Why Fish Don't Exist
A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life
Ratings70
Average rating4.1
15
A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life
Ratings70
Average rating4.1
A “remarkable” (Los Angeles Times), “seductive” (The Wall Street Journal) debut from an extraordinary new voice in nonfiction, Why Fish Don’t Exist is a dark and astonishing tale of love, chaos, scientific obsession, and—possibly—even murder. “At one point, Miller dives into the ocean into a school of fish…comes up for air, and realizes she’s in love. That’s how I felt: Her book took me to strange depths I never imagined, and I was smitten.” —The New York Times Book Review David Starr Jordan was a taxonomist, a man possessed with bringing order to the natural world. In time, he would be credited with discovering nearly a fifth of the fish known to humans in his day. But the more of the hidden blueprint of life he uncovered, the harder the universe seemed to try to thwart him. His specimen collections were demolished by lightning, by fire, and eventually by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake—which sent more than a thousand discoveries, housed in fragile glass jars, plummeting to the floor. In an instant, his life’s work was shattered. Many might have given up, given in to despair. But Jordan? He surveyed the wreckage at his feet, found the first fish that he recognized, and confidently began to rebuild his collection. And this time, he introduced one clever innovation that he believed would at last protect his work against the chaos of the world. When NPR reporter Lulu Miller first heard this anecdote in passing, she took Jordan for a fool—a cautionary tale in hubris, or denial. But as her own life slowly unraveled, she began to wonder about him. Perhaps instead he was a model for how to go on when all seemed lost. What she would unearth about his life would transform her understanding of history, morality, and the world beneath her feet. Part biography, part memoir, part scientific adventure, Why Fish Don’t Exist is a wondrous fable about how to persevere in a world where chaos will always prevail.
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Bit slow in the middle, but very good. Finishes quite early due to all the notes at the end (ebook).
I sat on this review a long while before typing this out. I'm not sure whatever I say about it here will do it justice. I guess, in short form, if the idea of discovering why we feel the need to categorize things (plants, fish, people) can be harmful appeals to you and you don't mind taking a long journey of discovery to get there, this book is for you.
The description here on Goodreads doesn't really do this book justice; yes, David Starr Jordan's taxonomic quest to label all fish is the reason for the book existing, but it's far from the point of the book. The author's quest to rebuild her life through this obsession with David Starr Jordan is a main point of the story, but even that is just the framework for the larger theme of labelling being harmful and accepting fundamental changes without falling to pieces. Either you accept that fish don't exist and reorder your life around this fundamental change, or you categorically reject it and find yourself lost without a compass.
The buildup this book provides is important, and you can't skip parts to go on to the “better ones”, because you need the buildup for the payoff to matter and have meaning. Your perceptions and beliefs about what you've read are constantly being flipped on their heads as you go on this wild ride from David Starr Jordan being this quirky biologist to being a racist eugenicist who maybe killed his wife. I had a lot of whiplash moments when things abruptly changed on me, and I really enjoyed the feeling of “well I guess this book can go anywhere now”.
After a lot of thought, this ended up making my favorites shelf for this year. I had no idea I was in for the ride I went on.
There's a brilliant comic I remember seeing some years ago: two panels, the first showing a face torn by anguish and despair, the caption “Nothing matters”; the second panel, a beatific face radiating serenity, with the same caption. Miller begins with a childhood memory of her father — exhilaratedly a panel 2 person — filling her in on that secret. Sadly, the disclosure had the opposite effect to what her father intended: Miller ended up solidly in panel one. This fascinating book is her attempt to navigate the conundrum for herself.
I'd heard a lot about the book, but nothing could really prepare me for its twists and tangents. More melodramatic than I had expected, also much more engaging. Also sweet, educational, perhaps even enlightening to some. (I also suspect that there are people who will not get it at all.) Self-awareness and self-delusion: how do we balance their conflicting yet equally vital rôles in our lives? I've long juggled my answer; Miller is juggling hers, and gives us insights into that big question.
My favorite line, from an early chapter: Miller quotes her father as saying “While other people don't matter, either, treat them like they do.” Yep, that's my mantra too.
What a wild book. I enjoyed the half-nonfiction, half-memoir writing style employed in this book. I am impressed by all the things I learned in such a compact book, read over the course of two days.
