Tarka the Otter

Tarka the Otter

"Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-Life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers" is a novel by Henry Williamson. The book narrates the experience of an otter. It was first published in 1927 by G.P. Putnam's Sons, with an introduction by the Hon. Sir John Fortescue, K.C.V.O..

Plot summary

The plot begins with Tarka as a cub growing up in a den with his mother and siblings. As a cub, he learns how to clean himself, swim, and catch fish. When his home is attacked by hunters, he and his wild family must abandon it to flee from danger. Joining up with some other otters, the family continue to travel. At some point he loses his family and his mother forgets she even had a cub named Tarka. From now on he must fend for himself. He continues to be persecuted, and so he is constantly on the run from the hunters. In the end, as he is once again being chased by the pack of hounds, his life ends in a heroic deathmatch with the fearsome dog Deadlock, who dies with him.

Awards and nominations

The book won the Hawthornden Prize. It features illustrations by Charles Tunnicliffe.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The novel has been adapted into a film: "Tarka the Otter".

In 1974, Williamson began working on a script for a film treatment of the novel, but it was not regarded as suitable to film. Filming for the movie went on unknown to him. The movie, narrated by Peter Ustinov, was released in 1979, with a screenplay by Gerald Durrell.

:"I could always appreciate the joy and wonder in the countryside so richly expressed in ‘Tarka the Otter’, but I could also see a darkness that was a mystery to me. A brooding presence lies submerged that periodically surfaces in the unfeeling brutality that often occurs throughout the narrative. If Tarka and Deadlock have killed each other the story becomes a classic tragedy, which is highly ambivalent - the eternal struggle perhaps?:"This is a tale of ruthless struggle for survival set against the boundless wonder of Creation-a tapestry of light, innocence and graphic purity that is at every juncture, menaced by hidden malice. It is a cathartic celebration of life and nature under, in Henry’s terminology, eternal and ancient sunlight - the very antithesis of the terrible war with which the author was struggling to come to terms. True to nature, it is brutally honest and yet brilliantly metaphorical - there can be little doubt it was fashioned by a master-craftsman."

::—Peter Talbot, [http://newotterstories.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/]

Williamson was very ill when filming started and died before its completion. His son and daughter-in-law are actually in the film however.

It was voted the 98th greatest family film in a Channel 4 poll.

The soundtrack for the film was composed by David Fanshawe and performed by Tommy Reilly.

Trivia

The Tarka Trail, a series of footpaths and cycle paths around Devon, England and the Tarka Line railway line from Exeter to Barnstaple in Devon, both take their names from the novel.

Anthony Phillips, formerly a guitarist with Genesis, recorded a proposed soundtrack to the 1979 film of Tarka the Otter which was not used. In 2001, he collaborated with Henry Williamson's son, Harry, to complete the sessions and release them as "Tarka", a companion album to the novel of the same name.

Tarka is the name of software custom written by Netcraft Australia for managing wireless broadband connections and accounting for transactions and user accounts.

Notable editions

*1927, UK, G. P. Putnams Sons, 1927, Hardback
*1965, UK, Bodley Head, 1965, Hardback
*1971, UK, Puffin Books ISBN 0-14-030060-0, January 1971, Paperback (C.F. Tunnicliffe, Illustrator)
*1981, USA, Nelson Thornes ISBN 0-333-30602-3, March 1981, Hardcover (C.F. Tunnicliffe, Illustrator)
*1982, USA, Salem House Publishers ISBN 0-370-30919-7, 1982, Paperback
*1990, USA, Beacon Press ISBN 0-8070-8507-3, 1990, Paperback (Concord Library Series)
*1995, UK, Puffin Books ISBN 0-14-036621-0, June 1995, Paperback (Annabel Large, Illustrator)

External links

*imdb_title|title=Tarka the Otter|id=0079988
* [http://newotterstories.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/Website of Peter Talbot, animal handler for the film]
* [http://www.stevedowner.co.uk Website of Steve Downer, stills photographer for the film]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tarka the Otter — [Tarka the Otter] a novel (1927) by Henry Williamson (1895–1977). It is a very realistic story about an ↑otter (= a small animal with thick brown fur that lives in rivers), which dies after being hunted for a long time by men and dogs …   Useful english dictionary

  • Tarka the Otter (1979 film) — Infobox Film name = Tarka the Otter image size = caption = director = David Cobham producer = David Cobham writer = Henry Williamson Gerald Durrell David Cobham narrator = Peter Ustinov starring = Spade music = David Fanshawe cinematography =… …   Wikipedia

  • Tarka the Otter — a novel (1927) by Henry Williamson (1895–1977). It is a very realistic story about an otter (= a small animal with thick brown fur that lives in rivers), which dies after being hunted for a long time by men and dogs. * * * …   Universalium

  • Tarka Line — Beginn der Tarka Line (linker Ast) bei Cowley Bridge Junction Kartenausschnitt 1930 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Tarka — can mean:*Tarka, Nigeria, a Local Government Area in Benue State, Nigeria *Tarka the Otter, a novel by Henry Williamson *Tarka Line, a railway line in Devon, England *Tarka Trail, a series of footpaths assembled from former railway lines. *Tarka… …   Wikipedia

  • Tarka Trail — The Tarka Trail is a series of footpaths and cyclepaths around north Devon, England that follow the route taken by Tarka the Otter in the book of that name. It is a figure of eight route, based on Barnstaple, and covers some 180 miles of path.The …   Wikipedia

  • Tarka Line — Infobox generic color = #efefef name = Tarka Line| img1 = Tarkalinelogo.jpg| lbl1 = Location row1 = Devon, England lbl2 = From row2 = Exeter St Davids lbl3 = To row3 = Barnstaple lbl4 = Distance row4 = convert|39|mi|km|0 lbl5 = Status row5 =… …   Wikipedia

  • Otter — This article is about the carnivorous mammals. For other uses, see Otter (disambiguation). Otter Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) Scientific classification …   Wikipedia

  • European Otter — Taxobox name = European Otter status = NT status system = iucn3.1 status ref = IUCN2007|assessors=Reuther, C. Hilton Taylor, C.|year=2004|id=12419|title=Lutra lutra|downloaded=06 May 2008 Database entry includes justification for why this species …   Wikipedia

  • Spade (otter) — Spade was an otter who played the title role in the movie Tarka the Otter …   Wikipedia

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