Stargazing: Memoirs of a Young Lighthouse Keeper

by Peter Hill

Book Overview

When Peter Hill, a student at Dundee College of Art, answered an advert in The Scotsman seeking lighthouse keepers, little did he imagine that within a month he would be living with three men he... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1841955469
• ISBN13: 9781841955469
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Canongate Us
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Enchanting

A story to savor, from start to finish. Like the other reviewer, one of those all too rare books that you wish would never end.

Fabulous!

I've just read this wonderful book and I was sorry that it came to an end. It does exacly what it does on the cover, tell the tale of this young man and his adventures as a lighthouse keeper. There's a lovely build-up to him taking the job, spurred by the inevitable question, how did you get a job like that? As someone who grew up with a lighthouse outside my living room window (this island, the Bass Rock, gets a couple of mentions!), I have always been fascinated by them. It's a job you never see advertised any more, for in Scotland at least, where this book is set, all the lights are automated. Peter Hill describes the camararaderie that the men who worked the lights shared so well, which is warms the cockles of your heart. He sprinkles the stories that the older keepers tell him as he's learning the ropes, and we read of both adventurous and mundane lives lead. It's humourous, informative and well-written. Apparently the author is planning a book on Australian lighthouses next, collecting keepers' stories. Can't wait!