Reviews — Books, Films, News Media

(November 2007, updated January 2009)

Sable Island has been in the news for four centuries. Until the 1900s, much of the news was about the island as the Graveyard of the Atlantic. As navigation technology improved and the number of shipwrecks decreased, the island’s natural history began to attract more attention. During the past five decades, scientific and historical research and offshore energy activities have greatly increased Sable’s profile.

 

However much of what has been written about the island contains inaccuracies and misconceptions. While early works can be forgiven for many mistakes, modern writers have little excuse. Sable was somewhat of a mystery to writers in the 18th and 19th centuries, but now there are many reliable sources of information. A great deal of thorough research has documented the island’s natural and social history, and there are many people who have expertise on various topics – wildlife, weather, human activities etc.

 

Errors and misconceptions are common in print, radio, and television coverage of the island – some are trivial and merely careless, others are more serious in that they mislead readers regarding significant issues. Some of this can be attributed to sloppy and superficial journalism and research, and in other instances, facts are massaged for provocative effect. Although this is most often seen in the news media (print, radio, television, and online), it occasionally turns up in the works of reputable publishing houses (e.g. de Villiers & Hirtle 2004) and in scientific publications (e.g. McKinley & Burke 2000).

 

Reviews of non-fiction books about Sable have exacerbated the problem. One would expect that people who review non-fiction would have some expertise on the subject. However this is rarely the case in the book review sections of most newspapers and general interest magazines. Too many reviews of non-fiction are little more than a summary of a book’s contents, and comments on the style and presentation of those contents. But guidance regarding the reliability of the author or the accuracy of information is rarely provided. 

 

Further, book reviewers can propagate mistakes. For example, among the many inexplicable errors in the de Villiers & Hirtle book was the statement that there had been a significant increase in the number of beached cetaceans found on Sable Island. In a 2004 Globe & Mail review of the book, reviewer Mark Abley repeated the error, writing “In recent years, the stranding of dead or dying whales has shown an alarming rise. The main reason, almost certainly, is the massive increase in seismic activity below the sea”. Thus readers of Abley’s review were misinformed even if they hadn't read the deVilliers & Hirtle book.

 

However, Sable Island has also been represented in some very good work by journalists, academics, creative writers, documentary filmmakers, and visual artists. For people less familiar with the island and its issues, it can be difficult to sort through, to know which are reliable sources of information, discussion, and impressions. This page presents reviews on selected items, and will attempt to highlight credible, thoughtful, and interesting material, as well as identifying questionable, inaccurate, and otherwise disappointing works.

Since reviewing the movie Touching Wild Horses (see below), Janet Barkhouse has made several trips to Sable Island, most recently to spend a few weeks assisting with field work in support of various environmental studies.

Skirting the Sands of Sable Island (Myron Arms 2008) — Letter to the Editor, and Review, October 2008.

Follow-up regarding the review of Skirting the Sands of Sable Island — January 2009

It has been said that almost any news is good news because it heightens awareness and maintains profile. While minor errors are to be expected, mangled facts and invented quotes can be liabilities for Sable Island and the Station, confusing the issues and misdirecting concern. Author Myron Arms traveled to the island in late summer 2007on the sailing vessel Brendan’s Isle. His article was published in the October 2008 issue of Cruising World.

Island of Iteration: The Sable Island Poems of Karen Mulhallen - Review by Sandra Barry, November 2007

Free as the Wind (Bastedo & Tooke 2007) – Book review by Joyce Barkhouse, May 2007

Joyce Barkhouse is a retired teacher and the author of numerous books and stories for children, including Pit Pony (1990). Joyce lives in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, and has been with the Sable Island Green Horse Society since its beginning.

Touching Wild Horses –  Movie review by Janet Barkhouse, April 2007

Written by Murray McRae and directed by Eleanore Lindo, 2002, this made-for-TV movie starring Jane Seymour was produced by Lewis B. Chester, David M. Perlmutter and Frank Hubner as a Canada/Germany/UK co-production. It is a drama set on Sable Island. As indicated by numerous messages in this website’s guestbook, the movie has been shown many dozens of times on television during the past five years. An intelligent and  perceptive review of this production is long overdue. Janet Barkhouse is a retired actor and educator who lives and writes on Nova Scotia’s South Shore. She has been interested in Sable Island since she was a child.

Sable Island: Tales of Tragedy and Survival from the Graveyard of the Atlantic (Bertin 2006). –  Book review by Lyall Campbell, December 2006

Lyall Campbell has been researching the history of Sable Island for three decades. He is a published author and has worked with various institutions as editor and librarian. In his review of Bertin’s book, Lyall discusses the role of speculation in creative non-fiction, and highlights some errors that have become truisms in much contemporary writing about Sable.

Weighing in… a review of three books about Sable Island – Review by Henry James, March 2006

In the 1970s, while a professor in the Psychology Department of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Henry James researched seal behaviour on Sable Island. He and his graduate students spent time on the island during both summer and winter. Here Henry reviews three books about Sable: Bruce Armstrong (1981), Lyall Campbell (1994), and deVilliers & Hirtle (2004).