The Snow Goose

I have always loved Paul Gallico as a writer, and this short story is one of my favorites of his work. It is a beautiful story that children may like, but adults will love. The story is about a lonely artist, Philip Rhyader, who retreats from society due to a hunchback and deformed hand. He lives in a lighthouse where he creates his works of art and tends to injured animals.

One day a young girl named Frith brings him a snow goose that has been injured. (I loved the book so much that I named my oldest daughter Fritha.) Although she is at first scared of Rhyader, a friendship develops between them as they tend the goose. After the goose is healed, it flies away but returns every year to stay with Rhyader for the season. The girl, Frith, returns each year when the snow goose returns. Rhyader falls in love with her but she does not realize it.

The book ends with the battle of Dunkirk when the British troops are trapped on the beach. Rhyader, who was unable to fight in the war because of his deformities, takes his small sailboat and crosses the channel several times, delivering the British soldiers to safety. On each trip he is accompanied by the beautiful snow goose.

I'll give you fair warning, the ending of the book is one of the saddest you will ever read. However, the message of love and friendship and hope conveyed in the book will make you want to return and read it over and over again.

I first heard of this book through an English rock band named "Camel". I bought an album titled "Camel - A Live Record" about 1980 (it is also on a wonderful studio album titled "The Snow Goose" by Camel). After listening to the album many times, it slowly grew on me to be one of my favorites. It was a 2 album set and one of the albums was completely instrumental in nature and told the story of "The Snow Goose" (it is also interesting to note that this recording of "The Snow Goose" was done with the London Symphony Orchestra and in front of the Queen of England). After a few years as a favorite album of mine, I played it for a friend who recognized the story as being from a movie and a short book. He started telling me the story as the music played and knew I had to read the book. I found the book shortly after that and fell in love with it. I have read it many times and often read it at the same time as I play the music, the two are so much in sync with each other and flow through the moods together in such a powerful way. The story centers around a deformed lighthouse keeper in England who is kept at a distance by the locals, but only has love in his heart. He is befriended by a young girl Fritha who brings to him a rare Canadian snow goose injured by hunters. The snow goose and young girl become friends and companions to Rhayader until a time of war when Rhayader must leave to help his fellow man. Rhayader single handedly saves many lives of the soldiers at the battle of Dunkirk as he sails his small boat with the guidance of the snow goose through the lead flying all around. Sadly, I have never seen the movie, though I hear it is often played on the television near Christmas time in England. I have given perhaps two dozen copies of this book away as gifts. And it is always a joy and well received.

A most beautiful and haunting story. The brevity of the book allows the story to stand lonely and starkly exposed. The worst actions of human beings; ridiculing an ugly crippled hunchback who cares for injured birds, butchering helpless men stranded on a beach in France.My grandfather was at Dunkirk, so perhaps the story has a special poignancy.
‘Men are huddled on the beaches like hunted birds. Frith, like the wounded and hunted birds we used to find and bring to sanctuary.'
Despite the ugliness, 'love' - innocent, ancient and pure, shines through. That man, no matter his circumstance, can create, inspire and express himself through art. Snow Goose was written in 1940, by Paul Gallico, an American living in war torn London. Perhaps the sentiment that duty to fellow man, no matter how you personally have been maligned, was needed as the UK too, stood alone. Thankfully the war didn't end as Paul Gallico perhaps foresaw where
'Nothing was left to break the utter desolation.'
You are left numb as you finish the book. Emotionally exhausted.
Then, as you reflect on the book, what first starts as a chink of light and then shining brightly, is the strength of the human spirit. Which despite the physical destruction of all, ultimately lives on brighter and unencumbered.

Paul Gallico is an immensely talented writer, and all his skills are at the fore in this magnificent war story that is really a tale of loneliness and friendship, and how beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
I think however, that the reader must be warned that this is a completely gut wrenching story. I can never read it without dissolving into tears (it is quite therapeutic if you need a good cry), but it is not a "mushy" story as such. It is profoundly moving, and you will not forget it in a hurry.
Everyone should read this beautiful story. It is a powerful portrayal of the horrors of war and the bravery of men, and a touching story of love and friendship against the odds.

Was it pure coincidence that a Canadian snowgoose plummeted from a stormy sky near the lonely lighthouse on Britain's pre-war shores? Wounded and exhausted from its transatlantic ordeal, this unique bird proves the focal point of compassion for two unlikely humans, whose only bond is its care and nurture.
Philip Rhayader keeps aloof from critical society which looks askance at his misshapen body; yet a twisted back often belies hidden personal integrity and human dignity. In his isolated lighthouse studio he paints Nature's wild marshland to ease his own loneliness. Shunned by civilization, he feels a special tenderness for the free-spirited waterfowl of his chosen habitat.
Then a girl named Frith--part fey herself-- enters his restricted world, hesitantly bringing a wounded snow goose to the respected but feared artist-doctor. Will he help her, who represents the Society which has banned him from its warmth; rather, will he care for this helpless creature from another continent, which will surely die without his tender skill? The girl seems just another wild creature, yet she cherishes a forlorn hope that this storm-buffeted bird can survive.
In time the snow goose bestows her loyalty on the man who gave her new life--demonstrating her devotion even under fire. Meanwhile Frith emerges into young womanhood--too late realizing that she has developed deep feelings for this strange and unappreciated man, himself too shy to confess his love. But as World War II rages at Dunkirk, he discovers a way in which even a military reject can serve his fellow man, unselfishly performing his patriotic duty.
This is a story of compassion, love and sacrifice told honestly and simply, with incredible tenderness for all wild things. Some argue that it may be a contemporary fable or a lyrical love story. Each reader must decide for himself, but regardless of your literary judgment, Gallico's SNOW GOOSE wil provide a gentle tug at your heartstrings. I consider this short story a timeless classic.

Gallico tells a full and beautiful story in these 6000 words. Each word seems as carefully selected as if they were rounds of super-match ammunition loaded with the most infinite attention for bull's-eye accuracy.
It is a complete story, with a beginning, a middle and an end. Entirely credible, too. A man is so physically deformed as to seem hideous to others, so he seeks and finds solitude, as near as that can be done. But he is a man with a big and wonderful heart whose friends are birds. Birds know not of human physical characteristics, but they instinctively loved this man who offended the critical eyes of other humans. They loved him because he earned their love, because he deserved to be loved.
A scared, timid little girl came to him to obtain help for an injured snow goose. Firth, too, was repelled by what she saw. But over time she became acquainted with the man within the ugly shell, and her eyes, and her heart, began to see the beauty that
resided there.
It was true to Philip's character that he would sail his little boat to assist in the evacuation of Dunkirk on that besieged Belgium coast. Many lesser men did so as well. It is not unheard of that wild geese have become inseparably attached to humans. Certainly the snow goose in this story could easily have developed such a bond with Philip.
There is quite a story here. And told in only 6000 super-match- quality words. It pleases me that it has been reprinted some 70- odd times since first published in 1941, and that it is still in print, and similar to the original format.
I can't see where some readers get the notion that "The Snow Goose" is a story for children - maybe because it is told in so few words. It is an entire and compelling story as told. There was nothing left to tell. If this story had been written by any one of several of the best-selling authors of today, it could easily have filled 500 "sea-of-ink" marginless pages instead of the 58 appealingly airy pages that it does. But we would wonder when closing it what it was about.
"The Snow Goose" is a book for everyone who can read.

Sorry to rain on everyone's parade, but I found this story too light-weight to work for me.
This is a very short book -- 58 small pages with double-spaced text; you can read it in 30 minutes -- and its delicacy is undeniable, the language expertly handled ... but I didn't feel I got that strong a sense of the characters, and its Hallmark-card fable quality just didn't do it for me.
It's not that I don't like Gallico; I've loved _The Man Who Was Magic_ (Amazon doesn't even LIST it, in or out of print!), and have just finished _Mrs. 'Arris Goes To Paris_ (for which I will shortly compose a rave review). But this one did not do the job. Too allusive, I guess.

Paul Gallico is a master of words. The Snow Goose is a study what a person will do to help others, even if the one of the others is a goose. A girl finds the injured goose and takes it to the person she hopes will heal the goose. The man she takes the goose to, is in his own way just as injured. He has a disability, but he is willing to help. From there, he goes on in his small boat, to rescue victims of war. I won't spoil the ending. The book is short, less than 100 pages.
Read it, enjoy it.

Mystery Writer

I enjoy giving away a copy of this slender book now and then to a new friend who has never heard of it. To me, the book is a surprisingly suspenseful story about deep, deep love and constancy between a young girl and an older crippled artist. It is also a tragic story about war and how it tends to take away the lives of our best and brightest. The descriptive passages alone are as beautifully written as any I've ever read anywhere. It is impossible not to picture clearly in your mind, the dwelling where the artist protagonist lives, or not hear in your mind the loud greetings of returning birds he has tamed as they leave the sky and zoom down to his place for the winter. The last person I sent a copy to (for her birthday) said she was supposed to be packing for a trip, but when the book arrived, she read a page or two and then couldn't stop. The packing had to wait because she HAD to know the rest of the story, she told me.

I read this book after I started reading Wm Fiennes The Snow Geese. He was so deeply affected by The Snow Goose reading by his teacher as a child that he had to pursue the geese. A quick 30 minute read, days later I find myself still thinking about this short story. Touching and haunting.