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I don't review books I don't like!
*****= An all-time favorite
**** =
Outstanding
***
= Above average
**
= Enjoyable
*
= Good, with reservations
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****Lighthouses of France
The Monuments and Their Keepers
photographs by Jean Guichard
text by René Gast
translated and adapted from the French by Susan Pickford
Reviewed February 3, 2004.
Flammarion, 2002. 144 pages.
Available at Sembach Library.
When we were in Scotland last summer, our Bed & Breakfast on the
Isle of Mull had a stunning photograph over the restaurant table where we
ate. It showed a man standing calmly outside a lighthouse door with
an enormous wave coming around both sides of the lighthouse about to engulf
him. Another photo on the opposite wall showed a wave taller than
the lighthouse itself. There was a caption to say that the man got
inside in time and survived. The pictures kept drawing our eyes and
provided us with many topics of conversation.
This book is the project for which those two memorable pictures were
taken, and it turns out that there are many other striking photographs as
well. I was delighted when I saw this book among our new library books.
Lighthouses of France is mainly about the photographs taken
of lighthouses all around the coast of France, especially offshore lighthouses.
Soon after the pictures were taken, many of those offshore lighthouses were
converted to work automatically without a keeper. The book tells about
the history of lighthouses, the traditions of the keepers and the harrowing
work they do.
The text of this book is not long, as most of the large pages are taken
up with stunning photographs of beautiful lighthouses. What it does
tell helps you understand the incredible story of the lonely, difficult
life of a lighthouse keeper. A wonderfully fascinating and beautiful
book.
Copyright © 2005 Sondra Eklund.
All rights reserved.
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Reviews by Sondra Eklund