Paddavissie, by Dave Freer

5.0 out of 5 stars
"I couldn't be a fisherman when I wanted to be, and become a kid again when it was too hard."
March 17, 2015
By Pat Patterson (Woodstock, Georgia, USA)
This review is from: Paddavissie (Kindle Edition)

Lot of talk recently about the wisdom of 'write what you know.' I guess that sounds best to me when I read something that just absolutely rankles, and it seems to occur most with gun issues. However, I'm not of the extreme camp, that believes that you can ONLY write about your own experiences; that may go with the turf, given that I'm primarily from a sci-fi background.
( By the way, "Nightfall" is usually regarded as one of the very best short stories ever written, but there is no way that the orbits can be worked out. It's written as if the suns orbit the planet.)
HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!! When an author DOES write from their own experience, the results can make your eyes water. And that's what happens here. When Little Abie, the Paddavissie (tadpole) of the title, talks about the dangers of getting caught up in the long-line hooks, it makes my belly muscles clench. When he talks of his love of the sea, and his family heritage of being fishermen, the pride comes through.
It's an excellent story about the transition from boy to man. I might have my 10 year old Kenneth read it, but it works just fine for a 61 year old as well.