For a book that is purportedly about eels, [b:The Gospel of the Eels|53348488|The Gospel of the Eels|Patrik Svensson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1588929031l/53348488.SY75.jpg|69096465] does very little to shed light on the creature. Mr. Svensson, in his attempt to make the book part-memoir and part-natural history, skimps on the natural history bit by diverging into philosophical pontifications on life. While I enjoyed the moments in the book where the author talked about his relationship with his father, as a marine biologist I could not appreciate the other parts of the book; at the end of it all I came away as confused about the life history of eels as I was going in. Admittedly, science still does not have the answers to 'the eel question', but the way the book was structured did not really make me appreciate the process behind the unravelling of the eel's mysteries.

2.5 stars