The Snow Goose preface

Years ago, when we just got married, we discovered the music of Camel. We already had some of their music, but after being in London in a recordstore with lots of their albums, we both got addicted to their music. We loved all of their work, but the Snow Goose was our favourite. Of course because of the beautiful music, but also because it was an album that could be played easily with visitors. The music brings along many emotions but it is never to extreme, it is as in one ongoing movement. The parts go over from one into another and you just want to keep on listening.

Although we were Camel fans and we did go to two of their concerts when they were in the Netherlands, we both hardly knew who were the members of the band. And as time went by and I had listened to their albums numerous times, I switched to classical music. I got interested in the history of western music, listened to all kind of classical music and came up with some favourites of which I blogged about these past few weeks.

But then, a few weeks ago, I rediscovered Camel. I found a lot on Youtube, some great websites and a music site where I could listen to their albums again. And besides that I got to read about the people behind the band. And was really moved. I also got interested in the story of the Snow Goose written by Paul Gallico. I already read some reviews of the book and many people were moved by the story. So I thought I might look in our local library to see it they had it. And to my surprise (there are not so many English books in a local Dutch library) they did have it. So I read it in maybe an hour (it really is a short story) and was so very moved by it.

My intention was to write a blogpost about my perception of the music of the Snow Goose, but now I will try to also give my interpretation of the story, in three different blogposts. Here in this post there is a synopsis of the story, a video with excerpts of the Snow Goose, and a little piece from the book to get an idea of the sphere. And here you can listen to A Live Record where Camel played with the London Symphony Orchestra. The Snow Goose starts and ends with the Great March. 

The Story

The Snow Goose is about a man, Rhayader, an artist with a hunchback and a crippled arm. He is rejected by society and lives on a desolate marshland by the sea in an abandoned lighthouse. There he paints the land and wildlife and provides a sanctuary for birds over the winter.
One day a young girl, Fritha, comes to him, carrying an injured goose. She comes to the lighthouse timidly, for she is frightened of the strange man. But she has heard of his reputation for taking care of the birds. Rhyader cures the goose and Fritha comes to visit him often to see the goose. But when the goose is recovered and leaves, her visits stop and Rhyader is alone again.
As one day the goose returns, Rhyader sends Fritha a message and she returns to the lighthouse. From that moment on a cycle repeats, when the snow goose returns Fritha comes to visit and when the goose leaves, her visits stop. Then one day it becomes clear that the bird will stay for good. But what does this mean for their friendship, that of a crippled lonely man and Fritha, now a young woman. It confuses her and she leaves for a while.
When she returns again, Rhayader is about to leave in a strange mood. He is determined to go to Dunkirk to save as many soldiers as possible. Fritha is very sad because of his leaving but promises to take care of the birds in the sanctuary. Then Rhyader sails away with the snow goose flying above the boat. Rhyader saves many lives and will never return, but the snowgoose does and Fritha sees it as the soul of Rhyader saying farewell. 

Preface
"At low water the blackened and ruptured stones of the ruins of an abandonded lighthouse show above the surface, with here and there, like buoy markers, the top of a sagging fence-post. Once this lighthouse abutted on the sea and was a beacon on the Essex coast. Time shifted land and water, and its usefulness came to an end.

Lately it served again as a human habitation. In it there lived a lonely man. His body was warped, but his heart was filled with love for wild and hunted things. He was ugly to look upon, but he created great beauty. It is about him, and a child who came to know him and see beyond the grotesque form that housed him to what lay within, that this story is told.

It is not a story that falls easily and smoothly into sequence. It has been garnered from many sources and from many people. Some of it comes in the form of fragments from men who looked upon strange and violent scenes. For the sea has claimed its own and spreads its rippled blanket over the site, and the great white bird with the black- tipped pinions that say it all from the beginning to the end has returned to the dark, frozen silences of the northlands whence it came."