Fallen Pieces of the Moon by Robin Lloyd Jones
 Published 2006 by Whittles Publishing
Paperback
ISBN 1-904445-31-4
Price £14.99
Many of you will be aware of Robin Lloyd-Jones who wrote “Argonauts of the Western Isles”, describing his kayaking adventures off the west coast of Scotland. He is much more than a kayaking author though, his written words have reached a wider audience through books such as “Lord of the Dance”. This writing talent is reflected in the quality of his work. As in “Argonauts”, he has taken a kayaking trip, which many of us could complete, and produced a thoroughly engaging book.
Eager to visit Greenland, he quickly realised that there were significant logistical problems and major costs involved in organising his own visit so he signed up for a commercial trip with the Canadian company Black Feather. The book is therefore a record of a sea kayaking trip, which is available to virtually any paddler as opposed to a description of a major circumnavigation, or similar undertaking where disaster seems to be just a few strokes away.
It is not his description of near death experiences, which hold the readers attention, but rather his use of language and observation of small details, which captivate. Although this is essentially a day-by-day account of the trip it is far more than a mere description, it is a well-researched project. The daily reports are interspersed with numerous references to earlier Arctic explorers. Freuchen, Nansen, Rasmussen and Stefansson amongst others whilst the title comes from a line in the classic “Arctic Dreams” by Barry Lopez.
When kayaking in Greenland there is a very close relationship between the paddler and the physical environment and Robin illustrates this on numerous occasions, whether through his description of the icebergs or the soaring mountain ridges, which dominate the scenery. It is clearly an area of dramatic views and few people will read this book without wishing to follow in the writers paddle strokes. It is a fragile environment though, which merits a discussion as to whether the influx of tourists are endangering the very thing they have come to see.
“Fallen Pieces of the Moon” is one of the most engaging kayaking books I have read in a long time and it comes thoroughly recommended to paddlers of all abilities. The only disappointment I had was that it came to an end far to quickly, another 50 pages or so would have been preferable.
Kevin Mansell
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