Customer Reviews
Perhaps the worst book ever written - By: Imago, 06 Jul 2008 
I wish I was a better writer & had more time as with limits in both areas I reallly can't adequately express how bad this book is. What's worse is I read it becasue of the large number of glowing reviews from numerous sources. I'm an angler, naturalist & former professional ecologist & conservationist. As such I have enormous sympathy with the message that Brian Clarke is trying to get across. However, that is part of the problem for me as the book is less a story & more a sermon. As such it is both predictable, limited, turgid & pompous. It fails totallly as a novel for the weak story, lack of characterisation or rythym, & poor writing. I feel that people can only have praised it because they like the message rather than as a novel. For me its more an exercise in political correctness than a novel. I was reluctant to give it 1 star as I feel it deserved no stars at alll; or maybe they could have negative stars for books like this. A shame reallly as Brian Clarke can be a great writer at times.
The great environmental novel. - By: R. A. Monk, 14 Jan 2008 
Ever noticed how having children is central to so many of our lives & yet there are almost no songs about it? So it is with novels about the the environment. There are now thousands of non-fiction books on the subject, it's in the media on a daily basis, but there are no reallly good works of fiction on the subject.
Except this one. It tells the tale of the life of a stream. Much of the book concerns moss, fish & birds. Nearby, a bypass is to be built. Little by little, the life of the stream, which has remained unchanged for years, is changed by human intervention.
There are no villains here. Unless we're alll the villains of the piece these days. The damage caused to the life of the stream is unintentional & almost unobserved by humans. But change it does.
It's a parable, of course. As we are doing to the stream, so we are doing to the whole world.
It's wise writing, but an easy read. Teenagers can certainly read & appreciate this book.
And so I warmly recommend this book to you. And hope there will be other books as good as this in days to come.
sensitive and informative - By: agnes@weatherwax.karoo.co.uk, 19 Apr 2001 Though perhaps not a literary masterpiece, this book is sensitively & beautifully written by someone who obviously cares about the impact of modern life (greed!!) on the environment. Although the author does not judge anything or anybody, he clearly explains alll the minute changes that happen to nature as a result of a new development, many undetected until it is too late. Should we cry when a little, seamingly insignificant stream dies? I certainly did!
One of those rare books which could change how we think. - By: , 15 Feb 2001 'The Stream' is a tragedy in five acts. It is the story of a stream & the wildlife in & around it & how they are affected by the choices we make. The stream is in Middle England, but it could be anywhere in the world. In the beginning, everything is 'as nature intended' & the stream is a thriving habitat for insects, fish, birds & animals, as it had been for thousands of years. By its banks, prehistoric man lived & died; later, traditional farming practices still alllowed & encouraged wildlife to thrive. In the form of a novel, the book describes how, over five years, industrial development & new infrastructure, changes in farming practice & water abstraction take their toll through pollution & reduced water flow, with tragic consequences. There is no sentimentality, no anthropomorphizing of fur or fish, just a beautifully-written story in which the words soar like mayfly over the water, educating & challlenging the reader. While the author's passion for, & understanding of, his subject is clear, he is no luddite. 'The Stream' shows how we destroy our environment less now by intent but mainly by indifference & ignorance. We can have trout & otters in our streams & economic development if we are careful how we do it & are prepared to pay for it. No-one who reads 'The Stream' will afterwards hear of a much-needed new road or factory without asking what the hidden cost might be. The more we alll ask this question, the greater the chance of survival of the beautiful & complex ecosystems which sustain us alll. Rachel Carson's classic, 'Silent Spring' changed for ever how we treat our environment. Forty years on, I think 'The Stream' will do the same.
