A Reed Shaken by the Wind

This is great. Second only to Thesiger's [b:The Marsh Arabs 16074157 The Marsh Arabs Wilfred Thesiger https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1374895773l/16074157.SX50.jpg 855162], and essentially a retelling of Thesiger's final visit to the marshes, when Gavin Maxwell accompanied him. They were there around three months.Maxwell has a great writing style. He describes the places and events well, and the photographs dispersed throughout the book are excellent.Thesiger to Maxwell “Shooting here is not a bit like any ideas you might have. It's a strictly unsporting business, and we expect - and get - at least 200 percent” (This was quite untrue, although I did not yet know it; it was a laudable effort to instill principle rather than fact.) “You get as many coots in a row as you can; and you can only take single flying shots at duck and so on, and then God help if you miss. It's food we're after, we can't carry enough cartridges for sport. Your reputation among these people will stand or fall absolutely by what you kill or don't kill, and they're all watching you.”Having luckily shot 3 coots from 2 cartridges, Thesiger continues “Pity you aren't leaving us now; trouble about reputations won on flukes is that they're so shortlived.” At the end of the book, Maxwell obtains the otter he takes back to Scotland, and which becomes the star of his later otter books.Read this book after Thesiger's [b:The Marsh Arabs 16074157 The Marsh Arabs Wilfred Thesiger https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1374895773l/16074157.SX50.jpg 855162], and before Gavin Young's [b:Return To The Marshes 7933884 Return To The Marshes Gavin Young https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1336579716l/7933884.SX50_SY75.jpg 2344226].