An Iceland Fisherman

Pierre Loti draws on his own years at sea for this elegiac story of the Breton fishermen of Paimpol, who leave their village each spring for the cod grounds off Iceland and do not all come home. At its heart are Yann, a proud and reticent sailor seemingly wedded to the ocean, and Gaud, the young woman who waits and hopes through long absences and longer silences. Loti tells their slow courtship in spare, luminous prose that catches the grey northern light and the ever-present nearness of death. The result is one of the tenderest and saddest of French sea novels. Free to read here as a PDF and EPUB download.