Stern Men

This was a case of the right book at the right time. I took it on our trip to Maine, and happen to start reading it in Rockland, which is where some of it is set. On two islands off the coast lobster fisherman are at war. The story unfolds through the eyes of Ruth, a precocious, sarcastic girl, who has grown up rough. The story is nothing mind blowing, but it’s the characters that will stay with me. The widowed neighbor with her passel of boys. The tender bachelor set on creating a museum. The subservient mother indentured to a wealthy family that rules the island in the summers. More than anything, and her determination, fearlessness and loneliness. Reading this, while exploring the coast and eating lobster rolls, made it all the show more more memorable.

“As humans, after all, we become what we seek. Dairy farming makes men steady and reliable and temperate; deer hunting makes men quiet and fast and sensitive; lobster fishing makes men suspicious and wily and ruthless.” show less

I found myself stuck after reading Stern Men. I could not describe it to people the way that I wanted to. It is and it isn't a story about two warring lobstering communities, battling over the same Maine waters for the same lobsters. Taking place on two fictional islands, Fort Niles and Courne Haven, twenty miles out to sea and only separated by a narrow channel, that plotline seemed plausible enough (especially if you know anything about Matinicus Island). Lobster wars are definitely part of the story, but these battles are not significant enough to drive the main storyline. More transparently, Stern Men is the story of eighteen-year-old Ruth Thomas. She is a Fort Niles resident, newly returned to the island after completing high show more school at a boarding school in Delaware. She has returned to the island unsure of her next steps. She fakes her feelings towards lobstering despite it being her father's profession. She will not let anyone dictate her future, especially the wealthy Ellis family who have a hold on Fort Niles. She is ambivalent towards most things until she meets silent lobsterman, Owen Wishnell, from Courne Haven.
I would say the community of Fort Niles is the best part of Stern Men. Mrs. Pommeroy, the woman who took Ruth in when her parents were divorcing; Mrs. Pommeroy's twin sons, sweet Simon, who wants to create a Fort Niles museum, and cranky Angus, the toughest and meanest lobsterman in all of Maine - to name a few. show less

My daughter, Chris, had suggested that I read Elizabeth Gilbert's The Signature of all Things as my next book. My other daughter said that since we are headed to Maine this weekend, I should read Gilbert's Stern Men instead, as it is very Maine. I'm glad I decided to go with that. I really enjoyed it. Although the stories are very different, I thought it had the "feel" of Howard Norman's The Bird Artist, most likely because of the islands and the lobstermen.

It is the story of two islands off the coast of Maine, where the lobstermen have been feuding for decades. Every so often there is a lobster war, and then things settle down for a while, but the hatred lingers on. Ruth Thomas has grown up on one of these islands and is at the center show more of the story. She is a strong character, and I liked her. While it is her coming of age story, it is also the story of the lobstermen and their fight to make ends meet. The men on the islands remind me of some of the fishermen we have met on our journeys up to Maine. The story is full of humor and some great characters.

If you are expecting Eat, Pray, Love you won't find it here. (I haven't actually read that one and have no desire to read it, but know enough to know this one isn't it).

Read Sept 2014 show less

I have not read "Eat, Pray, Love" so I had no expectations when I picked up this book. I was hooked immediately. It was Elizabeth Gilbert's quirky sense of humor that captivated me. I found the che characters and dialogue fresh and entrusting and many passages made me laugh out loud. It's been a while since I've enjoyed a book this much. All I heard about "Eat, Pray, Love" was that the "Pray" section was very slow. I now know that there doesn't have to be a lot of action for Gilbert to keep me engaged.

The story of Ruth's unusual family unfolds slowly in this novel: her father is a native islander lobsterman, her mother is an adopted member of a wealthy family but really a servant who has moved to New Hampshire. Ruth has obeyed the demands of everyone--her father, his friends, the wealthy patriarch, and his factotem--but the year she is 18 she comes home from boarding school with a mind of her own. Throughout I just wished she would stand up for herself, and when one of the inevitabilities happened by the end of the book I felt myself breathe a sigh of recognition.

Posto me je njena prva knjiga razocarala sa podozrenjem se citala ovu ali je na kraju prica bila dobra i citljiva.Govori se o dva ostrva izmedju kojih decenijama vlada sukob oko prava na izlov jastoga,o djevojci Rut koja je uspjela da pomiri sve i osnuje novu dinastiju.

I highly recommend this thoroughly researched, gently funny story. The main characters are well developed and despite their faults sympathetic. The story gives the reader an intimate view of the way of life on two lobster fishing islands near the coast of Maine.