The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island

I bought this book shortly after finishing The Hungry Ocean and I was happy to find that this was just as enjoyable as her first book. Greenlaw has a perfect writing style for this type of book. She certainly knows her way around a boat but she doesn't write with any note of arrogance or

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superiority. She instead simply paints a very vivid picture of life as a fisherman.

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I really enjoyed this 2nd book by Greenlaw. Her love and respect for her family and the small town where she lives come through in every chapter. As an educated, 40ish woman who sometimes wonders about the paths I didn't take, I sympathized with Greenlaw's longings for what she doesn't have. She

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doesn't really solve any of the world's problem; but she reminds me that we all make choices and it's up to us what we do with the results.

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lobster...Maine, rocky coasts and pine tree..the ocean and boats...did I mention lobster? :-)
what's not to like.
ok, pretty much she had me at Maine.

I love the coast of Maine and this book give a very pleasant season on a very small island off the coast. No great drama (well, a bit of real dama

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with the illness of her mother), and no huge revelations. Just an idea of what it is to give in such a small community, earning a questionable living and yet loving this 'rock' and these people and this life unlike anything else on earth.
Except maybe the ocean..always the deep ocean is in the background, maybe calling her back.

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book, an account of life on a really little island off the coast of Maine. The people in this book are weird and interesting and funny.

I recently had the opportunity to visit Maine for the first time and found myself wondering. Wondering about lobster fishing, what it is like to live on one of the small islands or isolated fishing communities. I had questions about buoys and boats. This book was AMAZING at answering the questions

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I had about everything I had seen and observed. The writing style is quick. No extra words. Raw observation combined with true introspection made this book a delight for me. It is one persons account of one lobster fishing season. But there is so much more. Characters as intresting and well portrayed as any Stienbeck novel. I don't know if I would have enjoyed the book as much if I hadn't had any direct knowledge of gear lots and such but the honesty of the portrayl of the people caught me. It isn't a story as much as it is a documentary. Wonderful read.

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The Lobster Chronicles by Linda Greenlaw is just the sort of work that completely captivates me. For the most part, I find my life quite interesting, do find my life quite interesting and have been fortunate enough to do a lot of the things I wanted to do, and it is turning into a relatively long

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run, when all is said and done. One of the pleasures I get out of life is learning of other people, their experiences; both exciting, earth shaking, and yes, mundane. Hey, I know about me; I want to know about others. Ms. Greenlaw, by any standard is an interesting person! Her accomplishments are really a bit breath taking as told in the story of her time spent as professional fisherman in her work, The Hungry Ocean.

It this autobiographical work we see a more calm, less dangerous (well, sort of) aspect of here life as she introduces us to her native island, a small hunk of rock off the coast of Maine. She has stopped being a Captain of a commercial fishing boat and has taken up lobster trapping, usually with a crew of one, her father. We get a very nice insight to island life; the closeness, harshness, realities of a very hard way of making a living. We also get a close up view of a way of life that may not be with us much longer. Chronicles such as this are a wonderful way to preserve a history of life in these far reaches of our country. This is something that should not be lost to future generations, even if they can only read about them.

As far as I was concerned, this work was very well written. Granted, it does not have the polish of a “professional” writer, and granted, you may find a few flaws in grammar and syntax here and there, but who really cares? Her story is told in her own words, much as you would hear it if you sat and talked with her for a bit. I find this much more pleasing to the eye, ear and mind than many of the professionally written “autobiographies as told to.” Her small village is absolutely infested with interesting characters, she is quite good at descriptive writing and you get a true feel of what it is like at the place and time of which she writes. I take this work to be an oral history, if nothing more, but a wonderful history and quite well done. I cannot imagine anyone with an ounce of imagination, of curiosity of how others live, or wanting to know of things they have not done themselves, being bored with this work. I actually read it in one setting, and I am a pretty slow reader. I simply could not put the thing down.

All in all it was well done. We all have a tale to tell, each of us. Thank goodness there are individuals like Ms. Greenlaw who has the ability to tell theirs. Hope to hear more from this author in the future.

D. Blankenship
The Ozarks

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A well-written true story of what is involved in lobstering and living on a small island.

Linda Greenlaw was a deep sea fisherman. She is the woman sea captain in the movie "The Perfect Storm." In her late 30's, she decides to give up fishing, return to her home on Isle Au Haute Maine and take up

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lobstering. With her father as her sternman, she takes us through an entire year's cycle of painting buoys, cleaning traps, launching boats, laying traps, and then harvesting (or hoping to harvest) lobsters. It's the story of folks who live without a resident doctor, without a movie theater, or big modern grocery store, whose mail comes by boat. The relationship of the towns people with summer people provides some amusing anecdotes, while the story of local lobsterman protecting their fishing grounds against outsides gives us a true picture of the uncertainties of making a living from the sea.

It's extemely readable and presents a charming but realistic story of this difficult way of life.

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Somewhat interesting; but not much. I wasn't sure if I was reading about her pursuit of a husband or her pursuit of lobsters; neither of which seem to be very successful. I have not read her The Hungry Ocean. I have to assume it is much better.

An odd little book. After years spent as a swordfish boat captain (part inspiration for The Perfect Storm) she returns home to a small island in Maine to settle down, too find romance and begin lobster fishing.

Greenlaw is a witty and endearing and manages to depict life on a tiny island with

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aplomb. Memorable characters mix family anecdotes and fishing tales which was interesting but ends up feeling disjointed. There needed to be more of the link between stories. It is also a brutally honest book, by the end her complete loneliness and the sadness of her journey left me feeling slightly uncomfortable. However looking at her bibliography it looks like she has found a new direction and I hope happiness.

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Greenlaw tells the story of life on the Island interspersed with her life as a lobsterman. She's a direct writer, and fishing is a hard living, so her story may come across as blunt. I found it an easy read though.

This seems less like a book than a magazine article. It’s amusing for sure, but slight. It’s a slice of the life of a lobster fisherman, with lots of technical details, in case you’re thinking of taking it up. The funny bits are descriptions of life in a small island community.

I took a star only for the slow start. Where it took me two weeks to read the first half of the book, it took me less than two days to read the second half. Linda Greenlaw's life is fascinating, her writing is wonderful and I will be reading another of her books soon.

I loved this memoir that gives us a bit of everything - small town life & politics, personal quandaries, family relationships, and the adventure of the sea. I still don't empathize with the appeal of living like that, though - it really does take a special kind of person, and maybe independent

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lobstermen should be allowed to pass on the way that the proverbial buggy-whip makers did.

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The Lobster Chronicles by Linda Greenlaw
Have read other books in this series and appreciate every word.
After 17 years away at sea swordfishing she needs to return home to her homeland that has 70 in the winter months.
She wants the rest of it now: husband, house, kids, etc.
Love hearing all about

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small island living as I grew up such an island off the coast of RI. Many had to go off island to work daily til they retired.
Like how the meetings go and especially the woman sitting knitting.
Hard life I've seen it myself, good times and tragic things occur.
Very informative and real life.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

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