Not even a gentle breeze on the Beaufort Scale! (Stormforce - an Otter's Tale - David Chaffe)

Member Name: nikkisly

Product:	Stormforce - an Otter's Tale - David Chaffe
Date:	14/11/01 (154 review reads)
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The book "Stormforce" by David Chaffe is quite a departure from my normal preferred reading matter. I bought it on my father's recommendation, after he had attended a "fascinating" talk given by the author, and, to be fair to dear old Dad, it was undoubtedly a book that should have captured my interest from the very first page. It is set in my beloved West Country, is about otters (one of my favourite animals) and actually mentions several people I know personally. In reality, it irritated me and came very close to being thrown onto the back of the log burner at several stages throughout the reading.

The book is the story of Storm, an abandoned otter cub rescued by a postman from an Exmoor lane and passed to wildlife expert David Chaffe for rearing. It is, at the same time, an autobiographical account of Chaffe's life caring for and studying our native flora and fauna, although the majority of the book details Storm's adventures both before and after her arrival in the Chaffe household.

As I spend quite a lot of time alone at home in a very rural area, I frequently talk to my dogs and cat - even to the sheep in the adjacent fields. (Come on - tell me honestly you don't have 'conversations' with your animals!) However, if they ever started to reply, then I might be seriously worried and, in David Chaffe's "non-fiction" account of Storm's life, reply they most certainly do! Much of the book comprises 'conversations' between author and otter, the means by which Storm tells her story. This medium of communication reduces the book from a meaningful wildlife documentary to sheer farce.

The book is a disastrous marriage of non -fiction and supposition which simply doesn't work. If you wanted to learn about the habits and habitats of otters, you'd do better to buy a book with less romanticising and if you wanted a twee tale of anthropomorphised animals then you'd
be better off with Wind in the Willows. "Stormforce" falls between two stools with a horrifying crash and lacks the strength to pick itself up again.

I found myself frequently distracted by the author's constant focus on insignificant minutiae. Much of his book seemed superfluous, such as his habit of explaining which roads he uses when he goes on journeys ("...five minutes later I was joining the slip road on the M25 at junction 22."). His style of writing verges on waffling and is an education in how to get from A to B whilst also visiting points C through to Z. To be blunt, he rambles rather than writes. More than once I found myself shrieking "Get to the point!" (and I usually included a very naughty word too!). Worse still, any dialogue in the book sounds stiff, stilted, and contrived - but then, since much of it occurs between an otter and a man I suppose that's to be expected.

The book is saved from complete mediocrity by contributions from other people. There are two sections of very good photographs, one black and white and one colour, featuring the author, his family and various wild animals. Naturally the star of the book features in many of the photographs, looking unbelievably cute. There is also a smattering of drawings of otters, most unaccredited to any particular artist, but all superb.

At the end of the book are various letters from people who have met Storm and feature in the book. Some of these letters are typewritten, some are hand written, largely indecipherable and thus of questionable value to the book overall. (The word padding springs to mind.)

If I were to be kind to the book, I would have to concede that it is jam-packed with facts about otters and that, unusually, it includes the names, addresses and telephone numbers of many of the contributors. For example, you could, if you wanted, go and stay with one of the illustrators and watch wild otters - details of how
to do so are provided. The book also includes details of otter sanctuaries and, being Chaffe, even gives you directions on how to get there. My argument is thus not with the content of the book, but more with the way that content is portrayed.

Any book review is highly subjective - one mans meat is another mans poison after all. I visited amazon to check the current price of this book and found it had been reviewed by a reader on that site and given a resounding 5* rating. (Wonder what the other 56,000 + purchasers thought?) My advice would still be: if you love otters, borrow the book from the library and spend the purchase price on a trip to an otter sanctuary.

You might enjoy "Stormforce" - I can only tell you that I most definitely did not. Yes, it is informative and educational. Yes, it has the potential to be an enchanting tale. Yes, it has beautiful photographs and drawings. However, a book like this needs to be entertaining too and I simply wasn't entertained. Bored, frustrated, irritated, patronised and driven almost to screaming pitch on more than one occasion, I forced myself to read every word, looking for mentions of familiar people and places. It was a thankless task. I rated this book 2*'s solely because of the contributions of the illustrators and photographers without whom it would have been an 'otter' disaster!

Oh...and interesting to note the name of the publishers, dontcha think?

"Stormforce" - David Chaffe - Stormforce Publications - ISBN 0 953 46700

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