Crocker's Hole

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About this book

An enormous trout in a Devonshire pool gives John Pike a cause more absorbing than his lessons. Recalling the River Culm near Culmstock, the narrator introduces a boy whose thoughts run to flies, feathers and fishing even while his tutor works to secure his attention. The narrator's younger self follows Pike to inspect the fish, struggling to distinguish it beneath the reflections until its size becomes unmistakable.

R. D. Blackmore builds this short tale around the seriousness of an angler's ambition and the comedy of watching it at close quarters. Streams acquire personalities, the trout receives almost royal attention, and village figures belong to a landscape remembered in precise detail. Readers interested in country life and fishing will find both careful observation of water and insects and an amused account of the effort a single fish can inspire.

About the author

R. D. Blackmore

R. D. Blackmore was an English novelist and horticulturist whose fiction repeatedly returned to the landscapes, speech, and legends of western England.