Tilting: House Launching, Slide Hauling, Potato Trenching, and Other Tales from a Newfoundland Fishing Village (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Tilting: House Launching, Slide Hauling, Potato Trenching, and Other Tales from a Newfoundland Fishing Village Morgiana P. Halley Tilting: House Launching, Slide Hauling, Potato Trenching, and Other Tales from a Newfoundland Fishing Village. By Robert Mellin. (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2003. Pp. 256, acknowledgments, introduction, 90 black-&-white illustrations, 150 four-color plates, notes, glossary, bibliography, index.) "Part journal, part sketchbook, part oral history, Tilting is a treasure chest of a book that offers new discoveries with each reading, and a reminder of the simpler aspects of life and building." So ends the blurb on the jacket of this book, and the description is both concise and accurate. The subtitle, however, is somewhat misleading, as there are few examples of anything a folklorist could accurately categorize as "tales" between the book's covers. Mellin is a practicing architect who also teaches at McGill University, and in this work he has smoothly transcended the boundaries separating his discipline from that of the ethnographer. Although its primary focus is on vernacular architecture, the book actually treats a broad range of additional customs and traditions—not only those listed in the subtitle but also furniture building, mat (rug) making, foodways, sleeping times and arrangements, gender-related tasks within the community, and so on. The chapter headings, while relatively accurate, do not adequately reflect the compelling cultural content of the text. Maps and drawings are unambiguous and plentiful enough that none is rendered confusing by a surfeit of detail. Photographs are numerous and well chosen. All the former and nearly all the latter are the work of the author himself, the exceptions being archival or historical in nature. These facts alone would make the book a worthwhile purchase. Indeed, the quality of the paper and the printing give it an almost "coffee table" level of tactile and visual satisfaction. As if that were not sufficient, Mellin is that rara avis, a supremely readable writer. His prose vividly evokes the place he describes with warmth and affection. No mere spectator, he has learned well from his credited mentors, Glassie and Pocius, by living within the community he studies and becoming far more a participant-observer than a mere "come-from-away" who passes superficial comments. Beyond its value as an interesting pictorial album, Tilting has two strengths. First, it is an invaluable description of a languishing communal way of living. Second, it offers a detailed comparative base for those investigating other rural and coastal lifestyles, communities, and vernacular architectures. This is not to say that Tilting is completely without shortcomings. Direct excerpts from informants' testimonies are couched in a larger [End Page 117] font size than the main body of the text. This distinction is sometimes insufficient to prevent temporary disorientation, and one occasionally wonders why a particular informant's quotation was inserted at that specific point in the text. Additional confusion comes from the fact that, although a brief glossary explains a number of Newfoundland dialect terms, several common words with specialized local meanings appear to have been overlooked. Physically, the cloth-bound volume has extremely pliable covers. Indeed, they are so flexible that this reviewer felt constrained to double-check and make sure it was listed as a "hard cover" book. Nonetheless, the work has great merit, appealing to both the artistic and the mundane. Readers with a concern for vanishing examples of fragile folklife will be reassured in the final chapter. It is there revealed that a volunteer community restoration effort, TRACS (Tilting Recreation and Cultural Society), is undertaking to maintain the remaining examples of the structures scrutinized in Mellin's study. I heartily recommend this book. Morgiana P. Halley Paul D. Camp Community College Copyright © 2007 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois