent, as both Ila and Dean do, you have what ideally, but rarely, every book should do: Give you an immense intellectual and emotional pleasure that is hardly matched by anything else - no, no, don't think I am that bookish or beyond good and evil, and not fond of other earthly delights - I said "hardly", OK? ..... :-)

So: ENJOY the books as much as I did.


By the way: I am not 'promoting' these books - I am just recommending them as a fantastic read. I get no commissions, and I am not trying to do Ila and Dean a favor - with the tremendous amount of work and dedication they have invested in their literary projects, they know better than anybody else what their books are worth. They have written them with what we call in German:
"Herzblut" (= Heart Blood).


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