the compleat Angler is 'a boring load of tosh'... apparently...

[OrangeJonny]

Doing a bit of googling and came across this article in the Independent from 1996.

The author (Keith Elliot) describes the book as 'a boring load of tosh', and states that 'It is, in every detail, a tedious political allegory, intended not for the amusement or instruction of anglers, but simply for the advancement of the Caroline cause and the confusion of the forces of Cromwell.'

He also has a bit of a pop at the Golden Scale Club.



Has anybody heard this 'theory' before?

[Marc]

I read this the other day funnily enough. Although I don't have an opinion on whether it was a political statement I have struggled through TCA and it is a hard slog and (in my opinion) a poor book by modern standards. Some good prose but not a compelling fluid work of literature.

I read it when I was librarian at county hall in durham and found it one of the hardest books to get into I've ever tried and I had to read the likes of Maeve Binchy and Meg Hutchinson for book clubs.

[Paul D]

Read it and make your own mind up OJ, you've got read it bearing in mind when it was written. This Mr Elliot sounds rather too self important to me.

[Olly]

Actually - he is! A member of an angling club I belong to.

He is editor of an angling magazine published one or twice a year - about all fishing - anywhere in the world!! Classic Angling it is called.

TCA for me is somewhere I dip in to a page or two - then not look at it for some months!

[Dave Burr]

In modern terms, the book can easily be called boring and tosh. It is a difficult read and has little relevance to what we do at the waterside. But it has a charm and illustrates a world a long, long way from our own.

As for the GSC. I used to be enthralled by their activities and envied those that were members. But nowadays, having fished with groups of like minded anglers regarding species or method, I find that we can all enjoy our own niche place and celebrate our own eccentricities. The GSC has inspired some but it is just a group of blokes fishing. The aura around them comes more from Chris Yates' writing than anything tangible and were another group attempt to emulate it, it would appear pompous.

So I can't see me being invited any time soon

[GregF]

I quite like ‘The Compleat Angler’. I don’t venerate Walton, nor anybody else for that matter, but I have enjoyed his prose. It’s not a book to read from cover to cover (although I have). I’m with Olly in that it’s more one to dip into now and then. Elliott’s arguments would carry more weight without the supposedly humorous confusion of Walton and Newton. After the apple falling on the head comment we have no idea whether his theory (or Zern’s theory) are meant to be taken seriously. If Walton’s (or Hornaday’s) intention was to produce a veiled anti-Cromwell treatise, he made a very good job of veiling it. So good in fact, that the true meaning must’ve gone compleatly over the head of most readers.

[Kevin]

Jonny do you have a link to the article?

[Santiago]

I really enjoyed reading The Compeat Angler and didn't find any difficulties with the text. But I failed to see any reference to the politics of the day.

[OrangeJonny]

Here's the link. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/a-co ... 49276.html

I agree that TCA is a difficult read. I too dip in and out, reading small passages for amusement more than anything else.

As you've all said, I feel it should be regarded as a historical document rather than a guide for modern fishing, but I do enjoy being reminded that casting a rod and line is not a modern sport and that its history is a long one.

I got the feeling that the author was simply trying to stir up some negative emotion. After all isn't that what the media does best??

[Kevin]

I agree, Zern wrote a regular column in field and stream magazine,called Exit Laughing.

Best known for his "Exit Laughing" column, which appeared in Field & Stream magazine for more than 30 years, beginning in November 1958, Mr. Zern brought a fine sense of irreverance to the hunting and fishing scene. He created a special world where nothing was sacred and everything was good for a laugh. Unusual View of the World