Ring of Bright Water
{{short description|Book by Gavin Maxwell}}
{{For|the film|Ring of Bright Water (film){{!}}Ring of Bright Water (film)}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox book
| image = Ring of Bright Water first edition cover.jpg
| author = Gavin Maxwell
| name = Ring of Bright Water
| pub_date = 1960
| illustrator = Peter Scott
| isbn = 0-14-003923-6
| caption = Cover of first edition
}}
Ring of Bright Water is a book by Gavin Maxwell about his life in a remote house in coastal Scotland where he kept several wild otters as pets.{{cite web|title=The Ring of Bright Water Trilogy|url=http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780140290493,00.html|work=penguin.com.uk|accessdate=24 January 2014}}{{cite web|title=RING OF BRIGHT WATER|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gavin-maxwell-3/ring-of-bright-water/|work=kirkusreviews.com|accessdate=24 January 2014}} First published in 1960, it became a best seller and is considered a literary masterpiece, eventually selling over two million copies. A fictionalised film of the same name was made from it and released in 1969.
Book
The book describes how Maxwell brought to England a smooth-coated otter, from the Marshes of Iraq (before Saddam Hussein drained them)
Maxwell named the otter Mijbil. He raised Mijbil at Camusfeàrna (the name Maxwell gave his house at Sandaig near Glenelg), on the west coast of Scotland. Maxwell took Mijbil to the London Zoological Society where it was determined that Mijbil belonged to a previously unknown subspecies, subsequently named after Maxwell: Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli (or colloquially, "Maxwell's otter").{{cite news|author=Dani Garavelli |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/dani-garavelli-gavin-maxwell-s-love-of-nature-1-3452667 |title=Gavin Maxwell's Love of Nature |work=Scotland on Sunday |date=22 June 2014|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084915/http://www.scotsman.com/news/dani-garavelli-gavin-maxwell-s-love-of-nature-1-3452667|archivedate =4 March 2016}}
'"Into this bright, watery landscape Mij moved and took possession with a delight that communicated itself as clearly as any articulate speech could have done," he wrote. "The waterfall, the burn, the white beaches and the islands; his form became the familiar foreground to them all."'{{Cite web|last=Field|first=Marcus|date=2014-07-14|title=Gavin Maxwell's bitter legacy: Was the otter man the wildlife champion|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/gavin-maxwell-s-bitter-legacy-was-the-otter-man-the-wildlife-champion-he-appeared-to-be-9595629.html|access-date=2021-09-14|website=The Independent|language=en}}
The book's title was taken from a poem by Kathleen Raine, who said in her autobiography that Maxwell had been the love of her life. Her relationship with Maxwell deteriorated after 1956 when she indirectly caused the death of Mijbil.{{cite web |author=Janet Watts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/jul/08/guardianobituaries.books |title=Kathleen Raine: Obituary |work=The Guardian |date=8 July 2003}}
Reception
A reviewer in the Sunday Herald described the book as having "inspired a generation of naturalists" and referred to it as a "classic account of man and wildlife". The review calls Ring of Bright Water "one of the most popular wildlife books ever written", as over two million copies had been sold worldwide by 1999.{{cite news |title=Film helps Ring of Bright Water to shine again |newspaper=Sunday Herald |date=21 February 1999 |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18982649.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329044435/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18982649.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 March 2015 |accessdate=18 November 2014 }}
Legacy
Two sequels were published: The Rocks Remain (1963) and Raven Seek Thy Brother (1968), which were less idyllic than the first, chronicling accidents and misfortunes involving both the otters and Maxwell's life. All three books were republished as Ring of Bright Water: A Trilogy in 2011 by Nonpareil Books.{{cite news |title=Ring of bright water; a trilogy |publisher=Reference & Research Book News |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-257994228.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329044433/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-257994228.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 March 2015 |accessdate=18 November 2014 }} The trilogy does not include the full text of the latter two volumes, but removes the tangential travel sections which take place outside Scotland.{{cite book|last1=Chinn|first1=Austin|title=Introduction to Ring of Bright Water: A Trilogy|publisher=Nonpareil|isbn=978-1567924008|date=2011}}
References
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Category:British autobiographies
Category:Science autobiographies
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